Lindsay Gardner, the US author and illustrator, has written a new book, Why We Cook: Women on Food, Identity, and Connection. It captures the voices of over a hundred women in food, offering unique insights into the personal narratives of industry professionals and their relationship with cooking.

Fuelled by reflections upon her own time spent in the family kitchen and around food, Gardner was inspired to open up the conversation with fellow industry professionals, and dive deeper into a world in which women spend more time cooking at home than men. The result is a creative ode to women and food, and a desire to motivate future change in the industry, where in 2018, only 23.9 percent of chefs and head cooks were women.

Article

Amanda Cohen: We Need to Fix Our Restaurant Industry

In Fine Dining Lovers’ Turning The Tables, a series of talks by restaurant industry leaders, Amanda Cohen of Dirt Candy speaks about how the coronavirus crisis heighted issues in the industry and how it needs to change.

Packed with essays, kitchen profiles, interviews, recipes, and more, the book dips into the lives of 112 women restaurateurs, farmers, activists, food writers, activists, home cooks, and professional chefs exploring their relationship with food and cooking in a celebration of 'food meets feminism'.

Among the women featured is inimitable US chef and food writer Ruth Reichl, who shares her 'most memorable meals', including a surprisingly good steak found while 'dumpster diving'. Meanwhile, Slovenian chef Ana Roš talks about her approach to cooking at Hiša Franko restaurant. First-generation Mexican-American Rosio Sanchez comments on connecting with her roots by serving incredible tacos in her Nordic home of Copenhagen, while the US vegetarian chef and owner of New York City’s award-winning DirtCandy, Amanda Cohen, includes her essay, 'The Invisible Women', acknowledging those that historically were not credited for their work in kitchens. In all, there's a wealth of fascinating and personal tidbits to be found throughout.

_{Photo: by Smeeta Mahanti}

Why We Cook is a veritable feast of food, inspiring women and bite-size topics, from 'how to inspire creativity' to 'favourite kitchen tools', given character by Gardner's accompanying illustrations. As she calls it, “a celebration of women’s culinary contributions, achievements, and stories”.

Recipes from 'Why We Cook'

Manageable recipes include Canelés de Bordeaux by Mimi Mendoza, grilled wild salmon tacos by Sara Forte and chicken yassa by Jessica B Harris.

Find out how to make all three in these recipes shared from the book below.

Mimi Mendoza's Canelés de Bordeaux

The Hawaiian pastry chef from Senia restaurant in Honolulu shares her recipe for this bite-size patisserie.

Discover how to make Mimi's Canelés de Bordeaux

Jessica B. Harris's Chicken Yassa

The culinary historian, professor, journalist and speaker shares and her good-luck chicken yassa recipe.

Jessica B. Harris Recipe_Lindsay Gardner Illustration

Learn how to make Jessica B Harris' recipe for chicken yassa here.

Sara Forte's Grilled Wild Salmon Tacos

The Californian writer, cookbook author and mother shares her family's favourite recipe for cooking a whole grilled salmon during the wild salmon season.