Starting with 1997’s The Making of a Chef, Michael Ruhlman has made a name for himself as an author specializing in culinary writing, both solo and in collaboration with numerous renowned chefs such as Thomas Keller and Michael Symon. With notable publications including The French Laundry Cookbook, The Elements of Cooking, and Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking, he’s established himself as an expert in the field. He makes his YA debut in If You Can’t Take the Heat, chronicling the story of Theo, an athlete who winds up working in the kitchen of a prestigious restaurant after experiencing a career-ending injury. PW spoke with Ruhlman about his inspiration, experiences, and influences in bringing his culinary expertise to a fictional environment.
What prompted you to take the leap into YA fiction?
This came about during the pandemic. I was looking for another project to work on, and my wife, novelist Ann Hood, suggested I write to my editor, Francesco Sedita, who’s head of Penguin Workshop, and see if they’d like something involving cooking for kids. Because I’m an expert in that, and I’ve written a lot of cookbooks, and I’m fascinated in how one teaches cooking. Francesco said, “Nope, no interest, but if you wanted to write a novel about cooking or restaurants or chefing, I’d be interested.” I knew very quickly the story I wanted to tell. The hard part was learning how to write YA. My first attempt just didn’t work, largely because while YA doesn’t have any rules, the books tend to be best when they’re from a first-person point of view, and when they have a set time limit. Once I figured out how it all worked, I found the voice of my character. I wanted to take a young man, 15 or 16 years old, and put him into a restaurant kitchen, because there are just so many metaphors for how to live well or live poorly there. There are all kinds of characters in restaurants, all kinds of drama and tension. I know professional kitchens really well and it was a natural fit. I had to read a lot to understand how these stories work for this age range, and I had an absolute blast writing it.
If You Can’t Take the Heat is set in 1980 Cleveland, which is where you grew up. How much did your own experiences influence this story? Did you ever consider doing this as a contemporary story?
In my mind, this was always set in Cleveland, around the time when I was the same age as my character. I think Cleveland is kind of interesting. My editors loved the setting and time, and I did too. It was such a pleasure every morning to put on some music that returned me to that time in my life, to a city I have such great memories of. It’s a quirky, odd, eccentric city and I love it.
While there are some autobiographical elements, I didn’t work in a restaurant kitchen at that time, and the restaurant in this book is fictional. A while back, I interviewed San Francisco chef Matthew Accarrino for my podcast, and he told me the story of how he became a cook. He was 16 years old, playing Frisbee with some pals, and he jumped up to catch the Frisbee. When he landed, his leg broke, just like Theo’s did. During his long recuperation from the accident, he watched the Food Channel. And if you’re watching the Food Channel, you’re going to want to start cooking and eating some of that stuff. The same thing happened to my good friend Michael Symon, another chef I’ve written a lot about. He was a wrestler in Cleveland until he broke his arm and couldn’t wrestle anymore. He started working in a pizza joint and that’s how he got into the food business. So I know two chefs for whom broken bones led to careers in cooking.
What do you hope readers will take away from this book? Do you have any tips for beginner chefs who might be inspired by your story?
I hope they take away a great deal of pleasure from watching a cooking love story take place. If you’re interested in cooking, you can learn a thing or two here, but I feel it’s mostly about Theo’s story. The tip I would give is to understand the fundamentals of cooking. Learn the basic ratios. Instead of making a series of different dishes from recipes, make the same dish over and over again. That’s how you learn the nuances. You can do the same recipe 20, 30 times and there’ll be something different, like cooking the pasta too long, or not enough, or adding too much sugar. When you pay attention to how one little change affects the finished dish, you start to learn something.
What projects are you working on now?
My next cookbook is called Meat Pies: An Emerging American Craft, and I’m writing it with chef Brian Polcyn, with whom I wrote Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing. This will be our fourth book together, and it’s coming out in the fall. I’ve just started working on another YA novel. It’s set in Cleveland in 1987, and it’s a father-son story. Francesco told me to write in the time and place I want, do as I wish. That’s such a lovely message to get from your editor. I also have a Substack newsletter, which is devoted to cooking and chefs and writing and culture in general.
If You Can’t Take the Heat by Michael Ruhlman. Penguin Workshop, $19.99 June 4 ISBN 978-0-593-52344-X
