Cookbook Writing Workshop - Smithsonian

I recently conducted a full day cookbook writing workshop at the Smithsonian Associates in Washington, D.C. The workshop included discussions on recipe writing, the cookbook market, understand food photography and more. I conducted a very special exercise — I requested cookbook editor Francis Lam to send me his four favorite cookbook acquisitions and also asked him why he purchased those books. I turned this into an exercise for the students. They had to go through each of the four books and see if they could determine why the editor purchased these books. Once they were done, I shared with them why Francis did buy the books. We all learned a LOT from this exercise. AND – I might add — understood why all four books have become bestselling cookbooks!!

Here are some photos from the event. The workshop concluded with a panel discussion. I had invited Bonnie Benwick, Joan Nathan, Domenica Marchetti and Nevin Martell – all amazing cookbook authors – to share their expertise with the group.