Kate and Kristin speak with Ifrah F. Ahmed about how the culmination of her expertise in a culture and a cuisine led to her debut cookbook, Soomaaliya. Ifrah shares how a trip to Somalia inspired her to leave law school, create a magazine dedicated to Somali women and start a wildly successful pop-up before turning her attention towards a book. She takes us through her deeply intentional cookbook process from coming up with the idea, getting an agent, writing the proposal, the drama of a publisher auction to the writing, recipe development, photography and design process. She talks about her goal, her primary audience and their reactions as well as how she decided to weave together history, interviews, personal essays with the recipes. Finally she touches on her decision of how much of herself to include in the book and the very special interactions she's had while writing it.

Hosts: Kate Leahy + Molly Stevens + Kristin Donnelly + Andrea Nguyen

Editor: Abby Cerquitella

Mentions

Food Friends Podcast Newsletter

Ifrah F. Ahmed

• Website
• Instagram
• Milk & Myrrh pop up

This Is TASTE 728: A Delicious Deep Dive Into Somali Food with Ifrah F. Ahmed

Somali Cuisine by Barlin Ali

Visit the Everything Cookbooks Bookshop to purchase a copy of the books mentioned in the show

• Soomaaliya by Ifrah F. Ahmed

Kate and Andrea speak with cookbook author Natasha Pickowicz about her second book, how it differed from her first and what she learned during the process. Natasha takes us on her journey from the kitchen to the keyboard as she talks about how her first book came to be, the false starts it went through and the role the pandemic played in its evolution. She then shares some behind the scenes on her second book; how publishers reacted to her topic shift, its structure, the historical inclusions and its single subject concentration. We learn about working with her parents on the book, how it deepened their connection and what they each brought to the project. Natasha gets into the challenges of the photoshoot, how she created recipes for a 'recipe-less' meal and what she's learned this time around before leaving us with some advice for other writers embarking on their sophomore books.

Hosts: Kate Leahy + Molly Stevens + Kristin Donnelly + Andrea Nguyen

Editor: Abby Cerquitella

Mentions

Episode 150: Entertaining Cookbooks

Natasha Pickowicz

• Website
• Instagram
• Substack
• Bake Sales
  

Food Friends Newsletter

Visit the Everything Cookbooks Bookshop to purchase a copy of the books mentioned in the show

• More than Cake by Natasha Pickowicz
• Everyone Hot Pot by Natasha Pickowicz

Andrea and Molly speak with Alison Roman and Britt Cobb, the designer of her new book, Something from Nothing about their collaboration. Alison speaks about her unique approach to her work, how she leans into personhood instead of branding and why this new book is different than her previous works. Alison and Britt describe how they connected and then get into the nitty gritty of working together; from the idea phase to the process of choosing everything from font styles, cover color, pairing illustrations with photography to trim size, prop selection and paper texture. They each share their views on the longevity and tactile nature of book creation and some insights on their design choices, tastes and ideas.

Hosts: Kate Leahy + Molly Stevens + Kristin Donnelly + Andrea Nguyen

Editor: Abby Cerquitella

Mentions

How Not To Write a Cookbook, by Brooks Headley in Bon Appétit

Alison Roman

• Website
• YouTube
• Newsletter

Britt Cobb, Cobbco Design

Chris Bernabeo, photographer

Rosie McGuinness, illustrator

The Skinny Font Taking Over Tech Companies and the White House - The Wall Street Journal

Food Friends Newsletter

Visit the Everything Cookbooks Bookshop to purchase a copy of the books mentioned in the show

• Something From Nothing, by Alison Roman
• Sweet Enough, by Alison Roman
• Nothing Fancy, by Alison Roman
• Dining In, by Alison Roman

Molly and Kate speak with Rachel Brown, acquisitions editor at Appetite, an imprint of Penguin Random House Canada, about her career journey and insights into the Canadian cookbook landscape. Rachel talks about her education and early editing experience before taking us behind the scenes about Appetite titles specifically. She shares what types of books they publish, how the team works, what they are looking for in a proposal and how Canadian readers love to support local authors. She talks about working with other countries' markets, the upcoming books she is excited about and the themes she'd like to see more of before leaving us with a few words of advice for those who aspire to work in the editing sphere.

Hosts: Kate Leahy + Molly Stevens + Kristin Donnelly + Andrea Nguyen

Editor: Abby Cerquitella

Mentions

Appetite by Random House

Mary Berg

136: Cooking the Food of Nigeria with Ozoz Sokoh

Jason Hudson

Food Friends Newsletter

Visit the Everything Cookbooks Bookshop to purchase a copy of the books mentioned in the show

• My Cypriot Table, by Irene Matys

To kick off Season 9 Molly, Andrea, Kate and Kristin discuss e-cookbooks vs physical editions before diving into front matter; all of the sections of a cookbook that come before the recipes. They talk about the purpose, process and planning that goes into the preface, prologue, forward, introduction and pantry section and ask whether these are even necessary. Each of them talk about their own experiences and approach to front matter as well as the unique ways other books have utilized these sections. They speak about the differences between the sections, their frustrations and rejections, how front matter has evolved and the importance of being creative and (sometimes) going rogue to keep readers interested and not intimidated to dive into the rest of the book.

