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Melissa Gaman

location-pin Jersey City, New Jersey

School: The Institute of Culinary Education; Columbia University

Expertise: Baking, Grilling, Recipe Development

Melissa Gaman

  • 20+ years in food media, including writing and recipe development for print and digital publications and food television
  • Culinary school graduate with professional kitchen experience in a two-star New York City restaurant

Experience

Melissa has spent much of her career as a recipe developer for magazines, websites, cookbooks and national brands, and now brings that culinary knowledge and hands-on experience to editing and writing. She began working with Taste of Home in 2024 as a freelance writer before joining as a full-time contract Updates Editor in 2025. Her primary responsibilities include editing recipe collections and writing articles and recipes as needed. 

Before Taste of Home, Melissa worked for Food Network for 10 years in the test kitchens, creating original recipes and content for the Food Network Magazine and website. She has also created content for HexClad, TheKitchn, Parade, Tasting Table and The Pioneer Woman Magazine. 

Melissa is a passionate baker in her free time, including cookies and sourdough bread from her well-aged sourdough starter, Bella Dough-na. When she’s not in the kitchen, you can find Melissa cycling on her Peloton through the latest power zone challenge and slowly relearning how to play her acoustic guitar.

Education

  • The Institute of Culinary Education, Culinary Arts Diploma
  • Columbia University, Bachelor of Arts in English Literature and Women's Studies

Taste of Home Editorial Policies

Taste of Home, a Trusted Media Brand, has been a reliable source for recipes, cooking tips and entertaining advice for more than 30 years. Every month, our content inspires well over 20 million home cooks to get creative in the kitchen. Each one of our 40 thousand recipes has gone through a rigorous testing and approval process to ensure we’re sharing the very best. Every snack, ingredient and product we recommend is tested by our team of culinary experts and professional product testers—the best of the best earn our Test Kitchen-Preferred seal of approval. Learn more about Taste of Home and our Test Kitchen and editorial teams.

Articles & Recipes

Seven bottles of different hot honey sauces are lined up in a row on a gray surface, each with colorful labels and various bottle shapes and sizes. The background is a light, textured gray.

We Tried 7 Brands of Hot Honey and This Is the Swiciest

After tasting seven different hot honey brands, we can definitely say that some capture the swicy vibe better than others.
Chili Crisp Eggs

14 Recipes with Chili Crisp to Spice Up Your Weekly Meal Plan

Perk up your meals with a prickle of heat! These recipes with chili crisp breathe new life into everything from fresh salads to crispy dumplings and roasted salmon. There's an option for every mood.
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Smashed Chili Crisp Cucumber Salad

This smashed chili crisp cucumber salad has layers of flavors and textures from craggy cucumber chunks, fiery chili crisp and a simple soy and vinegar dressing.