The new Food and Wine "America's Greatest New Cooks" book is out.
And since I'm obsessed with the word 'favorite', I asked one of my 'favorite' photographers Christina Holmes, 5 questions concerning her... well, favorites.
What was your favorite unused outtake image? That would be the play nougat series from Julianne Jones. (Below).
What was your favorite shot in book? Tough. That would have to be a toss up between the Mescal Cured Salmon from Alex Stupak, (below) or the Tart Flambé from Julianne Jones. I feel they transport me when I'm looking at them to a moment where I was actually sitting there eating enjoying the food, or at least wished I could have been!
What was your favorite overall recipe? This is a tough one, but it would be between the Spring Papetoui from Julianne Jones (clean, fresh, and flavorful), and the Smokey Collard Greens from Sarah Simmons (below) unexpectedly wonderful, the Port Ossobucco from Jimmy Bannos (had such great depth to the dish) or the Chipotle Roasted Carrots from Alex Stupak, which had great flavor and a perfect fresh kick.
Ok, confess, what was your favorite dessert, from ALL of them? I do think I ate the entire Almond Cake from Belinda Leong! (far below) And same thing for the Kaffir Lime Custard from Bryant Ng (below) as it has such lovely subtle flavor and wonderful texture.
...and what was your favorite part of working on this book?
Honestly it was the freedom that F&W gave me to really create imagery that I believed in. They allowed me to shoot how I wanted to shoot and do interesting, unique and off-the-cuff imagery. Things like creating the ingredient portrait openers that were used for the Table of Contents (very top image). Those just happened randomly and organically starting with the very first morning of our two week adventure as I was waiting for the first recipe to be prepared each morning. In the end each of these individually strong still-life images quietly began representing each of the chef's ingredient inspirations for what recipes they held for the reader. So if I guess I really had to choose one thing that I loved most about the book, it would be the moments where I was working together with my incredible team; I truly got to create images that represented the true aesthetic of my work.
Thanks for the interview Christina! x
Behind the scenes: The making of the book.
Food & Wine Cookbook edited by Dana Cowin
Creative Director: Stephen Scoble
Photo Editors: Fredrika Stjårne,
Anthony LaSala, Sara Parks
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CHRISTINA HOLMES: is a New York based photographer with deep roots in Michigan. When it comes to her favorite foods, her list is long! She will eat anything from Il Buco restaurant, she covets the Mushroom & Egg pizza from ABC Kitchen, loves the pork belly at the Breslin, the olive oil gelato at Otto, the olive oil cake from Abraco, the chocolate chip cookies from City Bakery, and any dessert from Lady M! Her clients include Food & Wine, Bon Appétit, Whole Living, The Cooking Channel, Sweet Paul, Chop’t. Check out her work here.
