JESÚS ROJAS

FOOD WRITING

WHAT IS IT?
Food writing is a nonfiction category of writing
that focuses on the topic of food

Is not considered a genre in itself. It encompass

or borrow from a wide range of genres:
jorunalism, recipe books, memoirs or travelogues

EXAMPLES
Michael Pollan "The Modern Hunter-
Gatherer

Nigella Lawson "Home Cooking Can Be a

Feminist Act"

Anthony Bourdain "Don't Eat Before

Reading This"

HISTORY
Mesopotamia nearly 4'000 years ago
surviving recipes.

Herodotus documented the foodways of

"barbarian" cultures. He intended to show,
through the acto of eating, hoe much people
are the same.

"The physiology of taste" (1825) Jean

Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

HOW TO WRITE
ABOUT FOOD
Dont be picky
Capture the experience
Consider people and storytelling
What's new isn't strange
Consult locals
Try writing styles
Embrace media

"COOKING IS ALSO, SUPREMELY, A CREATIVE ACT. BY THAT I MEAN

NOT AN ART BUT A CRAFT. I LEAVE THE ART WITH A CAPITAL A TO
CHEFS. FOR THE HOME COOK,
OR FOR THIS HOME COOK IN
PARTICULAR, THERE IS SOMETHING LESS LOFTY AND MORE PHYSICAL:
THE FEEL OF THE DOUGH IN MY FINGERS, THE SCENT OF A LEMON AS I
ZEST THE SKIN AND THE AROMATIC OILS SPRITZ IN THE AIR, THE SIZZLE
OF ONIONS IN A PAN, THE DARKLY GLEAMING BEAUTY OF AN
EGGPLANT. COOKING PROVIDES DEEP AESTHETIC PLEASURE THOUGH
IT IS MANUAL WORK"
NIGELLA LAWSON

"BUT I DO THINK THE IDEA THAT BASIC COOKING SKILLS ARE A VIRTUE,
THAT THE ABILITY TO FEED YOURSELF AND A FEW OTHERS WITH
PROFICIENCY SHOULD BE TAUGHT TO EVERY YOUNG MAN AND
WOMAN AS A FUNDAMENTAL SKILL, SHOULD BECOME AS VITAL TO
GROWING UP AS LEARNING TO WIPE ONE’S OWN ASS, CROSS THE
STREET BY ONESELF, OR BE TRUSTED WITH MONEY"
ANTHONY BOURDAIN