Stop Falling for Pretty Cookbooks That Lowkey Hate You aka Food is Political

Tired of buying cookbooks that collect dust (or shame you for not owning grape molasses)? Same. In this episode, we’re talking about how to choose a cookbook that actually fits your real life and not some Pinterest-perfect fantasy.

I’ll show you how to spot the red flags (hello, pancetta prep on a Tuesday night 😵‍💫), how to tell if a cookbook is for beginners or pros, and what makes a recipe book actually useful.

This isn’t just a rant – it’s a full-on guide to picking the best cookbooks based on who you are, how you cook, and what you’ll actually make. Whether you’re a total kitchen newbie or just cookbook-curious, this episode will help you skip the hype and find books you’ll use on a random Tuesday.

✨ WHAT WE COVER:

• How to spot a cookbook scam
• The difference between recipes vs. how-to cookbooks
• Why food photography is lying to you
• The 80/20 rule for ingredients
• Why cooking is lowkey resistance (yup, we go there)
  
  

🎧 Prefer to skim? Head to the full episode transcript at www.jenniferwalter.me
📲 Say hi or share your fave cookbooks on Instagram @itsjenniferwalter

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Chapters

• 0:00 A No-Nonsense Guide To Cookbooks
• 1:20 Cooking As Care And Quiet Resistance
• 3:20 Recipe Book Or How-To Book
• 7:36 Red Flags And Money Pits
• 12:00 Real-World Ingredients And Substitutions
• 15:30 Photo Honesty And Teacher Mindset
• 19:10 Weeknight Reality Check
• 22:20 Food, Agency, And Mental Health

