in good taste, vol. 108: personal archives
origin stories and a secret approach to perfect roasted salmon
I started this newsletter for two somewhat self-centered reasons. The first: to have a creative outlet separate from my then-day job in advertising. The second: to amass a personal archive of recipes I’ve created by myself or ones I’ve riffed on to my own tastes. Reflecting on that second point, 5 years down the line and 108 editions in; wow! Over 100 recipes that make up an index of good tastes on a plate, and over 100 issues that index good taste all around, in a room or in the world. A tidy little achievement!
Originally I thought of this Substack as a food newsletter. I was cooking a lot, as we all were in the thick of spring 2020, writing it down, and trying to figure out what my “thing” could be that wasn’t, well, my job (some people might call this a “hobby”). When I got really carried away, I thought maybe one day I’d turn it into a fully laid-out, printed work, something upward from a zine but downward from a true magazine.
Truth be told, In Good Taste isn’t all that much about food. And publishing with a greater frequency, a behavior that Substack rewards as a platform, is out of scope for me at the moment. But I do think this little gazette is consistently in the business of lighting up different tastes, on and beyond the plate. Hopefully you agree! Thanks, as ever, for reading and subscribing. Maybe it’ll become a true little printed gazette someday.
I cringe as I write this, but if you like reading In Good Taste, please hit the like button. It helps with visibility on Substack. Email is becoming increasingly unreliable as a delivery channel (sending your issues to promotion or spam boxes), a situation that’s out of my control!
A SCATTERING OF GOOD TASTES
What I’ve been up to:
Went to New York for work meetings, but stayed for a long birthday weekend at the Fifth Avenue Hotel, a place that had been on my list for some time (see some highlights from
). Not only was the design cheeky + impeccable and the rooms well-appointed, but the hospitality is unparalleled. No detail goes unspotted. They even publish their own bedtime story booklet. I’m gushing but I’ve officially been spoiled for literally any hotel stay moving forward. Cannot recommend enough.Have been obsessed with the Cornish coast of England lately, partly thanks to this “steal my vacation” itinerary but also the usual suspects (Rick Steves, Monty Don). While air travel is not the most calming topic at the moment, SkyMiles tickets to the UK from Atlanta can be had for an absolute song in September. Off we go to Somerset and Cornwall for two weeks after Labor Day!
Admiring:
Have been looking into wall coverings since we’re looking to refresh our study (like I said, In Good Taste has strayed from god’s light as a food newsletter). If I were planning a trip to Providence, Rhode Island soon (and I very much wish I were), I’d make a stop at RISD’s Huard Collection of archival French wallpapers.
The disappearing shopfronts of Ireland and an Instagram (née Tumblr) of London shopfronts
The illustrated envelopes of Edward Gorey
Other items of note:
A growing trend of analog hobbies like “retro gaming,” bookstores that encourage you to linger, a garden handbook with printables
Relatedly, how to feel like you have enough.
Reading:
Have been on an absolute reading tear this year, and it’s not even March. Library hauls so far in 2025 and ratings out of 5, happy to get more specific in the comments!
Our Evenings, Alan Hollinghurst, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Anthropologists, Aysegul Savas, ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Brightly Shining, Ingvild Rishøi, ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Real Americans, Rachel Khong, ⭐⭐⭐
The Wedding People, Alison Espach, ⭐⭐⭐
Catalina, Karla Cornejo Villavicencio ⭐⭐
I’ll Drink to That, Betty Holbreich, ⭐⭐ (only for length! This memoir is great!)
Don’t Be A Stranger, Susan Minot - did not finish. I’m sure it’s great for someone, I just rolled my eyes a lot.
Up next in the queue: A Season for That (Steve Hoffman), Parade (Rachel Cusk, my prickly queen), Women’s Hotel (Daniel M. Lavery), Little Jewel (Patrick Modiano).
REFLECTIONS ON RECIPES + ROASTED SALMON
Someone told me in a playwriting class a million years ago that there are only a few plots, but an endless amount of possible combinations. Without waxing too poetic about it, I don’t think that recipes are that far off from the essentials of playwriting. There are consistent elements to build from: structure, characters, plot, action, resolution can be mapped to a recipe style, ingredients, sequence of events, the lightbulb moment, and service. There’s tons of wiggle room and creativity in cooking if you think about recipes in this way (anyway, this is why I’m not much of a baker).
I’ll be honest and say I’m not drawn to anything described as “plot-driven.” I like simplicity. I like slow-burn character development. I like interiority. I am not into splashy or explosive plotlines. My criteria aren’t really that steep. It doesn’t matter if it’s a movie or a book or a recipe: at its simplest, did it share something new with me? Shed light on a technique? Get me to think differently, more creatively, about work or life or the world or just dinner?
Tall orders for simple things like scrambled eggs, maybe, but that’s also why those old Buzzfeed food videos used to really scratch an itch. Think about it!
ALL OF WHICH BRINGS ME, OBVIOUSLY, TO SALMON. When I found this approach from the big brains at America’s Test Kitchen -- and I do think it’s an approach more than a recipe, per se -- I was fully unprepared for an elegant, flawless result. Again and again. It’s so simple but incredibly flavorful, and it’s unlocked a whole new way of preparing salmon in our house.
The ATK episode linked below is for an entire side of salmon (a 4-pounder), but I have done this with salmon pieces that weigh closer to 1.25 - 1.5 pounds because it’s usually just me and Adrian on weeknights. With that in mind, the below halves the ingredients from the original.
INGREDIENTS
1 piece of salmon, around 1.25 pounds per person
1 tbsp, kosher salt
1 tbsp, honey (room temperature or warmed slightly will help!)
WHAT TO DO
Salt the salmon, put it on a plate and refrigerate uncovered for an hour (or up to 4 hours). Pat it dry. Lay down a sheet of aluminum foil, folded about the size of the salmon piece, on a wire rack atop a baking sheet, spray the foil with some cooking oil. Place the salmon on the foil and brush with honey.
Set your broiler to high, set the oven rack about 7” from the broiler, and broil the salmon for 8-10 minutes, rotating it halfway for even color. Then bake the salmon on the middle rack of the oven at 250 degrees for about 10 minutes, again rotating halfway through, until a thermometer in the middle of the salmon reads 125. The video includes an arugula pesto to top the salmon, but we love it as-is next to some roasted frozen vegetables.
Credits: Recipe originally by Andrew Janjigian ・ Appears in Cook's Illustrated May/June 2018, and America's Test Kitchen TV Season 19: “Spring Dinner for Company”
I’m always excited when a new In Good Taste hits my inbox. I usually snuggle up and dig in. I’ve made many of the recipes and even tasted them at A&E’s house. I often wonder where you find all the cool links included. So fun!
Hi Emily - I love your newsletter. It's always fun, vibrant and interesting.
I struggle with cooking salmon and my partner isn't all that keen, although he loves other types of fish. I think it's the high fat content and also the fact that people often serve it very pink in the middle, which is not to my taste. I purchased a few packets of furikake while I was in Japan recently, so I'm hoping I can jazz it up with that.
Thanks also for the book recs. The Hollinghurst is on my radar, but Brightly Shining is new to me.
Cheers
Marg