Melissa Clark is an American

food writer Food writing is a literary genre that focuses on the cultural and historical significance of food. It encompasses various forms, including recipes, journalism, memoirs, and travelogues, and can be found in both fiction and non-fiction works. Food ...

, cookbook author and ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

columnist A columnist is a person who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Column (periodical), Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs. They take the ...

. She is the author of over 40 cookbooks and has received multiple awards from the

James Beard Foundation The James Beard Foundation is an American non-profit culinary arts organization based in New York City. It was named after James Beard, a food writer, teacher, and cookbook author. Its programs include guest-chef dinners to scholarships for asp ...

and IACP (International Association of Culinary Professionals) for her work. Clark has been a regular guest on

television series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...

such as ''Today'' show, ''

Rachael Ray Rachael Domenica Ray (born August 25, 1968) is an American cook, television personality, businesswoman, and author. She hosted the syndicated daily talk and lifestyle program '' Rachael Ray''. Other programs to her credit include ''30 Minut ...

'' and ''

Iron Chef America ''Iron Chef America'' is an American cooking show based on Fuji Television's ''Iron Chef'', and is the second American adaptation of the series, following the failed ''Iron Chef USA'' that aired in 2001. The show is produced by Food Network, wh ...

'' and on radio programmes such as '' The Splendid Table'' on

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

and '' The Leonard Lopate Show'' on

WNYC WNYC is an audio service brand, under the control of New York Public Radio, a non-profit organization. Radio and other audio programming is primarily provided by a pair of nonprofit, noncommercial, public radio stations: WNYC (AM) and WNYC- ...

Early life and education

Clark is the daughter of Julian Clark and Rita Clark, both of whom were practicing psychiatrists.Rebecca Shapiro
Supper Club: New York Times food writer Melissa Clark '90BC, '94SOA invites everyone to the table
''Columbia Magazine'' (summer 2017). She is a third-generation

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

ite and grew up in the Ditmas Park neighborhood.Raquel Pelzel
In the Kitchen With Melissa Clark
''Edible Brooklyn'' (Spring 2013), issue 29. Her parents were avid home cooks, influenced by

Julia Child Julia Carolyn Child (Birth name#Maiden and married names, née McWilliams; August 15, 1912 – August 13, 2004) was an American chef, author, and television personality. She is recognized for having brought French cuisine to the American pu ...

. As a child, Clark spent the month of August with her family each year in

Provence Provence is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which stretches from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the France–Italy border, Italian border to the east; it is bordered by the Mediterrane ...

, France. Clark is Jewish. Clark attended

Stuyvesant High School Stuyvesant High School ( ) is a co-ed, State school, public, college-preparatory, Specialized high schools in New York City, specialized high school in Manhattan, New York City. The school, commonly called "Stuy" ( ) by its students, faculty, a ...

and then

Barnard College Barnard College is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college affiliated with Columbia University in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a grou ...

, where she studied English and history and wrote a thesis on the role of food in ''

Don Quixote , the full title being ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'', is a Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts in 1605 and 1615, the novel is considered a founding work of Western literature and is of ...

''. She graduated in 1990, and in 1994 earned an MFA from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

,Lizzy Goodman
Elbowing for Scallops With Melissa Clark
''Taste'' (April 24, 2017). where she took a food-writing class taught by

Betty Fussell Betty Ellen Fussell (; born July 28, 1927) is an American writer and is the author of 12 books, ranging from biography to cookbooks, food history and memoir. Over the last 50 years, her essays on food, travel and the arts have appeared in scholarl ...

Career and works

In her early career, Clark was a freelance writer for various publications, including the ''New York Times'', and worked in "front of house" jobs at restaurants.Angelina Chapin
How I Get It Done: Melissa Clark
''The Cut'' (October 16, 2017). In 2007, she began her weekly "A Good Appetite" column at ''The New York Times'',Jennifer Barger
Face Time: Melissa Clark
''Washington Post'' (December 2, 2011). She became a full-time staff writer at the ''Times'' in 2012, writing about 65 recipes each year for the newspaper. Clark has described herself as "an advocate for the home cook" and "the voice of the home cook" in interviews. In 2015, Clark gained attention for a recipe for

guacamole Guacamole (; informally shortened to ''guac'' in the United States since the 1980s) is an avocado-based dip, spread, or salad first developed in Mexico. In addition to its use in modern Mexican cuisine, it has become part of international cuisin ...

with

green pea Pea (''pisum'' in Latin) is a pulse or fodder crop, but the word often refers to the seed or sometimes the pod of this flowering plant species. Peas are eaten as a vegetable. Carl Linnaeus gave the species the scientific name ''Pisum sativum ...

s that she had reported on a few years earlier (the recipe was created as a collaboration between chef

Jean-Georges Vongerichten Jean-Georges Vongerichten (; ; born March 16, 1957) is a French-American chef.

and chef de cuisine Ian Coogan for Vongerichten's restaurant ABC Cocina); the piece was re-tweeted by ''The New York Times'' and attracted viral feedback, including tweets from President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

and former Governor of Florida

Jeb Bush John Ellis "Jeb" Bush (born February 11, 1953) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 43rd governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007. A member of the Bush family, Bush political family, he was an unsuccessful candidate for pre ...

, both of whom disapproved of her addition of peas to the traditional recipe ingredients. Clark's most favored ingredient is

anchovies An anchovy is a small, common forage fish of the family Engraulidae. Most species are found in marine waters, but several will enter brackish water, and some in South America are restricted to fresh water. More than 140 species are placed in 1 ...

, which she praises for their versatility. Clark has written more than 40 cookbooks, including ''Braise: A Journey Through International Cuisine'' (2007), with

Daniel Boulud Daniel Boulud (born 25 March 1955) is a French chef and restaurateur with restaurants in New York City, Palm Beach, Miami, Toronto, Montréal, Singapore, the Bahamas, and Dubai. He is best known for his eponymous restaurant Daniel, opened in Ne ...

; ''East of Paris'' with David Bouley; ''The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern'' with Claudia Fleming, the former pastry chef at Gramercy Tavern in New York; and ''Cook This Now'' (2011), which focuses on seasonal cooking. Clark's cookbook ''Dinner: Changing the Game'' won an award in 2018 from the

International Association of Culinary Professionals The International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) is a United States–based not-for-profit professional association whose members work in culinary education, communication, or the preparation of food and beverage. It was started in 19 ...

.Tim Carman
Food association gives top cookbook award to its CEO, prompting outrage — and a new policy
''Washington Post'' (March 13, 2018). For ''The New Essentials of French Cooking'', which was published in print and a
a series of articles
on ''NYT Cooking'', Clark won the 2018 James Beard Foundation Journalism Award for innovative storytelling. In 2019, Clark hosted a podcast series, ''Weeknight Kitchen with Melissa Clark'', produced by The Splendid Table.

Personal life

Clark has married three times. Her first marriage was in 1993 to Max Jonson. In 2007, she married her third husband, Daniel Gercke, with whom she has a daughter, Dahlia. The family lives in

Prospect Heights, Brooklyn Prospect Heights is a neighborhood in the northwest of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The traditional boundaries are Flatbush Avenue to the west, Atlantic Avenue to the north, Eastern Parkway – beginning at Grand Army Plaza – to ...

References

External links

Official websiteMelissa Clark's articles and recipes
in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Melissa Living people Writers from Brooklyn American cookbook writers American food writers Barnard College alumni The New York Times columnists American women columnists People from Prospect Heights, Brooklyn Year of birth missing (living people) Columbia University School of the Arts alumni James Beard Foundation Award winners