My First Kitchen Memory
Describe your earliest memory of cooking with someone. How did the experience influence your current relationship with food and cooking? Reflect on the aromas, the tastes, and the feelings of that day.
Suggested length: An essay or article: 800 to 2,500 words
Start the clock
Pick a sprint, press start and keep going until it stops. Momentum beats polish on a first draft.
Make it yours
Three ways to take this prompt somewhere nobody else will.
- Write for a curious friend, not an expert.
- End with something the reader can do or think about today.
- State your main point in one sentence before you start.
Writing cooking books
Recipes that work, and a reason to cook them.
Cookbooks and food writing cover everything from a single cuisine to the science of how cooking works. The best ones have a point of view: a voice, a philosophy, a story behind the food.
What readers expect
- Reliable, tested recipes
- A clear point of view
- Stories behind the food
- Beautiful, useful design
A tip before you start
Test every recipe more than once, ideally in someone else's kitchen. Readers forgive a lot, but not a cake that fails.
More Cooking, Food and Wine prompts
- The Meal We RememberDescribe your most memorable meal shared with someone special. What made the food, the setting, or the company unforgettable? Reflect on the emotional…
- Fire Pits and FermentationWrite a narrative exploring the resurgence of an ancient cooking method in modern kitchens, such as fermenting or fire pit cooking. Include interviews…
- From Farm to TableChronicle the journey from farm to table for a specific meal you prepared, emphasizing sustainable practices. Discuss each ingredient's origins, the…
- A Meal That Changed My MindDescribe a transformative dining experience that altered your perspective on a particular cuisine. Delve into sensory descriptions—tastes, smells…
Fifteen minutes in? Keep going.
Chapterly gives a draft somewhere to grow: chapters, daily word goals, and readers when you're ready.
Plans from $9.99 a month. Cancel any time. Your words are always yours.