I started writing about food in 1980.

I had been cooking for about ten years at that point and I’d been freelance writing for about that long also. I was a complete failure as a freelance writer and then I started writing about food. For whatever reasons, I was successful pretty quickly.

We all know that talk about food has exploded but they don’t cook it as much as I’d like to see them do.

I would say of all the recipes I’ve ever done, the one that has gotten me the most personal thank yous has been the pancake recipe which is just hilarious because there’s nothing easier than pancakes.

Here’s the recipe, for two people (for four people, just double):

Mark Bittman’s easiest-ever pancakes:

Combine:
1 cup of flour
1 tsp of baking powder
1 tsp of sugar
dash of salt

In another bowl, mix:
1 cup of milk
1 egg

Combine the wet and dry ingredients. 

I cook them in butter, I warm them in maple syrup and I make them as delicious as I possibly can.

We had — I don’t know if “national tragedy” is too strong or not but it’s a really sad thing that a generation or two of people did not have much exposure to cooking in their own homes and there are a dozen reasons that that happened. It’s just a shame.

It’s a wonderful thing that people are recovering from that and that increasingly, young people, especially young parents, are wanting to cook and wanting to raise their children understanding that the best food is food cooked at home.

Mark Bittman’s latest book is called “How to Bake Everything.”