BIG news! We made (another) mini cookbook aka cooklet — this time all about SOUP!!!! 🍅🥄 Written by our friend, chef, and recipe developer Christina Chaey (👋 @seechaey ).
What’s in a SOUPLET, you ask??
🥣 5 super tasty soup recipes (ever heard of “Not Cream of Broccoli”??) 🥣 An in-depth guide to making Sizzle Stock 🥣 21 flavor-packed ideas for crispy & creamy soup toppers
And MORE! But here’s the best part — The Souplet is FREE with all orders while supplies last!! So go go goooo get your soup on at the link in bio 🍲
I am so incredibly proud to announce that I am writing a cookbook called Gentle Foods. It will be published by @_simonelement (an imprint of @simonandschuster ) and will be filled with plenty of comforting, nourishing recipes to guide you in the kitchen, as well as essays on mental health, divesting from diet culture, what “healthy” means to me, and more. I wrote more in a very personal newsletter (link in bio) up now, on pushing through the fear that holds you back and breaking free from the narratives we tell ourselves about who we think we are.
By the way, many of you may not know this is actually my second cookbook—I published my first one in 1997. I had a very limited run of one (1) copy, which is why you may not have heard of it. Literally screaming at these pages from “Cooking With Christina,” in particular the one about cooking for “Leonardo DiCaprio and his new girlfriend”—not in the least because I had no clue that, 19 years later, I would, in fact, cook for Leo (he came into the restaurant where I was cooking and I made him a burger lol). Nine-year-old Chaey had no idea of all the things she was manifesting, and I don’t think she would have believed me had I told her then what was yet to come her way.
Thank you to every subscriber to the Gentle Foods newsletter and to everyone who ever expressed enthusiasm for the idea of “gentle foods” even when you didn’t quite know what it meant you just knew you liked it. Thank you to everyone who has supported me since the BA days and well before. Thank you especially to my agent David Black, whose warm mentorship and guidance came into my life during a time when I needed it most; and to my editor Doris Cooper, who took a chance, sight unseen, on the idea that everyone could use a little gentleness in their lives. I can’t wait to share more about the book as it takes shape over the next year 🌱
NYC! Ahead of announcing the FULL Everyone Hot Pot tour schedule (tomorrow!!!ahhhhhhh), I’m thrilled to share the first event, which will surely set the tone for all events to follow, not least because @archestratus always has been a steady and soft landing place for me so many times over so many years, including the early early days when I wasn’t sure if “hot pot” as a topic could even be a cookbook but Paige said yes, yes, yes, you must. And so it was!
Their true blue devotion has been a constant throughout all of my work but especially this book. I hope you’ll join us for a night of hot pot fun— beginning with a sweet conversation with fellow soup queen and dear friend @seechaey followed by a SOUP PARTY and other special hot pot-themed drinks and snacks. Wow!
Tickets in my bio, let’s fill the room up xoxoxoxo !
I have admired @yooeating since the night I saw her give a badass lecture six years ago on the historical influences of China and Japan on Korean cuisine. I’m thrilled to join her in conversation to celebrate her new cookbook, SOJU PARTY, which is also a definitive text and love letter to Korean drinking culture, written as only Irene could.
Join us THIS THURSDAY 9/18 @thekoreasociety for a conversation about how to write the cookbook you want to see exist, our shared Korean eldest-daughter lore, the most obscure rules of Korean drinking, and our ideal 1/2/3-chas (and Korean hangover foods).
This event is FREE to attend and there will also be a livestream! The cuties of @yuandmebooks will be on-site slinging copies of Soju Party. Link in bio for tickets~
Terrible photo, great public service: introducing everything I pack to keep my tummy in tip-top shape on a long trip, in the newsletter today. Link in bio for the hot girls
I’ve been going to a lot more potlucks than usual this year, and I don’t think this is a coincidence. Today’s newsletter is about the joy of the potluck flex (when you only have to commit to making one dish, it’s a lot more fun to plan and scheme something special and out of the ordinary), and about the power of potlucks as soft places to land. There’s also a recipe for a very delightful, bright, fresh salad to bring to the next group hang. Link in bio - it’s a free one today 💗 (first foto by lovely @crismacg )
Rhubarb (poached in @drinkghia , or wine, or verjus) and beyond-tender cornmeal shortcakes. A sweet little baking project for your weekend - paid subscribers get this recipe in today’s edition of Gentle Foods (link in bio)
Spring things on today’s (free!) newsletter: how to scratch the gardening itch for the gardenless, a smart shopping strategy that makes cooking with spring produce a lot less intimidating, and the case for not saving your good stuff - link in bio to read!
Asparagus, coconut, and tofu stir-fry, today on the newsletter. Supermarket spears get supercharged with a tangle of charred shallots, toasty coconut and peanuts, and a bright orange-soy-sambal sauce. It’s everything I want to eat right now and I think you should make it (linq in bio)
What a joy it’s been getting to know the inimitable @meerasodha in person over the last couple of weeks. First, at a dinner at chez @xtinem in honor of her newest cookbook, Dinner: 120 Vegan and Vegetarian Recipes for the Most Important Meal of the Day, where I got to cook some of the incredible dishes from the book (baked butter paneer! matcha mochi cakes with sesame brittle! Harsha aunty’s naan!). Then, this week she joined me on this week’s newsletter for paid subscribers for an intimate conversation about burnout, perfectionism, depression, and how they intersect with our relationship to food and cooking. Link to our chat (and a recipe for the most incredible portobello mushroom pancakes with hoisin sauce!) in bio
