A Cookbook
Who are you?
Perzen Patel
What is your project?
I came to Brainstorm Road to get my cookbook into the world. The book I’m writing is tentatively titled “Butter Chicken Police” and will be a collection of short food stories and recipes. I’m hoping the book will show readers there’s more to Indian food than butter chicken and, at the very least, will be an heirloom I can pass on to my Kiwi kids when they want to embark on their own food journey.
Can we see some photos?
Don’t have a cover yet. But I know that this is not a book with fancy food photos. I want this book to be illustrated. I’m envisioning a hardcover A5 book that you can go to bed with. It will be a book you can read two ways. Open it from the front and it’s a collection of stories. Open it from the back and it’s a bunch of recipes you can use in the kitchen. Kind of like if your grandmother left you her recipe diary - a mess that’s memorable! Here are some illustrations done by artists Vasanti Unka and Tallulah Farar which is the style I’m dreaming in my mind:
Image by Vasanti Unka
Image by Tallulah Farrar
Image by Vasanti Unka
Where can we find your work and see your work in progress?
Beyond Butter Chicken | Perzen Patel | Substack
I’m serialising my cookbook on Substack. Subscribe and get all the new chapters in your inbox. It also means you can cheer me on!
What will you ship at the end of 6 months?
By the end of August, I’ll ship 20 stories that will go into my cookbook. I will also have my completed cookbook proposal ready to pitch to publishers. Do you know a publisher or illustrator that might be interested in what I’m building? Please connect me!
