Every Night Is Pizza Night

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My goal was to expose it as much as possible from the time she was born,” he says. “A kid doesn’t grow up with any sort of predefined notions of what’s delicious and what’s not.” So far, their daughter likes pizza, but it’s not her favorite food. She adores tofu, broccoli and fish eyeballs. Yes, López-Alt buys a whole fish and his daughter gets dibs on the eyes. She doesn’t know that’s unusual. TO: There tends to be a misconception with writing children’s books that, because there are fewer words than a novel, anyone could do it. But that’s obviously not true. What were some of the unforeseen challenges for you in writing this?

Ever wondered how to pan-fry a steak with a charred crust and an interior that's perfectly medium-rare from edge to edge when you cut into it? How to make homemade mac &cheese that is as satisfyingly gooey and velvety-smooth as the blue box stuff, but far tastier? How to roast a succulent, moist turkey (forget about brining!)―and use a foolproof method that works every time?That’s the charming premise of“Every Night Is Pizza Night”(Norton Young Readers), the debut children’s book by J. Kenji López-Alt, a guru of food science and a new father.

J. Kenji López-Alt’s debut cookbook, The Food Lab, revolutionized home cooking, selling more than half a million copies with its science-based approach to everyday foods. And for fast, fresh cooking for his family, there’s one pan López-Alt reaches for more than any other: the wok. Join Pipo as she cooks new foods with her friends Eugene, Farah, Dakota, and Ronnie and Donnie. Each eating experiment delights and stuns her taste buds. Is a family recipe for bibimbap better than pizza? What about a Moroccan tagine that reminds you of home? Or is the best food in the world the kind of food you share with the people you love? Kids are a lot smarter and more capable than adults sometimes give them credit for, and it’s easy if you treat them like they’re smart. They frequently step up.”A grand tour of the science of cooking explored through popular American dishes, illustrated in full color. Pipo’s obsession with proving scientifically that pizza is the very best food is a subtle in-joke for fans of López-Alt, whose writing often frames his recipes as the best way to do a dish.

Pipo thinks that pizza is the best. No, Pipo knows that pizza is the best. It is scientific fact. But when she sets out on a neighborhood-spanning quest to prove it, she discovers that "best" might not mean what she thought it means. Bold, bright colors, dynamic illustrations, repetitive refrains, and catchy, well-paced text make this book utterly rereadable...A delightful culinary ode to the multicultural world we live in.-- "Kirkus (starred review)" From J. Kenji López-Alt, the author of the best-selling cookbook The Food Lab: the definitive guide to the science and technique of cooking in a wok.Prompted by her mom to prove it, Pipo goes across her neighborhood testing alternatives: tagine, red beans and rice, bibimbap and dumplings.