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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/42774
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/42774
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

I recall "Two Meatballs In The Italian Kitchen", by Pino Luongo and Mark Straussman. It was two chefs with different styles of Italian restaurants that got together for a cookbook.

The basic premise is they told a 1/4 to one page personal story or anecdote about a dish. Where they first had it, who taught it to them, a celebrity that eats it every time they come to the restaurant, where it originated or how it became famous or where in Italy it is most popular, something like that. Sometimes its just a fond memory of a trip, or finding an unexpectedly good version in a town where you wouldn't expect it.

Anyway, nearly every recipe has a little story with it, always on the even-numbered page. If the story is short, the recipe and any special instruction starts on the same page with a large-type heading, if there isn't much room, it starts on the facing page.

People interested in just the recipe can skip the human-interest story pretty easily. But you are left some room for creativity. You don't have to follow their formula, exactly, your writing can be additional ideas or flairs with the dish, or what you have seen people do with it, convert it from an entreé into an appetizer, etc.

I think its an approach that gives you the best of both worlds.

Original score: 17