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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/42762
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/42762
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Your cookbook's primary function is being a reference book: providing clear recipes. My personal preference is to always have a picture of the final product, and preferably also intermediary stages, especially if the process is complicated. Everything else, every bit of writing creativity, is secondary to the cookbook's primary function.

Now, secondary doesn't mean it has no place at all. That introduction, which you treat with disdain, you can do quite a lot with it. The introduction is in fact the part that should make people want to cook from your book. Not just in the general sense of "I might find a recipe from here useful", but in the immediate way of "I want to make something from here now".

How do you do that? Tell your reader, in the introduction, what your book is all about. It's not just a random selection of recipes, is it? If it's the food of a particular region, tell about that region, about the part that food plays in local culture, about local flavours. If it's all about one particular kind of food (meat, or bread, or whatever) - talk about that. If it's about recipes being easy, talk about how everyone can cook and what a delight it is. Cooking is something you love, and you love this particular selection of recipes, right? Show that.

If there are sections to your book, you can treat the introduction to each section just as you treat the general introduction, only briefer.

And then, there are the recipes. To each, you can add a note about what makes it special for you: "my mother used to make this for special occasions", "my children love helping me with the making of those, as much as with the eating", etc. Add a personal touch, help people see themselves making the thing. Encourage people to make new things - stepping outside one's comfort zone is not easy, make people feel you're right there with them.

Just don't let the creative part overwhelm your cookbook. If I'm being sold more "talk" than actual recipes, I feel I'm being swindled. I bought the book for the recipes, after all - the rest is a bonus.

Original score: 6