Some cooks are experts with herbs and spices, others with marinades or even smoke, but Sophie was an expert with salt. A Chinese once asked a class of aspiring chefs what they believed was the most important element in fine cooking. One said it was the quality of the ingredients, another said the technique. Although both are important, he replied, the most important of all is salt. And that's where Sophie Kayte leaves the rest of us in the dust. She understood that the function of salt is not to make food taste salty, but to use it as instrument to unlock the flavors that are already present in foods. Maybe it was part of her DNA, but she knew to add salt sparingly in layers, giving each a chance to develop before adding the next. This book is a tribute to her and the way she cooked, and who she was. How did she know when a dish was done? "When it tastes good." she said and so it is. No magic, no tricks, just good everyday commonsense cooking.