Cooking Up Books From Scratch

Building a cookbook is a lot of work. From recipe testing to photography sessions to finalized editing – the process can be grueling. On this week's show, we hear how it gets done from beginning to end and meet some authors who fell in love with cookbooks at an early age.

Brazilian-born New Orleanian Ana Riehlmann was four years old when her grandmother, Voinha, helped whet her appetite for the written word – using recipes. In her self-published food memoir, I Learned to Read with Recipe Books, Ana takes readers around the world with her as she shares memories and recipes from a life in food.

Then, we learn how to write cookbooks with Kit Wohl. The incredibly prolific author has written fifteen cookbooks so far with another coming this fall. When it comes to her titles, Kit does it all: she cooks the food, writes the text, and handles the food styling, photography, and layout design.

We join Kit in her studio to witness one of her cookbooks being made, before speaking with David Spielman to learn how the New Orleans photographer captured some of the stunning portraits featured in Louisiana Eats!: The People, The Food, & Their Stories.

Finally, we speak with Brian Theis, whose debut cookbook, Infinite Feast, is both a guide to hosting loved ones and a colorful nod to cookbooks from the Atomic Era. Bursting with recipes, colorful photographs, and entertainment tips, the hardback also includes interviews with celebrity chefs and restaurateurs like Phillip Lopez and JoAnn Clevenger.