Transcript

Jennifer Walter: 0:00

Ever bought a cookbook that made you feel like a failure before page one? This episode is your no bullshit guide to picking books that actually help you cook without requiring a ring light, a French accent, or edible gold leaves. There's a different way to think about mental health. And it starts with slowing down. Sometimes the longest way around is the shortest way home. And that's exactly where we're taking the scenic route. Hi, I'm Jennifer Walter, host of the Scenic Route Podcast. Think of me as your sociologist, sister in arms, and rebel with many causes. Together, we're blending critical thinking with compassion, mental health with a dash of rebellion, and personal healing with collective change. We're trading perfectionism for possibility and toxic positivity for messy growth. Each week, we're exploring the path to better mental health and social transformation. And yes, by the way, pretty crystals are totally optional. You ready to take the scenic rout? Let's walk this path together. So, welcome back to the scenic rout. I'm Jen, your host, and today we're doing something a little different. If you know me from more serious episodes, don't worry, I'll still take things very seriously, and rest assured, I especially do take my food very seriously. Today though, we're gonna talk about cookbooks. And before you click away thinking this is trivial, let me be clear, food isn't trivial. It's culture, it's care, it's survival, it's political, and often it's resistance. So, in a society built on speed, overconsumption, outsourcing, choosing to cook is a quiet refusal. And I'm not having any of this trad wife crap. Or claiming cooking from them. It's a way of saying I won't let everything in my life be optimized, pre-packaged, or delivered. And I feel there's also comfort in knowing that I can take care of myself. But here's the thing: the way we learn to cook determines whether the kitchen becomes a site of empowerment, right? Or like a place of stress. And a good book, and a good cookbook is a portal to confidence, creativity, and connection. And the bad one, oh, it's just really like that glossy promise that's laughing at you while collecting dust. So I mean, I once bought a cookbook called, I don't know, it was something called Lightning Fast Family Dinners or Family Dinners on their 20 minutes or something like that. And I was like, ooh, good, I do need that. And yeah, and one of the recipes was like cure your own panchetta, something like that. Or it's also okay if you do store bond, but it's better if you cure it yourself. And I mean, yeah, no, I draw the line on curing my own meats, especially when you market it to me as lightning fast family dinners. So, I mean, a few weeks ago I shared a stack of my new cookbook cookbook editions on Instagram, um, and it sparked quite a few conversations. People asking which ones I actually use versus which ones I just just kind of look pretty on a shelf. And honestly, that's a really good question. So today I'm kind of like giving you my brutally honest field guide to navigating the cookbook industrial complex, if you will. Think of this as kind of like your bullshit detector because we're going strong with bullshit detecting always. And I mean, let's face it, we've all been catfished by a beautiful cover photo. I mean, it is true. So after, I don't know, approximately $850 spent on cookbook heartbreak, which was a raw fact, um, uh, I don't know, estimation on my part. I I'm really kind of got good at spotting the good ones from the bad ones. So let's go. And we're gonna start strong because the first question you need to ask yourself will save you already from like 90%, again, rough estimation on my part, of cookbook regret. Right? You ready? So you have to know whether you are looking for recipes or if you are looking for a book on how to cook. And this isn't a trick question, it's the difference between a successful relationship and an expensive self-shelf decoration, right? And knowing cancer will save you a lot of money. So here is how to know what you actually need. If you think you might need a recipe book, it is when, I don't know, when you know how to scramble eggs without watching a YouTube tutorial, or you understand what golden brown looks like, or glassy celery. You've successfully improvised a few times without needing to order pizza backup. So, and ideally, you want inspiration on what to cook and not education how to cook. So, like, and then kind of like recipe books are like nice, they are very glossy, right? They show you the glamour, but don't tell you like about dirty dishes and three-hour prep time and whatnot. So you need to be kinda fluent with kitchen lingo when it says like cook until dawn, cook until vegetable appears glassy, whatever. And if you're fine with that, the recipe book is a good choice. And if you're like, Yeah, maybe I rather need a technique book, then like you're more into like how much how much salt should go into pasta water. Or I'm not really like what does sauting mean? And that brings me to I don't know if you watch Shits Creek, fold in the cheese. If you're not sure what folding in the cheese means, and you explain it by folding the cheese, just fold in the cheese, David. Yeah, uh we're gonna look at technical books for sure. Um and some of them blend like blends both, like recipes and technique, but it's really like hey, explain like a good technical technique-focused cookbook will explain the science in simple terms, so you're kind of like getting what you're looking for. Because a lot of cooking and baking is is chemistry, so you need to know how to properly beat egg, like how properly beaten egg whikes look like at the different stages, so you know I don't know what to do and or when things took the wrong turn. And of course, there are also books who blend both approaches, and that's fine, but kind of just be sure. Again, are you looking for a recipe or are you looking for a how to cook book? And then, like, then there's like two red flags to me that I'm like, if I I'm like, no, mm-mm. And one is like the the celebrity, or like I actually have three. I say I have three, three red flags. What is kind of like the the is that's easy to spot. It's a celebrity chef trap. It's usually like a very cool, professionally made cookbook by some favorite TV personality, and they share their like authentic family recipes, and