Name: Nik Sharma
Current Position: Editor in Residence, America’s Test Kitchen, Cookbook Author, Photographer, Host of In the Test Kitchen (Netflix)
What inspired you to go into the culinary industry?
I’ve always been fascinated by food, both as a source of pleasure and as a way to understand the world. Growing up in Bombay, India, I was surrounded by different cuisines, ingredients, and approaches to cooking. I eventually pursued a career in molecular biology, but cooking remained a constant in my life. When I started writing about food, I realized I could bring my scientific curiosity and love of cooking together. That eventually led me to a career I hadn’t originally imagined for myself.
Where did you officially learn to cook?
Most of my culinary education came through cookbooks and teaching myself at home. My formal training in pastry came from working at Sugar, Butter, Flour in the San Francisco Bay Area. That experience taught me a tremendous amount about technique, precision, and the discipline required in a professional kitchen. I learned how to work more efficiently and quickly without compromising on quality. I also learned a great deal from chefs who generously shared their knowledge and expertise with me. Much of this was practical experience I couldn’t have gained from cookbooks alone.
Would you tell us about your first job working with food?
My first job in food started as a way for me to decide whether I wanted to go to culinary school and take out a loan to pay for it. I ended up loving my time staging at Sugar, Butter, Flour. It was physically demanding work, but I enjoyed learning how a professional kitchen operated and seeing how much care went into making something consistently well. The experience gave me a foundation in pastry and helped me realize there were different ways to build a career in food without necessarily following a conventional culinary school path. And of course, no loans!
What is your favorite dish to make and why?
I love making the Goan meatballs with tomato curry from my new cookbook, Fundamentals of Flavor. They’re simple, practical, and packed with flavor. It’s a dish that demonstrates how a few thoughtful choices with ingredients and technique can produce something wonderful without making cooking unnecessarily complicated.
What has your experience been being LGBTQ+ working in the culinary industry?
Being a gay Indian American has shaped how I see the world and, inevitably, how I approach my work. When I first entered the food industry, I didn’t see many people with backgrounds like mine represented in mainstream food media. There have been challenges, but I’ve also met wonderful people who have supported my work and encouraged me to be myself.
It’s very easy for people to define who I should be or what I should do. But that decision should be left up to me. I want to be able to share my story and explore food, science, and culture with the same freedom as anyone else, without being confined to a particular category.
How do you use your talents to build community?
I think food is one of the easiest ways to bring people together, but I also believe sharing knowledge is a form of community building. Through my books, newsletter, and television work, I try to make cooking and food science accessible to people with different backgrounds and levels of experience.
One of the things I enjoy most is hearing from readers and viewers who tell me they’ve become more adventurous or confident in the kitchen because they understand why something works. That exchange of curiosity and knowledge is what makes this work rewarding.
I’ve also found a sense of community through volunteering as a cook at Sevasphere, a local nonprofit in Los Angeles that prepares meals for people experiencing homelessness.
What other passions do you have in life outside of the kitchen?
I love gardening. It gives me an opportunity to slow down, spend time outdoors, and observe how things grow. I enjoy growing edible plants and experimenting with different varieties. It’s a wonderful way to appreciate this beautiful world of ours.
I also love photography, design, travel, and spending time with my husband and our pet kids.
What is the most memorable moment, good or bad, working in the culinary industry?
There have been many, but becoming a James Beard Award finalist for Flavor Forward, my YouTube series with America’s Test Kitchen, was a wonderful moment. It was exciting to see a show built around curiosity, food science, and experimentation receive that recognition.
As someone who was once told that I couldn’t write a cookbook because I had nothing interesting to share, and that I shouldn’t be on television because I looked different, it gives me a great deal of pride to know how far I’ve come and what I’ve worked to overcome.
I also find meeting readers at book events incredibly rewarding. Hearing how someone has used something they’ve learned from my work in their own kitchen is a reminder of why I enjoy doing this.
What would you like to still achieve or learn?
I’m endlessly curious, and I think there’s always more to learn about food. I’d love to continue exploring the intersection of science and cooking, particularly through television and other forms of storytelling.
