Writing a cookbook: Chef's kiss or a recipe for disaster

Writing a cookbook involves a lot more work than merely listing what goes into a meal and how to prepare it. Megan Jane de Paulo breaks down the pain and glory of being a culinary author.

MANY HAVE STARTED writing a cookbook. However, few finish.

This is because unlike other forms of writing, in which the words flow from the mind via the fingers ordering them to scratch or tap them out until the well of the story dries up, writing recipes is a multi-stage approach, with the writer displaying facets of scientist, mathematician, poet and chef.

Let’s examine the process with one recipe.

First, you come up with the concept of the recipe. Is it one from the secret family files that might be appropriate? Or perhaps a newly conceived one you’ve dreamt up. Does it fit into the theme of your book? If you are publishing family recipes, throwing in a recipe for, say, balsamic vinegar caviar might not be appropriate. Unless your grandmother was especially interested in molecular gastronomy.

Stage one is research — does this recipe exist in that form already?

Recipes in general are not copyrightable, except you can’t take the words of a recipe and use them as is. You need to adapt and rewrite to make it your own.

Before you even touch a keyboard is the long process of testing, even if you’ve made the recipe multiple times before. Did you write down the exact measurements you used? Like, down to the millilitre? Have you reproduced the recipe with the same measurements and results? Has a friend managed to reproduce the same?

Most recipes published have been tested multiple times, not always doable or successful as can be witnessed in various publications and blogs. This is a skill that many cooks take years to develop — how to read a recipe and understand its success or failure by just perusing the ingredient quantities and methodology.

Testing notes, scribbled, scribbled out, corrected and stained by ingredients within are then translated into digital form. The methods walked through and recorded until it makes sense (people have told me my instructions sound like I’m there whispering into their ear — this is because I often sound out the instructions while I’m writing them, much to the confusion of my dogs).

A title, perhaps an observation or tip at the beginning — and you have a recipe!

Rediscovering the joy of home cooking

The convenience of dining out due to our busy lives has led to the joy of home cooking becoming a lost art.

But don’t forget the photograph, sometimes multiple, which is a series of articles in itself to achieve.

Now, do the above about 100 times over.

You will get tired of eating these concoctions. Friends will encourage you for the offerings of free food as you seek out willing tasters, or recipients of food you have eaten too frequently.

Exhausted yet? This is only the halfway point if you are self-publishing as a hobby project, or to sell — next you have the content organisation, layout and production. Proofreading, editing and correction. Working with a multitude of publishing platforms and formats. Then if you decide to sell — marketing.

If you don’t want to sleep properly for a few months, I encourage you to try!

For me, I have apparently learned nothing, since I’ve already started writing another one.

This is the last recipe in my first book. And it’s not even a recipe as such. Appropriate for the warm days now upon us here in the southern hemisphere.

Vinagrettes

(From page 195 of The Culinary Canon: Foundation Knowledge V1)

Do not be tempted by the fancy slim bottles of dressing in the supermarket with their exotic lush sounding names, that you will purchase and sprinkle on lettuce leaves once until assigning them to the graveyard at the back of your fridge.

Making small batches of vinaigrette is quick and easy. You don’t need special equipment, they use stuff in your pantry already and you don’t waste.

Vinaigrette is an emulsification of oil and acid. The shaking action disperses the droplets within each other to create the dressing and deliver the flavour.

This doesn’t really even need a recipe — just a basic formula:

1 part acid
3 parts oil
Seasoning

So you could have 50 ml white wine vinegar + 150 ml olive oil, with a couple of grams of Dijon mustard, salt and pepper. Shake and there’s your dressing.

You don’t need any fancy equipment — just a jar with a lid or squeezy bottle and shake enthusiastically to emulsify.

Getting to know your oils

With so many different types of cooking oils on the market, it's hard to know the difference or which ones to use for particular dishes.

Acids

Apple cider vinegar
Red wine vinegar
White wine vinegar
Champagne vinegar
Sherry vinegar
Malt vinegar
Rice vinegar
Balsamic vinegar
Fresh lemon, lime, or other citrus juices

The exception is plain white vinegar — in a vinaigrette this will strip the tastebuds out of your mouth. Don’t use that one.

Oils

Olive oil
Avocado oil
Rice bran oil
Macadamia nut oil
Flaxseed oil
Walnut oil
Sesame oil
Coconut oil
Sunflower seed oil
Pumpkin seed oil
Vegetable or canola oil

Cold-pressed oils tend to work best in vinaigrettes, not so much your standard.

The toxic truth about some typically tasty temptations

Some of the most common food items that we take for granted can be harmful if not prepared or consumed properly.

Sweeteners

Honey
Maple syrup
Coconut sugar
Date syrup
Pomegranate molasses
Agave
Monkfruit sweetener
Fruit juices — apple, pineapple

Seasonings

Crushed garlic
Diced shallots
Mustard

Powdered spices

Spice seeds
Dried Herbs
Flavoured or smoked salts

The Culinary Canon: Foundation Knowledge Volume 1, features over 100 basic-level recipes, with food science facts and information and tips on plating using the recipes in the book. Available here as eBook, PDF, Kindle and paperback online.