Cookbook Writing: Tell Stories Through Recipes
The Story Surrounding the Recipe
A course by Sumayya Usmani , Creative Writer and Food Educator
About the video: The Story Surrounding the Recipe
Overview
“Why write a story surrounding the recipe? Because it makes it attractive to the reader and interesting enough for them to want to try the recipe. In this lesson, I'll teach you how to work with this element of your cookbook's narrative and explain how it differs from the introduction to the chapter.”
In this video lesson Sumayya Usmani addresses the topic: The Story Surrounding the Recipe, 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
“The Story Surrounding the Recipe In this lesson, I'll teach you how to write a story surrounding a recipe. This introduction to your recipe will be about the recipe itself. It could be a personal story regarding the recipe or one that is about a heritage recipe. This introduction to the recipe tells a bit of a story about the recipe, whether it's a personal memory that's linked to this recipe, or it's from a different cuisine you want to introduce to your reader. This should be written in an evocative, inviting way to make your reader really want to cook the recipe. This is also a good time...”
This transcript is automatically generated, so it may contain mistakes.
Course summary for: Cookbook Writing: Tell Stories Through Recipes
-
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.
- 98% positive reviews (257)
- 13,893 students
- 13 lessons (1h 37m)
- 14 additional resources (4 files)
- Online and at your own pace
- Available on the app
- Audio: English
- English · Spanish · Portuguese · German · French · Italian · Polish · Dutch
- Level: Beginner
- Unlimited access forever
