Mary Karlin

MARY KARLIN has taught wood-fired cooking classes for nine years as the culinary staff manager at Ramekins, as well as teaching live-fire cooking at Draeger's, Benzinger Winery, and the CIA Greystone. She has written for numerous food publications, including Epicure in her hometown Sonoma Valley.THE AUTHOR SCOOP

What's your most essential kitchen tool?TongsWhat was your inspiration for writing Wood-Fired Cooking?My wood-burning oven; the food and community created by it. The oven made me a better cook.If you had to boil the message of Wood-Fired Cooking down to one sentence, what would it be?Stay connected to your food. Cook ethically, share food with others and create community wherever you can.What food could you not live without?PotatoesWhat was your first job?Right out of clothing design school, I was the assistant to a clothing designer in San Francisco. She was the co-owner and wife of an A-1 screamer. The place had all the fantasy images and sounds of what I thought was the typical garment manufacturer’s life. It was a pressure cooker and in the first 6 months I developed an ulcer and quit. I thought that was the end of my life in the garment business. Thankfully, I was wrong and went on to other joyful positions at great companies, spending over 25 years of my life in that world. Next career, food.