Guided course: Learn to tell stories through recipes
Podcast: A Recipe with a Voice
A guided course by Sumayya Usmani , Creative Writer and Food Educator
About the video: Podcast: A Recipe with a Voice
Overview
“Let's talk about how recipes go beyond instructions to become acts of storytelling. From Nigella Lawson’s conversational warmth to Nigel Slater’s diary-like intimacy, food writing reveals memory, connection, and emotion behind each dish. Discover how balancing clarity with soul can turn cooking directions into literary experiences that nourish both body and imagination.”
In this video lesson Sumayya Usmani addresses the topic: Podcast: A Recipe with a Voice, which is part of the Domestika online course: Guided course: Learn to tell stories through recipes. Discover the narration of stories through the writing of kitchen books, combining recipes with personal stories to captivate culinary experiences.
Partial transcription of the video
“In Like Water for Chocolate, Laura Esquivel's book, Every recipe carried emotion. A cake could bring someone to tears. A spicy dish could ignite desire. Because writing a recipe isn't just about instruction. It's about storytelling. Evoking Transforming. Behind every dish lies intention, memory. and meaning. And when that story is told well, The reader doesn't just follow steps, They connect. Welcome to a new episode of the Domestika podcast. where we explore how writing recipes can also be a literary act. Many people assume writing a recipe is just about order. Ingredients, instructions. D...”
This transcript is automatically generated, so it may contain mistakes.
Course summary for: Guided course: Learn to tell stories through recipes
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Category
Culinary, Writing -
Areas
Creative Writing, Non-Fiction Writing, Storytelling
Sumayya Usmani
A guided 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.
- 26 students
- 6 lessons (49m)
- 5 additional resources (1 files)
- Online and at your own pace
- Available on the app
- Audio: English, German, Spanish (Latam), French, Italian, Dutch, Polish, Portuguese, Turkish
- English · Spanish · Portuguese · German · French · Italian · Polish · Dutch · Turkish
- Level: Beginner
- Unlimited access forever
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