Everything Cookbooks

Kate and Molly speak with friends and co-writers, Suzanne Zeidy and Rawah Badrawi, about their gorgeous new book Egypt. The friends and neighbors share how they met, the individual projects they've worked on and how they decided to join forces to write this in depth guide to Egyptian food. They talk about dividing the labor, their multiple research trips, why they decided to divide the book by region and the dishes they hope readers try. They also share some theories about Egyptian food on the international stage, the recent perspective shift in cuisine they've noticed and leave us with some advice about working on an ambitious project with a co-writer.
Hosts: Kate Leahy + Molly Stevens + Kristin Donnelly + Andrea Nguyen
Editor: Abby Cerquitella
 
 
Mentions
Suzanne Zeidy
Instagram
Substack
Siwah: Legends & Lifestyles in the Egyptian Sahara, by Rawah Badrawi
Rawah Badrawi
Instagram
Substack
Cairo Kitchen: Recipes From the Middle East, Inspired by the Street Food of Cairo, by Suzanne Zeidy
 
Subscribe to our weekly Substack newsletter for more information about each episode and a peek at what's coming up.
 
Visit the Everything Cookbooks Bookshop to purchase a copy of the books mentioned in the show
Egypt by Suzanne Zeidy and Rawah Badrawi

Kristin and Molly speak with Afia Amoako about her debut cookbook, Eat with Afia. With a PhD in Epidemiology, Afia blends her scholarly instincts with her love and interest in Ghanian cuisine as she explores it through a plant based lens. She talks about balancing her various projects, the inspiration behind the book and some of the behind the scenes processes of creating it. Afia shares her approach to recipe testing and categorization and ingredient substitutions and why she doesn't claim the title of 'expert' as she works to preserve Ghanian food traditions. She speaks about traveling to Ghana for research, photographing a portion of the book and why it was important for her to work with a sensitivity editor. Finally she talks about the innovative way she connected her academic background with book promotion by creating an online course, The Foundations of Ghanian Cuisine, and leaves us with a few final words of advice.
Hosts: Kate Leahy + Molly Stevens + Kristin Donnelly + Andrea Nguyen
Editor: Abby Cerquitella
 
 
Mentions
Afia Amoako
Online course
Instagram
Website
YouTube
 
136: Cooking the Food of Nigeria with Ozoz Sokoh
 
Subscribe to our weekly Substack newsletter for more information about each episode and a peek at what's coming up.
Visit the Everything Cookbooks Bookshop to purchase a copy of the books mentioned in the show
Eat with Afia, by Afia Amoaka

Kate and Molly speak with historian and professor Ken Albala about his varied publishing experiences and newest book, The World Atlas of Fermented Food and Drinks. Ken, the author of 30 books, bridges scholarship and food within geographic, historical and cultural contexts. He tells us how he balances teaching, writing, research and hobbies, the classes and programs he's run and how the publishing landscape has shifted in recent years. He takes us behind the scenes of some of his books and shares his experiences with different publishing models— popular and academic—including why one works over the other for specific projects. Finally he reveals of few of the more unconventional dishes he's created and leaves us with his dream book topic.
Hosts: Kate Leahy + Molly Stevens + Kristin Donnelly + Andrea Nguyen
Editor: Abby Cerquitella
 
 
Mentions
Salt TikTok
Ken Albala
Ken's Food Rants
Publishing models blog post
 
Subscribe to our weekly Substack newsletter for more information about each episode and a peek at what's coming up.
 
Visit the Everything Cookbooks Bookshop to purchase a copy of the books mentioned in the show
Salt by Mark Kurlansky
The World Atlas of Fermented Foods and Drinks, by Ken Albala
Beans, by Ken Albala

Kristin and Molly speak with previous Insider Series guest, Rebecca Eisenberg, about her evolution from blogger to author. After working in media for years, she eventually decided to write for herself and talks about turning The Practical Kitchen blog into a business and all that entailed. Ever practical and operating under the mantra 'do it messy, clean it later', she learned on the job and shares what her day to day looks like now, how she addressed going viral and the work it takes to keep up with the ever shifting demands of SEO, the algorithm and AI. Rebecca discusses her decision to write a book based on only a subset of her blog topics and the behind the scenes experience of crafting a proposal, getting an agent, going to auction, selecting a publisher and then the work of recipe testing, writing and photographing. Finally, she talks about her innovative and interactive marketing campaign and the lessons learned from her first cookbook experience.
Hosts: Kate Leahy + Molly Stevens + Kristin Donnelly + Andrea Nguyen
Editor: Abby Cerquitella
 
 
Mentions
Rebecca Eisenberg
The Practical Kitchen
Instagram
Workshop with Rebecca about Growing a Platform with Short Form Video
 
6 Tips for Feeding and Discarding Sourdough Starter
Purchase a recording of Rebecca's Insider Series here
Kristin's Cookbook Courses
Subscribe to our weekly Substack newsletter for more information about each episode and a peek at what's coming up.
 
Visit the Everything Cookbooks Bookshop to purchase a copy of the books mentioned in the show
Small Batch Breads by Rebecca Eisenberg

We're turning the hosting reins over to Charlotte Druckman today to learn about Andrea Nguyen and Pim Techamuanvivit's experience collaborating on their new 'instant classic' cookbook, Cooking Thai. Pim shares her original idea for the book, how it evolved and the mission statement she settled on while Andrea explains why she felt drawn to work on her first collaboration with this project. They speak about recipe testing, the writing process and how they worked together, speaking on task division, communication styles and working through tension to create a product they're immensely proud of. Pim and Andrea each share what they learned from the other, how they challenged each other, the books they were inspired by and how they landed on an approachable yet educational tone before leaving us with some advice and a sneak peak.
 
Hosts: Kate Leahy + Molly Stevens + Kristin Donnelly + Andrea Nguyen
Editor: Abby Cerquitella
 
 
Mentions
Charlotte Druckman
Website
Instagram
Sweethearts Newsletter
Pim Techamuanvivit
Instagram
Andrea Nguyen
Website
Newsletter
Instagram
 
Subscribe to our weekly Substack newsletter for more information about each episode and a peek at what's coming up.
 
Visit the Everything Cookbooks Bookshop to purchase a copy of the books mentioned in the show
Cooking Thai by Pim Techamuanvivit with Andrea Nguyen 
Dishoom by Kavi Thakrar, Naved Nasir, and Shamil Thakrar
Kitchen Remix by Charlotte Druckman
Love in the Afternoon by Charlotte Druckman
Cooking without Borders by Anita Lo with Charlotte Druckman