Hosts: Kate Leahy + Molly Stevens + Kristin Donnelly + Andrea Nguyen

Editor: Abby Cerquitella

Mentions

Why the Cookbook Endures by Shaan Merchant in Taste

Episode 28: All About Recipe Headnotes

Food Friends Newsletter

Visit the Everything Cookbooks Bookshop to purchase a copy of the books mentioned in the show

• Classic Indian Cooking, by Julie Sahni
• Rice is Life, by Caryl Levine, Ken Lee, Kristin Donnelly
• Down South + East by Ron Hsu
• Something from Nothing by Alison Roman
• Chop Chop by Ozoz
• All About Roasting by Molly Stevens
• All About Braising by Molly Stevens
• Sunday Suppers at Lucques by Suzanne Goin
• Ghana to the World by Eric Adjepong, Korsha Wilson

Originally aired on June 19, 2024

Kate, Kristin and Molly venture back into the user experience arena as they discuss recipe presentation in cookbooks. They highlight the need for this section to delight not distract and prioritize form over function as well as the need to write with a specific audience in mind. They discuss their thoughts as a consumer and developer on elements like: ingredients, equipment, serving size, prep time, method, sub-recipes, headnotes and bursts. Finally, they share their advice for recipe developers on things to think through and ways to research to bring clarity and individuality to their own work.

Hosts: Kate Leahy + Molly Stevens + Kristin Donnelly + Andrea Nguyen

Editor: Abby Cerquitella

Mentions

• Episode 91: The UX of Cookbook Design
• Episode 28: All About Headnotes
• Episode 42: How to Write Recipe Titles
• Episode 24: Genius Recipes with Kristin Miglore
• Episode 59: Lerato Umah-Shaylor on Africana
• Episode 33: Becoming the Writer You Want to Be with Andy Baraghani
• Episode 93: The Secret of Cooking with Bee Wilson
• Episode 88: On Being a First-Time Cookbook Author with Michelle Braxton

Visit the Everything Cookbooks Bookshop to purchase a copy of the books mentioned in the show

• Genius Recipes by Kristin Miglore
• Brooks Headley's Fancy Desserts by Brooks Headley

Originally aired on November 9, 2022

Today, Andrea tackles the topic of the ever elusive headnote with Molly, Kate and Kristin. They discuss what a headnote is, how they go about writing them and the pitfalls to avoid while composing. They bring examples of some favorites and also their pet peeves as they chat about the format, design and variety that goes into these important cookbook ingredients.

Hosts: Kate Leahy + Andrea Nguyen + Molly Stevens + Kristin Donnelly

Editor: Abby Cerquitella

Mentions

Kristin's newsletter - Mission Dinner

Visit the Everything Cookbooks Bookshop to purchase a copy of the books mentioned in the show

• All About Braising by Molly Stevens
• All About Dinner by Molly Stevens
• Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan
• Ever-Green Vietnamese by Andrea Nguyen
• Greenfeast by Nigel Slater
• Rice Is Life by Kristin Donnelly
• Silver Palate Cookbook by Julee Rosso & Sheila Lukins
• Slow Mediterranean Cooking by Paula Wolfert
• Small Victories by Julie Turshen
• The Chef’s Garden by Farmer Lee Jones and Kristin Donnelly
• The Taste of Country Cooking by Edna Lewis
• Wine Style by Kate Leahy

Originally aired on February 22, 2023

Kate talks with Molly, Andrea and Kristin all about recipe titles. They share what makes one stand out, what is an immediate veto and how these have evolved over the years. They discuss the importance of indexing, the challenge of translation and how grammar, structure and formatting are used in titling along with some of their own that they'd like to revisit.

Hosts: Kate Leahy + Andrea Nguyen + Molly Stevens + Kristin Donnelly

Editor: Abby Cerquitella

Mentions

• Gourmet Cookbook
• Boston Cooking School / Fanny Farmer Series
• Cook it in a Casserole
• Cooking Bold and Fearless Recipes from Sunset Chefs of the West
• The Book of Yogurt
• Secret Ingredients
• Chez Panisse Cafe Cookbook

Visit the Everything Cookbooks Bookshop to purchase a copy of the books mentioned in the show

• Change of Appetite by Diana Henry
• Nigel Slater
• Vietnamese Food Any Day by Andrea Nguyen
• Ever-Green Vietnamese by Andrea Nguyen
• Mi Cocina by Rick Martinez
• The Woks of Life by Sarah Leung, Bill Leung
• Rice is Life by Caryl Levine, Ken Lee, Kristin Donnelly