yeah, those recipes were probably developed by a team of culinary school graduates. I don't know, no. So, and and my giveaway is always kind of like when I don't know, when I don't believe that they actually cook this themselves, and like every photo of them cooking or the kitchen or everything looks like, I don't know, it could also be a a shot for architectural digests. And the oh, I once had one that I was I was reading up the the abstract on the back of the book cover and the and the shop, and it was mentioning like their stunning kitchen and their stunning, their beautiful house and stunning kitchen and whatever, instead of like the cooking experience or the actual recipes. So that was kind of like nope, we're not no, we're not gonna buy that. Um and another red flag to me personally is any kind of like special specialty equipment money pit. I mean, some cookbooks assume you own whatever, whatnot. Like, I mean, I I have some kitchen gadgets, but I don't, for example, I don't have a pasta machine. I do have a stand mixer, but I don't have a spice grinder. Like, so if books check if the books are written by people whose kitchen budget, kitchen gadget budget exceeds like your rent payment. Like then no, walk away. Walk away, okay. Um another thing I like to do is the I don't know, the weird experience, the weird ingredients a bit, and weird is of course um totally from my Western European uh ass point of view. Like if I'm browsing a cookbook and I flip to a random page and scan the ingredients, and they're like at least two different two ingredients that I can't even pronounce, and I would need to like talk to someone at the shop that who can tell me where to find this in a grocery in like where to find it, on which shelf it is, then it might not be for me. So maybe have like an 820 rule. It's cool to try new stuff, but if I don't know, if you don't if you don't have 80% of the ingredients at home or in like your regular ass grocery store, this book might not be for you unless you're like, no, I want to dive into Persian kitchen and I need other things, fine. You go do that. Always well worth it. Just approach it with that mindset that it might just take more time for you or more effort. Um, yeah, and I always feel like good cookbooks give you or acknowledge that sometimes you need to improvise and kind of like wing it and or to correct mistakes. And I have a few great cookcooks who also kind of like tell me, you know, if that isn't available, you can actually substitute it with that, and who don't treat substitution like some culinary war crime. Um, or if you have like, oh, if you feel it's like too salty, add a bit more of that, you know, already like uh so if you have phrases in your cookbook that like if you can't find eggs, try C, or like, oh, in case you don't have buttermilk, like I don't know. Um you can try this and that, or you know, just kind of like add milk and just add some vinegar to it, you know, like all of these just kind of like to make your life actually easier. To me, those little phrases are telling me that the order lives in a reality that's somewhat adjacent to mine, and that really helps. And then kind of like what I also is like I cook photo deception cookbook imagery. Now, this is of course totally personal preference. I'm more of the the messy kind of food photography. Like if there are images on there that look like they're styled by someone using tweezers and spray bottles and whatever, whatnot, and the dish looks like museum picture perfect, this is probably not my cookbook. Like, I want the my food to look delicious but achievable. Like, I actually can do this shit. Uh natural lighting is good. You can also have like an imperfect or messy sauce drizzle. I want the photos to make me hungry, not insecure. And like the best cookbook photos to me, they show they show me that what the food I'm about to prepare looks like. I don't know. Looks like it's been done, but like it's been cooked by a human being on a random ass Tuesday night. And I just I don't know, it should look appetizing. And to me personally, that's more of if it looks a bit messy. I'm fine. Like I love the messy cookbooks. Um, and that also might be an another thing that I look for, and this could be controversial. Some are like, no, I just want to have recipes that don't care about, like, I don't know, the cookbook author's sob story. I'm kind of like, yeah. I I once looked for a book that was like 80% sob story and 20% recipes. That was a bit that felt like an imbalance. But I I like the sob stories, right? I like to I like to l to read, I don't know, um, about their trial and errors, about their burnt dinners, the and I don't know, what what what they fucked up, and not just like the glossy bits, or how their grandma taught them to cook, or I don't know, all these things, right? If they mention cooking as yeah, the lessons learned, also the disasters and the story that they can show me that I don't know, I believe them that they're feeding real families and the food doesn't go just I don't know, gets tossed. That I like. That's always a green light for cookbook purchases. Um, and it again, right? It goes also into um just kind of like do they have a teacher mentality? And that that's often with also with like these celebrity books, right? Are they just kind of like these are my recipes now, bow both bow down before me? Or is it like, you know, I'm gonna teach you how to cook, I'm gonna explain why my technique works, why what I do works, um, and how, and like I'll offer troubleshooting tips. I like so, you know, I just kind of like support you, got your back. I mean it, I mean, I mean like your teacher, not just some dude showing off. Um, and then is really like, okay, again, also are you looking for like a special occasion cookbook, or are you looking for like I don't know, spicing up your family dinners on a weeknight? And then again, be bro be really honest with that and look at the recipes and be like, would you would you realistically make any of that on a random Tuesday when you're tired, slightly stressed, and you just want something good to eat? Or it like if the answer to that question like requires you to become like a totally different person with different life circumstances, run away. Run, like it's not gonna make you happy, it's just gonna make you fucking miserable. And and it's okay, right? Like it just be honest what you're looking