On May 4th-6th, I had the pleasure of collaborating with my friend/chef/artist Eden Batki at Acid Free: LA Art Book Market at Blum & Poe Gallery in Culver City. Eden and I last cooked together when she was a guest on for President, so Acid free was a welcome opportunity for us to get back into the kitchen.

But the looming question always returns: What to cook? Was there a vegetable that could satisfy voracious, artsy, readers, and our own creative impulses all at once? Something humble, honest, and willing to get all gussied-up? The potato! A plant with green shiny leaves, and deep subterranean roots, the potato is a vehicle for unbridled flavor and eternal sustenance. Over 3000 varieties sustained the Aztecs, the Irish would have gone extinct without them, and generations of American kids have spent their best years pulling noses and moustaches off the plastic novelty version. The potato belongs to everyone, and everyone can get behind the potato.

But you can’t just bring food to a book fair! We collaborated with Manuel Bueno of Macolen, a Mexico City design studio I was introduced to during my recent residency in there. I told Mani our concept, and sent along some wild reference imagery, everything from scientific drawings, to wiggly wobbly malformed spuds. He sketched it out in 24 hours, laid out and printed the zine on his risograph machine, and it was shipped to Los Angeles. The zine features mine and Eden’s favorite potato recipes, and I’ve included the dish we made for the event here.

Thank you to Dusen Dusen for the uniforms and shirts, to Hedley & Bennett for the apron, and Seed and Mill for the world’s best tahini.

Sweet Potatoes with Tahini, Nigella Seed and Green Onion

SERVES 4

• 4 small sweet potatoes or purple Japanese yams, pre-roasted or boiled until cooked
• Sea salt
• Fancy tahini
• Olive oil
• ¾ tsp nigella seeds (black onion seed)
• 2 green onions, tops removed, tender light green parts sliced as thinly as possible lengthwise

Starting with sweet potatoes that are fully cooked (roasted or boiled) set your stove-top burner to low. Using metal tongs, place the potatoes over the open flame until the skin begins to char. Rotate the potato to achieve a blistered skin all around. Repeat with remaining potatoes. (alternately, cook the potatoes all the way through, directly on coals, as in the recipes above).

Slice charred potatoes in half lengthwise, and season with a generous pinch of sea salt. Lay them in a shallow dish, and drizzle generously with tahini (if tahini is thick and gloppy, thin with water), and a modest drizzle of olive oil. Sprinkle nigella seeds over top, and garnish with green onions.