Sam Hillman's Not Trying to Optimize Herself, And Neither Should You

BY VICKY GU
MAY 5, 2020

This week, we check in with food freelancer Sam Hillman on cooking, reorienting our perspective on the hospitality industry, and *not* glorifying our busyness and productivity online, regardless of the times. 

Originally from Sydney, Sam is a food photographer, writer, and art director based in Brooklyn. She's one of my favorite writers—sharp as a chef's knife and quick to cut through the hubbub of mainstream fixations. Read her writing here and follow her on Instagam at @_samhillman.

Tell us about what you’re working on.

A lot of recipe development, photography and writing stuff. The usual! The recipe stuff is particularly fun. I’m focusing mainly on zero-waste cooking, which feels particularly relevant right now. I want to eat well always and go to the supermarket never, so I’m trying to get around a lot of pickling and preserving. It makes me feel so clever and thrifty! 

As a freelancer, how are you prioritizing your day to day? How would you respond to the growing social dialogue on optimizing our time to build useful things, “better” ourselves, etc? 

I’ve always freelanced, so having to structure my day isn’t too new for me. Aside from work, I’m just spending time doing all the stuff that makes me happy: reading trashy novels, rearranging the apartment, cooking my heart out. Dumb shit. Fun shit. All the stuff I love to do, but don’t seem to make enough time for ordinarily. I relish solitude. 

And I hate the word optimization. We aren’t computers that need updating, we’re people. If you’re able to utilize this time for something you’re excited about, that is brilliant. How perfect! But doing it for the sake of optimizing is tedious and quite frankly sucks the magic out of everything. I think that becoming a “better” you—whether that’s through learning how to bake sourdough or deciding to embark on some sort of dramatic spiritual rebirth—is a wonderful objective if the motivation is internal. But not if it’s a show, another stupid way of glorifying “busyness”, or just serves as a prop in the way you arrange and flaunt your life online. Everyone’s been waffling on about how Shakespeare wrote King Lear during the plague or whatever, and that’s grand. He probably wasn’t constantly checking Instagram and worrying that he wasn’t writing as many plays as his high-school nemesis. I feel so lucky to have this time; I refuse to waste even a second of it stressing over productivity. 

What's COVID-19 changing about our relationship with food?

I think—or I hope—we shift from a perspective of “the customer is always right” to a more gracious and appreciative one. 

I think people are beginning to understand the razor thin margins that restaurants are working with, and just how little delivery people actually make if we don’t tip generously—and even if we do. How the ease in which we are used to getting things isn’t particularly sustainable, for restaurants or the people involved. 

What’s the most interesting thing you’ve read, watched, or listened to recently?

The book, How to Do Nothing. Super relevant to the above question on optimization.

What’s bringing you joy right now?

Massimo Bottura! There’s an episode of his Masterclass where he’s telling the audience (you) how to make stock from vegetable scraps:

*Holds up an onion skin*
"Do you think you throw this away? Yes you throw this away, if you are a person who is BLIND! If you are a person does not have YOUR amazing VISION!”

Also this apricot jam from Brins Jam.

What’s tough about right now?

Seeing small businesses hurt.

Give us a recipe.

This isn’t really a recipe but I’ve been making a lot of pickles and condiment-y things— garlic confit in particular. You heat a few bulbs worth of peeled cloves in enough olive oil to cover them entirely, over very very very VERY low heat until they become soft and luscious. I’ve been doing mine with rosemary, thyme, peppercorns, a pinch of chilli flakes and sea salt. Store in a clean glass jar in the fridge and add to anything - smashed into salad dressings, smeared on bread, tossed through pasta or roast vegetables, mashed into sweet potato puree, anything!