Dianne Jacob's take on cookbooks and the stories we tell through food

From her earliest cookbook to the trends she's seeing now

Dianne Jacob is a writers’ writer – she has been the go-to resource for food writing advice for nearly three decades. Her book Will Write for Food and her newsletter have helped countless writers break into food media, land cookbook deals, and build sustainable careers. She knows the industry inside and out, from her early days editing a restaurant magazine to coaching writers to beat the odds with their cookbook proposals.

What sets Dianne apart isn't just her track record – it's her practical, no-nonsense approach to the business side of food writing. She's the person who tells you exactly what editors want to see, how to craft a pitch that gets attention, and when it actually makes sense to write a cookbook versus when it doesn't.

If you’re the type of person who likes to ask the chef at your favorite restaurant where she eats on her day off, then you’ll want to hear from Dianne about how she thinks about cookbooks. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.

-KT

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Do you remember the first cookbook you bought? Do you still have it?

I have the first cookbook my mother purchased. Before that, she cut recipes out of newspapers or handwrote recipes by interviewing friends and family. It was for me and my sister, called Betty Crocker’s Cook Book for Boys and Girls. I still make the sugar cookies, especially if I am baking with kids. They include nutmeg and lemon zest, which seemed quite sophisticated.

What’s the cookbook in your collection that’s the most splattered on or falling apart from years of loving use?

A friend who knows I like to bake gave me a paperback cookbook from 1989 titled Brownies, Bars, & Biscotti. It is a modest book with simple recipes that work. My mother-in-law became obsessed with the Walnut Biscotti and requested that I make them for all holiday dinners. Until one day, when she announced that she wanted store-bought Pepperidge Farm cookies instead. I haven’t made them since, and that was probably at least a decade ago. The lemon bars are good too.

As a Canadian, I used to cook from books by Anne Lindsay, who sold millions of them. I interviewed her here.

And I have to put a word in for Peg Bracken in The Compleat I Hate to Cook Book, because it’s hilarious and never fails to crack me up. I wrote about it here.

What cookbook most influenced your own approach to writing about food?

I’m afraid that my food writing idol, when I first started out, was not a cookbook author but restaurant critic Jonathan Gold. I lived in Los Angeles and wrote restaurant reviews. I was so enamored of him that I was too scared to interview him for the first edition of Will Write for Food. I finally got to interview him for my blog.

The way I write about food now is to use it as a tool to tell a bigger emotional story about identity, family, and love. I love a moving personal essay, sometimes with a recipe at the end.

I don’t necessarily look to cookbooks for that kind of content, but recently, Potluck Desserts surprised me. I liked Justin Burke’s confessional storytelling and pride (literally!) in celebrating his family of choice with baked goods to share. It’s a baking cookbook, but not one I’ll soon forget because of the story behind it. Eric Kim’s Korean-American is beautifully written to honor Kim’s past and present.

What's a cookbook you think deserves more recognition, either for its recipes or its writing?

Carolyn Phillips wrote a scholarly and passionate 514-page cookbook about the 35 cuisines of China, called All Under Heaven. She says in the introduction that she only got to “just the tip of the iceberg!” Each region gets its own chapter. Her illustrations are stunning and appear throughout. There’s lots of engaging storytelling about how the recipes got their names and who was behind them. Many recipe methods contain technique-based tips for success that make clear that she has cooked every dish multiple times.

When are you most likely to use a cookbook in your own life? For everyday cooking, bigger projects, or just to curl up on a couch and read through?

All three. I cook almost every day. Every once and a while, there’s a project. For example, I decided to make elderflower syrup and doing so required a learning curve of reading recipes from different sources.

I also love to read cookbooks in bed, especially the ones with lots of storytelling and evocative photos other than hero shots. Pakistan from Maryam Jillani is a current example. (Disclosure: I worked with her on some early writing.) Give me any book by Yotam Ottolenghi.

When you’re using a cookbook, do you cook recipes as-written or do you tend to riff on them or use them as looser inspiration?

Both. If it’s something I’ve never made before and I feel intrigued to try it, I usually follow the recipe. Sometimes I combine or skip steps or ingredients because as a recipe editor, I know how to make the recipe simpler and faster. Other times I have a hankering for a specific dish, such as babaganoush, so I look up a few recipes and then wing it.

What trends in cookbooks are you seeing that you’re really excited about? Any that you don’t love and would be happy to see end?

I enjoy the gorgeous illustrated covers that have vibrant colors. They might also have embossed lettering or design, or pillow tops. Unfortunately, the interior designs are too similar: White pages with full-color photos and recipes on one page each. They seem interchangeable. In contrast, Molly Baz and Rick Martinez definitely have their own style.