Vega Hernando Talks Her First Book, "Eat!"

Vega Hernando, the founder of Eating Patterns, talks us through publishing her first recipe book

After Vega Hernando launched Eating Patterns in 2016, the Barcelona-based designer and cook always dreamed of publishing her own book. Four years later, we’re celebrating the arrival of “Eat!”, Vega’s first recipe book dedicated to seasonal ingredients.

Having started out as an Instagram account where Vega would share recipes, today Eating Patterns operates as a full-fledged creative studio producing content for international brands such as Naked Juice, Mango, Estrella Damm, Adidas, and Lazy Oaf, as well as creating and hosting special events and workshops. Vega and her team explore the intersection of food and design, merging her passion for cooking with her experience as a fashion and textile designer to create unique visuals with the ingredients that make up her favorite recipes.

Published by Lunwerg in Spain, “Eat!” follows on from self-published fanzine, “Foodzine,” and is Vega’s first book. Today she talks us through the process behind its creation.

How did the idea to do a book come about?

I was always drawn to the idea of developing a physical format for Eating Patterns, something on paper. The project began online, but I love tactile design, such as books and magazines. I wanted to create something as such. As there wasn’t an opportunity to do a book at the time, I self-published my own magazine in the form of a fanzine called “Foodzine.” It was stapled together and featured a small selection of the recipes that were in line with the content I had been publishing on Instagram. It was because of the magazine that the opportunity to do a book came up.

Would you say that starting with an Instagram account and then doing a fanzine and then doing the book is a good formula?

When you work in the creative field, if there’s something you want to do in the future, find a way to do it now within your limits. I knew I wanted to do a more editorial project, so I self-published one as a way to experiment. I was lucky that later, as a result, the book came about. I didn’t make “Foodzine” expecting to have the opportunity to do a book afterward, but experimenting with formats is a great way to learn new things, and it opens doors.

What did your first meeting with Lunwerg involve?

The publishing house told me that they really liked the "Foodzine" aesthetic and that the next step was to find an overarching theme for the book that would lead to more content. Of course, the magazine was only ten recipes and for a book, you need at least 70 or 80. They asked me to put forward some proposals but, design-wise, they would like the book to follow the aesthetic of the magazine. I sent them a PDF with four ideas (below), including reference images from my own portfolio. In the end, the idea we decided on was to split the book up into seasons and that it be a book that is pretty, but that also teaches you something. The idea is that you learn which fruits and vegetables belong to each season, encouraging you to eat in a more logical way. The publisher also liked the idea of doing recipes by color, so we decided we’d draw on that idea.

What was the next step?

Afterward, I sent them a proposal for the contents page and a mock-up of how I imagined the inside layout. I worked in conjunction with Lunwerg on the final design.

How did you approach choosing all of the recipes?

I started by dividing up the ingredients by season. I then went about thinking which ingredient would work for what type of dish: aperitive, main, dessert, etc. From there, I’d think, “Right, what type of dessert can I make with melon?” So I’d start with the ingredient and then work out what recipe would work. If I couldn’t think of one, then I’d move the ingredient to a different column. The table below was how I organized myself. I also wanted to include lots of vegan and vegetarian options, so this was also a column. I would need to make sure these were divided up as well, so that I didn’t end up with all of the starters for spring being vegan or none of them being vegan, for example.

Would you have a clear idea of what you wanted each photo to be ahead of each shoot day, or was there a lot of improvisation?

When we had a shoot day, I would have prepared a shoot document (below), and I would send it to Anne, the photographer, as well as the assistant we were working with at the time. This included a reference image with a description of what we were going to do that day. There would always be some improvisation on the day as well.

What was the biggest challenge?

We started shooting in summer and finished around Christmas. This meant we had to shoot the spring recipes during summer and fall, and sometimes we had trouble sourcing them. Ideally, we would have started shooting in spring, but it wasn’t an option.

You’ve written the whole book. How did you find that part of the process?

It wasn’t easy. It’s the part I felt most insecure about as writing is the area in which I’m least experienced. The publisher said they’d like the tone to be more personal, but I was worried about being too informal. However, after showing them the first texts I had written, I received very positive feedback. This made things easier as they were happy for me to write in my natural voice. One thing that I found difficult at the start was remembering whether I was writing to “you” or as “we”, and keep accidentally changing. Obviously, you can use whichever you like, but it’s important that it be consistent throughout. I had to put a post-it on my computer that said “YOU” so I wouldn’t forget. After a while, it became natural. Aside from the typical editing process a book goes through, there are also specialist editors who correct recipe books. Their job is to make sure all the ingredients and the quantities are right. This is really helpful as sometimes you miss things.

Are there any books that served as inspiration?

Regarding the writing style, the chef Alison Roman was a reference. She has a very friendly tone, explaining that a recipe belongs to her grandmother, etc. Regarding the aesthetic, a book called “Poke Bol”, which is also published by Lunwerg, was a key reference.

And how did you choose the name “Eat!”?

I proposed “Eat It Up!” originally. I wanted to include the word “Eat” so that it linked back to Eating Patterns, and I thought the use of the imperative was fun. When the team proposed it to their marketing department, they thought that “Eat It Up!” could be difficult for Spanish speakers to understand when said aloud–some readers might need to clarify how it is spelled. So, in the end, we changed it to “Eat!”. I think it was the right decision in the end.

You can order your copy of "Eat!" here and check out Eating Patterns’ brand new website here. If you would like to learn about how Vega creates her unique visuals involving food, sign up to her course, Gastronomic Creativity and Pattern Composition.

You may also like:

–5 Instagram Accounts Sharing Food Styling Inspiration
–5 Courses to Help You Make the Most of Instagram
–What Is a Fanzine?