“The primary requisite for writing well about food is a good appetite.”
A. J. Liebling
…and a love of food, anything about food, it’s history, the stories behind it, the traditions. My new, in the last few months food writing gig is at Garden and Hearth, I write here about Italian Cooking. I also write at Live Holistically on healthy recipes/food. As a chef I have been cooking for more than fifteen years but I can’t seem to get my passion for food down on paper. My critique buddy loaned me a copy of The New Yorker’s food issue, which is always a favorite and a long term goal for publication. How do people write so eloquently about food?
Years ago, my sister gave me a small book of food essays by Teresa Lust. In Pass the Polenta, Theresa Lust writes so clearly and passionately about food that when I’m reading I’m also trying to figure out when I can cook the recipe that week. I hope to one day write half as well.
Today, write about a food memory that would have your reader reaching for the saute pan, the mixing bowl, or the cookie sheet. This may be a good start for a food essay, a poem or a short story. Now get to work!
Lovingly,
The Writing Nag