Cookbook Writing: Tell Stories Through Recipes
Methodology
A course by Sumayya Usmani , Creative Writer and Food Educator
About the video: Methodology
Overview
“In this lesson, you will learn the main elements of a cookbook and how to do the research to compile it. I’ll also talk about the type of cookbook you might want to write: is it a visual food journey through a country or a personal narrative with recipes?”
In this video lesson Sumayya Usmani addresses the topic: Methodology, which is part of the Domestika online course: Cookbook Writing: Tell Stories Through Recipes. Take readers on a journey of culture and flavor by creating a cookbook that combines recipes with storytelling.
Partial transcription of the video
“Methodology In this lesson, I'll explain the methods of writing a cookbook. We'll start by learning the steps of writing a cookbook. The first step is to pick a working title. Your working title is not set in stone but it does help inspire the rest of the cookbook writing process. Pick anything that speaks to you. The second step is to create your recipe list. Creating a recipe list will ensure that you know what's going into your cookbook and what shouldn't go into your cookbook. Make one rough one and then finalise it. You might need to do this process a few times. You need to consider ho...”
This transcript is automatically generated, so it may contain mistakes.
Course summary for: Cookbook Writing: Tell Stories Through Recipes
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Category
Culinary, Writing -
Areas
Creative Writing, Non-Fiction Writing, Storytelling
Sumayya Usmani
A course by Sumayya Usmani
Born in Karachi, Pakistan, award-winning creative writer and food educator, Sumayya Usmani, spent her early childhood travelling the world with her parents. She explored various cultures, countries, ingredients, and cuisines and watched in wonder as her mother lovingly prepared meals. Later, when the family settled back in Karachi, Sumayya observed grandmothers and aunts cooking with ‘andaza’ - an Urdu word for using instinct and estimation. These experiences created Sumayya’s strong foundations and connections to cooking and in her adulthood she found she could cook by simply following her own intuition and senses.
Sumayya went on to practice law for 12 years in London and Pakistan. However, in 2012 she quit law in pursuit of her passion; food writing and teaching. Now based in Glasgow, her life-long love for writing, along with her natural flair, has led her to publish award-winning cookbooks. Her latest book is a food memoir, and ventures further into creative writing, which has won the Scottish Book Trust’s Next Chapter Award in 2021. Sumayya regularly appears at multiple book festivals such as the Edinburgh Book Festival, she has written for and appeared in numerous publications including in The New York Times, The Guardian, and on BBC Food, amongst others. She’s a guest speaker on many podcasts and a regular on BBC Radio. Sumayya also hosts cooking classes, and is a committee member of the Guild of Food Writers.
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