Cookbook Writing: Tell Stories Through Recipes
A course by Sumayya Usmani , Creative Writer and Food Educator
Take readers on a journey of culture and flavor by creating a cookbook that combines recipes with storytelling
- Best seller
- 97% positive reviews (241)
- 11551 students
- Audio: English
- English, Spanish, Portuguese, German, French, Italian, Polish, Dutch
Take readers on a journey of culture and flavor by creating a cookbook that combines recipes with storytelling
“Food is the greatest medium of storytelling because it teaches you about people, and it transcends language and cultural differences”, says creative writer and food educator Sumayya Usmani. Her work weaves recipe writing and heritage together to create food narratives with soul that evoke feelings and memories. She has published award-winning books, and written and appeared in numerous publications including The New York Times and The Guardian. Sumayya regularly appears on the radio, podcasts, and at multiple book festivals, where she shares her knowledge and expertise.
In this course, she teaches you how to create content for a cookbook that tells a story as you explore narrative storytelling and recipe writing. Learn about the elements needed to write a clear, easy-to-follow cooking process, how to give your food context inspired by personal experiences, and how you can take your book from page to publication. Share recipes full of heart and flavor.
What will you learn in this online course?
13 lessons & 14 downloads
- 97% positive reviews (241)
- 11551 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
What is this course's project?
Create two recipes: the first; a simple, easy-to-follow recipe including ingredients, measurements, sequence and method. The second; a two-part, more complex, recipe.
Write two stories: the first; a narrative surrounding your simple recipe, which can be either based on your heritage or your personal life.
The second; a 600-word story which can serve as the beginning of a chapter, or the narrative surrounding your cookbook.
Projects by course students
Who is this online course for?
This course is for anyone who is interested in sharing recipes and the stories that surround them, in the form of a cookbook. It’s also ideal for those looking to learn how to create a cookbook proposal to pitch to publishing agents.
Requirements and materials
To take this course all you need is a basic knowledge of cooking and writing, and an eagerness to develop storytelling skills.
Reviews
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.
Content
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U1
Introduction
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About Me
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Influences
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U2
Ingredients of a Cookbook
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Why and How to Start a Cookbook
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Methodology
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Breaking Down the Chapters
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Structure Needed for a Pitch
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U3
Creating the Narrative for Your Cookbook
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The Beginning of a Chapter
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The Story Surrounding the Recipe
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Writing a Simple Recipe
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Writing a Two-Step Recipe
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The Conclusion
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U4
Taking Your Cookbook to the Next Stage
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Pitching Your Book to a Publisher
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Tips for Self-Publishing
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FP
Final project
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Cookbook Writing: Tell Stories Through Recipes
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What to expect from a Domestika course
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Learn at your own pace
Enjoy learning from home without a set schedule and with an easy-to-follow method. You set your own pace.
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Learn from the best professionals
Learn valuable methods and techniques explained by top experts in the creative sector.
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Meet expert teachers
Each expert teaches what they do best, with clear guidelines, true passion, and professional insight in every lesson.
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Certificates
PlusIf you're a Plus member, get a custom certificate signed by your teacher for every course. Share it on your portfolio, social media, or wherever you like.
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Get front-row seats
Videos of the highest quality, so you don't miss a single detail. With unlimited access, you can watch them as many times as you need to perfect your technique.
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Share knowledge and ideas
Ask questions, request feedback, or offer solutions. Share your learning experience with other students in the community who are as passionate about creativity as you are.
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Connect with a global creative community
The community is home to millions of people from around the world who are curious and passionate about exploring and expressing their creativity.
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Watch professionally produced courses
Domestika curates its teacher roster and produces every course in-house to ensure a high-quality online learning experience.
FAQs
Domestika's courses are online classes that provide you with the tools and skills you need to complete a specific project. Every step of the project combines video lessons with complementary instructional material, so you can learn by doing. Domestika's courses also allow you to share your own projects with the teacher and with other students, creating a dynamic course community.
All courses are 100% online, so once they're published, courses start and finish whenever you want. You set the pace of the class. You can go back to review what interests you most and skip what you already know, ask questions, answer questions, share your projects, and more.
The courses are divided into different units. Each one includes lessons, informational text, tasks, and practice exercises to help you carry out your project step by step, with additional complementary resources and downloads. You'll also have access to an exclusive forum where you can interact with the teacher and with other students, as well as share your work and your course project, creating a community around the course.
You can redeem the course you received by accessing the redeeming page and entering your gift code.
ciscuggallego76
emocionante y diferente!
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dragonflybm1
I have always wanted to write a book but did not know about what. This course has put me on the path to writing a book following the steps set out. Anyone interested in starting a book will learn a lot through this course.
bluebleuazul
PlusConceptos claros y básicos para iniciarse. Recomendado.
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emiliehombert
J ai adoré comme tous ses cours
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jasmina
I thouroughly enjoyed this Course, learnt a lot and organised myself into attempting to start my cookbook. Onwards!