December 21, 2001

Savoring the Aromas in the Writer's Kitchen

By LYNN Z. BLOOM

Writing and cooking are two of the things I like to do best. Indeed, they're a lot alike -- a messy mix of knowledge and improvisation, experience and innovation, and continual revision, with a lot going on between the lines. For years I've toyed with writing a cookbook. But although I'm willing to revise my professional writing indefinitely until I get it right, I'm not willing to revise my cooking the way that Rose Levy Beranbaum did when she wrote The Cake Bible. She baked draft after