I’m a baker more than I am anything else, and what I want more than anything else when I’m baking is hip hop. I want hip hop, I want it loud, and I want it pumped directly into my eardrums via a set of close-fitting headphones, iPhone hanging out of my apron pocket or tucked in my waistband. Flamenco might make you feel romantic and exotic while you’re expertly flipping that tortilla Española, but when I’m in my own little technical world of doughs and batters and leavening, with all of its precise measurements and on-the-spot troubleshooting and instinctual decision-making, I need the intensity and the in-your-face bravado of some old school Notorious B.I.G..Your terrine sauvage might have been lovingly crafted in the breathy setting of a Carla Bruni album, but my triple layer polenta cake with crème fraîche buttercream has a terroir of badass and I feel fantastic about it.
Bowen Close, on listening to music while you cook. Personally, I enjoy listening to Native Tongue/Soulquarian/ATLien - esque music or podcasts (KCRW stuff, this American Life, Radiolab, etc.) while I cook.