A few weeks ago, during London Craft Week, I took part in a workshop to hand-make a notebook.
During this course, I learned the basics to create a very simple and important object from scratch for those who write, want to write and write down thoughts and reflections, and even more important to write down old recipes, new and experimental.
The old cookbooks of our grandmothers and great-grandmothers have been passed down from generation to generation, all very much lived and written with pen and paper. There were no phone applications when writing a recipe on the kitchen table mixed with flour and ingredients of the moment. I think we all received as a gift cookbooks from our families; it is important to continue the tradition and pass that story to those who like us want to cook and explore tastes and smells. Some of these cookbooks will become books. Here is a wonderful event organized by the British Library where two renowned names in writing and cooking talk to us about how to write a cookbook.
You may love to cook, and perhaps write too, but what really goes into making a cookbook? Take a peek behind the scenes with two highly respected food writers, Sybil Kapoor and Jenny Linford, to find out about the process of writing and creating a cookbook, as they share their trials, tribulations and top tips.
Sybil Kapoor is the author of eight books including her latest Sight Smell Touch Taste Sound A New Way to Cook. She began her career as a chef in London and New York and has since won many awards for her writing, including two prestigious Glenfiddich Awards, two Michael Smith Awards from the Guild of Food Writers and Food Writer of the Year at The Fortnum & Mason Food and Drink Awards 2015. Her features have appeared in the Guardian, The Sunday Times, and the Financial Times. Her bestselling books include Modern British Food, Simply British and Taste. She contributes to The Economist’s 1843 Magazine, House & Garden and the award-winning Borough Market Market Life magazine.
Jenny Linford is a food writer and author of over 15 books including The Chef’s Library, featuring the favourite cookbook choices of over 70 acclaimed international chefs, and Food Lovers’ London, first published in 1991 and still in print. Her work has appeared in Delicious, the Financial Times, Modern Farmer and the National Trust magazine. She runs Gastro-Soho Tours, offering personal guided tours around London’s food shops. Travelling to Denmark, Italy, Malaysia, Singapore and Spain as well as travelling around Britain to meet producers including bakers, chocolate makers, asparagus growers, ice cream makers and farmers, her most recent book, The Missing Ingredient, showcases the voices of the people she has encountered and championed over 26 years.
Food Season is supported by KitchenAid
More info:
How To Write A Cookbook
British Library St Pancras
Mon 20 May 2019, 19.00 – 20.30
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and one of the world’s greatest research libraries. It provides world class information services to the academic, business, research and scientific communities and offers unparalleled access to the world’s largest and most comprehensive research collection. The Library’s collection has developed over 250 years and exceeds 150 million separate items representing every age of written civilisation and includes books, journals, manuscripts, maps, stamps, music, patents, photographs, newspapers and sound recordings in all written and spoken languages. Up to 10 million people visit the British Library website – www.bl.uk – every year where they can view up to 4 million digitised collection items and over 40 million pages.
The British Library’s Membership scheme is a way for people to support the work of the British Library, while also gaining access to benefits including: unlimited free access to exhibitions, access to the exclusive Members’ Room (with a guest), access to the Knowledge Centre Bar (with up to three guests), 20% discount in British Library restaurants and cafés, 20% discount in our Shops, priority booking for events, along with four free tickets to British Library events. Membership is available at a range of prices and full details are available at www.bl.uk/membership. Membership is separate from access to our Reading Rooms, which is available to anyone holding a British Library Reader Pass and which remains free.
About KitchenAid
2019 marks the 100th anniversary of the iconic KitchenAid Stand Mixer.
In 1908, after watching a baker mix bread dough with a heavy iron spoon, Ohio-based engineer, Herbert Johnston, developed a stand mixer to help alleviate the backbreaking work. By 1919, the first household mixer, boasting the unique planetary action and famous curves, was ready for market. During a product test, the wife of an employee exclaimed: “I don’t care what you call it, it’s the best kitchen aid I’ve ever had!”. And the rest, as they say, is history …
Since the introduction of the stand mixer in 1919 and the first dishwasher in 1949, KitchenAid has built on the legacy of these icons to create a complete line of products. Today, the KitchenAid brand offers virtually every essential for the well-equipped kitchen from utensils and cookware to large and small electrical appliances offering professional performance to both chefs and passionate home cooks.
KitchenAid is part of the Whirlpool Corporation, the world’s leading major home appliance company. For further information on KitchenAid, visit www.kitchenaid.co.uk
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