''Salt Fat Acid Heat'' is an American cooking documentary television series starring Samin Nosrat. Based on her 2017 book of the same name, the four-part series premiered on

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

on October 11, 2018. The show and book's title comes from Nosrat's proposed four elements of successful cooking:

salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quant ...

fat In nutrition, biology, and chemistry, fat usually means any ester of fatty acids, or a mixture of such compounds, most commonly those that occur in living beings or in food. The term often refers specifically to triglycerides (triple est ...

, acid, and

heat In thermodynamics, heat is defined as the form of energy crossing the boundary of a thermodynamic system by virtue of a temperature difference across the boundary. A thermodynamic system does not ''contain'' heat. Nevertheless, the term is ...

. Each installment of the series focuses on a particular element, with Nosrat traveling to a different location to demonstrate how the element is used in local cuisine. In each episode, Nosrat has guides who walk her through their homeland's cuisine while she pulls out the lessons related to each fundamental element. The show is "part how-to guide for home cooks of all skill levels and part aspirational travelogue."

Episodes

Reception

The show has received positive reviews from critics. On the review aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the series has a 100% approval rating based on nine reviews, with an average rating of 7.5 out of 10. Maura Judkis of ''The'' ''Washington Post'' called it "unlike any other food show on TV", particularly mentioning the high proportion of women and home cooks featured on the show. For ''

Eater Eater may refer to: * Eater (band), an English punk rock group * "Eater" (''Fear Itself''), a 2008 episode of the NBC television horror anthology ''Fear Itself'' * ''Eater'' (novel), a 2000 science fiction novel by Gregory Benford * ''Eater'' (w ...

'', Greg Morabito described Nosrat as "a charming host", and applauded her and director Caroline Suh for conceiving of a "completely new style of culinary TV show". Doreen St.Félix's review in ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'' ascribed the show's success to "Nosrat's uncommon earnestness on camera. St.Félix also described how the show gives viewers a feeling of nostalgia for something most people have not experienced: local, high-quality ingredients enjoyed in the beautiful vistas of their countries of origin.

History

Nosrat began teaching cooking classes in 2007 and found it a very inefficient way of teaching. Even before she wrote the book the TV show is based on, she thought about TV as a great way to reach a wider audience. When recalling this moment, she said, "And after two or three classes, I was like, ''Man, if I had a TV show, I could get to so many people'' … Just like I had not seen a book that sets out to teach, I had not seen a show that really sets out to teach."

References

External links

* on

* {{Netflix original ended series (2012–2018) Netflix original documentary television series 2018 American television series debuts 2018 American television series endings 2010s American cooking television series English-language Netflix original programming 2010s American documentary television series American travel television series Television shows based on books 2010s travel television series