How do you write a cookbook? Cynthia Nims has nine to her credit, each very full of her very own recipes (and she has co-authored many more). Her latest — "Shellfish," just out from Seattle's Sasquatch Books — offers 50 new preparations she's devised that encompass seven kinds of mollusks and crustaceans. A graduate of École de Cuisine La Varenne, she's also former editor of Simply Seafood magazine, former food editor of Seattle magazine and a longtime freelance food writer. But, still: Where do all the recipes come from?
The process of cookbook writing is, of course, different for different cookbook writers — Nims recommends the podcast "Everything Cookbooks" for a broader behind-the-scenes look. Since you're probably curious, a few of Nims' favorite cookbooks are "Cool Beans" by Joe Yonan, "Foods of Morocco" by Paula Wolfert, "James Beard's American Cookery," the newest "Joy of Cooking" and "All About Braising" by Molly Stevens, who's also part of the "Everything Cookbooks" podcast. (Nims provided more titles but had to be stopped somewhere!)
Following, find Nims' own words on her approach to cooking and to writing cookbooks (they're distinct), plus what she calls a "lovely, spring-y" crab-and-asparagus recipe from "Shellfish."