I’m also interested in how our senses shape our experience of flavor and how scientific knowledge can help people cook and eat better. I hope to keep finding new ways to make those ideas accessible and engaging.
Any words of inspiration for those who either want to learn to cook at home or want to go into the culinary industry as a career?
Stay curious, ask questions, and don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Cooking is a skill that improves through practice, observation, and experimentation. You don’t have to master everything at once, and you certainly don’t need expensive equipment or complicated recipes to make delicious food.
For anyone considering a career in food, remember that there isn’t just one path into the industry. My own career took me from molecular biology to pastry, writing, photography, and television. The skills and experiences you bring from other parts of your life can become some of your greatest strengths.
Goan Meatballs in Tomato Curry
The addition of baking soda helps meat retain water and increases juiciness, and I’ve applied this principle to my grandmother Lucy’s meatball recipe. Baking soda raises the pH, which changes the electric charges on the amino acids in the meat proteins, making them bind and hold water more efficiently. I share her meatball curry recipe here, but you can also make the meatballs and use them as you would in pasta, sandwiches, or even on pizzas. These typically are pan-fried in oil, but here I bake them in the oven.
Makes 4 servings
INGREDIENTS
Cooked rice or flatbread for serving
MEATBALLS
1 lb [455 g] 90 percent to 95 percent lean ground beef
½ tsp baking soda
4 oz [115 g] raw chorizo
1 shallot (about 2 oz [55 g]), finely minced
½ cup [60 g] panko
1 large egg yolk, lightly whisked
4 garlic cloves, grated
1 green chilli, such as bird’s eye, jalapeño, or serrano, finely minced
2 Tbsp chopped cilantro leaves
2 Tbsp chopped mint leaves
2 tsp grated peeled fresh ginger
1 tsp fine sea salt
½ tsp ground turmeric
CURRY
2 Tbsp ghee or neutral oil with a high smoke point, such as grapeseed
10 to 12 fresh curry leaves
1 shallot (about 2 oz [55 g]), finely minced
Fine sea salt
3 garlic cloves, grated
2 tsp grated peeled fresh ginger
1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
1 Tbsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground turmeric
½ tsp ground black pepper
½ tsp ground cumin
One 14 oz [400 g] can crushed tomatoes
½ tsp tamarind paste, or more to taste
2 Tbsp chopped cilantro leaves
DIRECTIONS
To make the meatballs, place the ground beef in a large mixing bowl, sprinkle with the baking soda and 2 Tbsp water, and mix. Cover and let sit for 15 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 400°F [200°C]. Spray or brush a baking sheet with oil.
Add the chorizo, shallot, panko, egg yolk, garlic, green chilli, cilantro, mint, ginger, salt, and turmeric to the ground beef and combine. Roll the meat into 2 Tbsp balls, using a cookie scoop or measuring spoon, and place them on the prepared baking sheet. You can also wet your hands with water when shaping the meatballs, which will prevent the meat from sticking to your hands. You should get approximately 25 meatballs. Roast until the meatballs are golden brown and caramelized, 6 to 8 minutes. Cut a meatball; the inside should be completely opaque, and the internal temperature should reach 160°F [71°C]. Remove from the oven.
While the meatballs cook, to make the curry, in a medium Dutch oven or saucepan over medium-high heat, melt the ghee. Add the curry leaves, shallot, and a pinch of salt, turn the heat to medium-low, and sauté until fragrant, translucent, and soft, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic, ginger, Kashmiri chilli powder, coriander, turmeric, black pepper, and cumin and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add 7 oz [200 g] of the crushed tomatoes and reserve the rest for another purpose. Stir in 1 cup [240 ml] water and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then turn the heat to low and simmer. Stir in the tamarind paste and season with salt. Add the meatballs, gently toss to coat in the sauce, and let simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat. Garnish with the cilantro and serve hot or warm with rice or flatbread.
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
THE FLAVOR FILES
- Ground lamb can be used in place of beef.
- I prefer smaller meatballs, but you can shape them larger and increase the cook time accordingly.
FUNDAMENTALS OF FLAVOR: 100 Recipes for the Science of Better Cooking (Chronicle
Books, Sept. 22, 2026)
