My First Cookbook

Another Day In Paradise

I’ve been quietly working on this project for over a year now – writing and testing recipes and photographing every dish myself. It’s the most challenging and exciting thing I’ve ever done. Cooking with Vegetables is out on 12th June, and I wanted to share it with you here first. The support I’ve gotten on this newsletter has been incredible, and I wanted to offer a bit more insight in to the process of making this book.

For some context, I barely graduated high school, and so sitting down to write over 100 recipes was daunting to say the least. I’ve dreamt of writing and photographing my own cookbook for most of my adult life, and I’ve never been more proud of a piece of work.

Faced with a blank screen and a suddenly blank mind when it came to writing the book proposal (that was eventually sent out to various publishers) I decided to ask myself a question “if you could write simply one recipe that is meaningful to you and you would want to share with others, what would it be and why?”.

I ended up writing a recipe for Artichokes and Homemade Mayonnaise. I don’t have many clear memories of my childhood, but eating artichokes with my siblings, and dunking them in mayonnaise can play vividly on a loop in my mind. My mother pulling them out of boiling water, teeth marks left in the stripped leaves, and all of us fighting over the heart. When I finished writing the recipe I knew that I wanted my book to be about vegetables, how to cook them until tender and delicious enough that even a group of city kids will fight over them. It’s not about about vegetarianism (I am not one), or diet, or any lifestyle choice. It’s about wanting to eat more vegetables and making something memorable with everyday ingredients - while using the simple but effective techniques I learned while in professional kitchens. I made sure that every recipe met the standard of that memory, constantly coming back to it as a sort of “homebase” for direction.

Artichokes and Homemade Mayonnaise from Cooking With Vegetables

When I told my publisher, and brilliant editor that I wanted to shoot the book myself, on film, and hand print it all in the dark room (I was a photographer for a decade before starting ADIP) I was met with nothing but support - something I heartily commend and thank them for. The dishes were all shot in my home kitchen, using the same natural daylight I do for my videos. It was shot over the course of a year and I spent the better part of a month in the darkroom printing each picture by hand. Like my food I wanted the photos to feel special without being too polished or forced. The cover and all of the chapter openers were shot at my dear friend Anna Greenland’s farm - vegetables pulled straight from the ground, or snipped from the vine, and laid on a table surrounded by our feral children.

Myself, and my nearest and dearest friends and family did what they could to bring this book to life, and It would mean the word to me if you considered pre ordering it.

I don’t think I have pre ordered a book until I wrote one myself and learned what it means to first time authors (and now I always do!). It makes all the difference in helping books get seen, stocked and supported all over the world. I wouldn’t have been able to make a book without the support you’ve shown me online already, so thank you to everyone that has watched, liked, or shared any of my videos/recipes and thank you for being here. Link for pre order below.

http://lnk.to/CookingWithVegetables

Love
Jesse/ADIP

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