John Becker

Title: Editor

Business:

Location: Portland, Oregon

Education: University of North Carolina, Boston University

Expertise: Cookbook writing, Recipe development, Editing

In his work as a cookbook author, John researches and writes about a wide range of culinary subjects. With this expertise, John helps ensure the articles and recipes at Serious Eats meet a high standard of quality.

Experience

John, a coauthor of the latest revision of The Joy of Cooking, likes to describe himself as a "professional home cook." Over more than a decade, he and his wife Megan tested and improved thousands of recipes in preparation for the latest edition of his family's iconic cookbook. Their latest reworking of Joy deepens its encyclopedic coverage of ingredients and cooking techniques while adding over 600 newly developed recipes.

Before turning to culinary pursuits, he helped publish 17 volumes of literary criticism, to which he contributed several essays.

Education

After briefly pursuing an aerospace engineering degree at Boston University, John switched gears, moved to Asheville, North Carolina, and graduated with a B.A. in English literature (minoring in philosophy). In his studies, John became fascinated with the works of James Joyce and theories of interpretation.

About Serious Eats

Serious Eats, a Dotdash brand, is an award-winning food and drink website visited by over 7 million hungry readers every month. Our audience comes to us for rigorously tested recipes, science-driven cooking techniques, robust equipment reviews, and stories that offer cultural and historical context to the foods we love to eat.

Dotdash is among the largest and fastest growing publishers online, and has won over 50 awards in the last year alone, including Digiday's 2020 Publisher of the Year. Dotdash brands include Verywell, Investopedia, The Balance, The Spruce, Simply Recipes, Serious Eats, Byrdie, Brides, MyDomaine, Lifewire, TripSavvy, Liquor.com, and TreeHugger.