Episode 157: The Life-Changing Power of Cookbooks

Cookbook Love Podcast

Do cookbooks have the potential to change lives? I think to answer this question we first have to define what it means to change a life. According to the Googles, change (verb) means to make someone or something different also known as convert, transform, rebuild, make over or reconstruct. So do cookbooks have the power and potential to make someone different? For this podcast, I’m going to talk about change for readers, writers, collectors, clubs, and of course cooks.

Cookbook readers: Yes, cookbooks have the power to change their life. I like to also call this group armchair cooks and you know who you are - you love to read cookbooks. They have to power to evoke memories, generate stories, introduce new ingredients and cooking techniques, show human interactions around the table, generate ideas, motivate cooks,

Cookbook writers: Because cookbook writers are actually in the process of creating their own cookbooks, the life-changing powers of their cookbooks goes into the habits and daily lives of the writer. From mastering making decisions, practicing cooking, learning new skills like recipe writing, focusing on one project, and learning the skill of getting published and making their writing public, cookbooks writers who get published are forever changed by the journey of writing and publishing.

Cookbook collectors: The focus on one genre gives collectors avenues on which to focus, doors into generational differences in cooking, a way to exchange value through purchasing and sales, the fun of pursuit of cookbooks.

Cookbook clubs: When a group gathers around cookbooks for the sake of sharing a meal made from the cookbook, they become people who connect and share food, they learn new recipes from the cookbook and get to experience new flavors, they learn new techniques of the foods they prepare and potentially introduce life-long favorites into their repertoire of foods for themselves and their families.

Cooks and bakers: This sort of goes without saying, but someone who cooks from a book, gains the benefit of learning new recipes, exploring new ingredients or cuisines, feeding themselves or their family, better health, more fun, possible healing.