for. If you want something to marvel at, I mean you can buy a book of wedding, how to make wedding cakes or whatever. I mean, doing it if you're just like looking at the pretty pictures. I mean, if that's your jam, then fine, right? But don't come crying that you can't can't make those recipes on a random Tuesday night when your ass is tired. Um, so I would like that's all the things like kind of like blue when I look at the cookbook. Um and then of course with with any kind of these purchases, yeah, will you still love this cookbook maybe when the hype is over for it? Um because I don't know, sometimes we buy books because I don't know, and one recipe was hyped or the creator was hyped on social media or somewhere. But I don't know, will it will you still love it when the novelty wears off? Because I don't know, I have cookbooks, I have some some of them for years. Um and they're like the the ones that I still have, they're like reliable, unpretentious, they're always there when I need them, like good friends. And I sort of sort of they live all on this all together on the same shelves and maybe they do talk about me. I don't know, not so sure. I'm I'm looking at them right now. Um, so you know, and it it's also like to me, it's also okay if your book gets food stains on the pages. I mean, also maybe a controversial take, and I have scribbled notes and the margins and the bookmarks. I feel that's that's all like I don't know, it it shows me that they're love and lift. Of course, you could doesn't mean that they're you could also have them clean and they're love. Sure. Um, I can't. Maybe it's my ADHD brain, but I can't. Anyway. Um because like at the end, as always, this is what it's all about, right? Cooking is rarely just about feeding ourselves. It's like a big pillar of our mental health, it's shaping daily rhythms, it's creating community, it's it has strong soothing characters, right? We do regulate with food. That's not necessarily always just a bad thing. And sharing a meal is one of the oldest forms of human connection. And learning to cook well, whether that means boiling pasta without drama or mastering your sourdough, whatever, it gives us back a sense of agency, right? And I feel that's really hard these days for a lot of us because we're we we outsource so much, also because we to some extent because we have to, because it we can't do it all at the same time. And a lot of things feel very much overwhelming. And it food anchors me. I think it anchors us, it slows us down, and when we cook together, it makes us part of something bigger than ourselves. And so good cookbooks aren't just recipes collections. Right? They remind us joyfully that choosing to cook imperfectly, messily, joyfully is I don't know, it's just a quiet thing we can do. And when I don't know, everyone tries to speed us up, speed us up and just kind of like squeezes us for more. So, I don't know, go forth art with your newly calibrated bullshit detector on cookbooks and find the one that I don't know will you will actually like and you will actually think will make your cooking skills and your life better instead of just looking pretty on a shelf. And yeah, if your future self and your your people will really thank you. Um and oh, and if you find yourself in a bookstore holding something called like Crystal Water 101, Ways to Hydrate Mindfully, put it down, walk away. Some battles aren't worth fighting. So, hey, this uh this is for this week's episode of the Cine Ground. Uh, if you got a cookbook disaster story, or if you want to tell me about the one the one cookbook that actually changed your life, always happy to hear that, to hear that. Tag me on Instagram, drop a comment. I really want to hear about your kitchen wins, your kitchen crimes. Gimme give me the dirt. And look, I know some of you are wondering, well, why when are we getting back to the series episodes? Here's the thing: food is political. It always has been. Um, for example, like remember the episode I did on veganism? Veganism is very much political. Um, or also, like, who gets to call a dish authentic? Who decides what counts as national cuisine? Remember, remember the nationalism episode I did a few episodes back? How we talk about national dishes and national cuisine that are often like, I don't know, younger than photography. And food, how food does not recognize borders, but we've drawn them lines around them anyway. When you choose to cook instead of just outsource everything, when you feed yourself and your people, this is not trivial. This is a grand thing, and it's a small act of resistance, right? In a system that this is designed to keep you dependent, rushed, consuming. And so, like, it's also like we've we've been taught to think of recipes as property, as authentic only when they stay inside certain borders as ours versus theirs. And it's really interesting that some of them you can cook without we're not talking about culture appropriation here, right? Food has always flown, culture has always it was always in flow. Culture is not something solid. So today we talked about cookbooks, but really, I don't know, we're talking about the same thing we always talk about. Noticing the invisible frames, questioning what we're told is normal, asking who benefits when we accept those stories without pushing back. So I guess until next time, keep cooking, keep persisting, and remember, your kitchen doesn't need to look like a magazine to feed you well. Love y'all. See you next week. And just like that, we've reached the end of another journey together on the Scenic Group Podcast. Thank you for spending time with us. Curious for more stories or in search of the resources mentioned in today's episode? Visit us at scenigrouppodcast.com for everything you need. And if you're ready to embrace your scenic group, I have got something special for you. Step off the beaten path with my scenic group affirmation card deck. It's crafted for those moments when you're seeking courage, yearning to trust your inner boy and eager to carve out a path authentically, unmistakably yours. Pick your scenic group affirmation today and let it support you. Excited about where your journey might lead? I certainly am. Remember, the scenic group is not just about the destination, but the experiences, learnings, and joy we discover along the way. Thank you for being here, and I look forward to seeing you on the scenic route again.