about what you do. You will probably not make money. I doubt that you'll get to run your hands through Mario Batali's beard. But I can say that you'll learn about how you cook, why you cook, you'll try new things and get better. And that, in Michael Ruhlman's own words, is a success. Well said. Most aspiring writers will get more than their share of rejection from the people actually in charge of making publishing decisions. But more power to those who read discouraging words and still struggle on. Maybe Ruhlman is just taking a cue from Bourdain's advice to young cooks who think they want to become chefs. To paraphrase: don't do it, it's too much work for too little money and there's too much competition and no glory for the vast majority and you'll probably be worse at it than most, and you'll end up washed up, broke, old, and tired with nothing to show for your skills. But if you still want to do it after reading all of this, you're probably the kind of person who will try it no matter what. How appropriate that you mention Ottolenghi as this is the topic of my recent blog post. "Plenty" has become my favorite cookbook. I think there are a number of reasons why this book is so successful. First, Ottolenghi's story is extremely fascinating which is what drew me to the book in the first place. The ingredients throughout this book are exciting, healthy, vibrant