Rediscovering the Magic of Cookbooks in a Digital Age
Long before reels and YouTube dominated our screens, we cherished good old-fashioned cookbooks. Many of us still do, including myself as someone who has written several. Yet I often wonder if we still engage with them in the same intimate way we once did.
I remember reading recipe books like storybooks during my childhood. My mother, who learned cooking after marriage, maintained a small but precious collection that filled me with awe. She also kept journals stuffed with newspaper clippings and handwritten notes—recipes she had torn from magazines, adjusted, rewritten, and made uniquely hers. Those pages felt alive, carrying faint scents of ink, food stains, and genuine effort.
Building a Personal Collection
I started my own cookbook collection at age thirteen. My first cooking experience came from a bright green Tarla Dalal cookbook for kids. To this day, I can still recall the taste of the flapjacks we baked from its pages. Every holiday abroad meant a bookstore visit, where I would head straight to the cooking section, usually the baking aisle, to select a new book to bring home. Kinokuniya in Japan became a particular favorite.
Over the years, these books became trusted companions. Some I returned to repeatedly, while others quietly settled into the background. I must admit that searching for recipes online now feels easier, faster, and more convenient. Consequently, some of my beloved cookbooks slipped into bottom drawers and shelves, forgotten but never unloved.
The Tartine Inspiration
One such book was the Tartine cookbook by Chad Robertson and Elisabeth Prueitt from the famous US bakery. I purchased it nearly fifteen years ago, shortly after opening Le15 in Mumbai. This book felt like hope bound between covers. I would read through the recipes slowly, feeling like I was getting to know the chefs behind them.
I spent hours poring over its pages, admiring the photographs, the way light fell on the bread, and the honest writing. It inspired me to imagine what my own first cookbook might look like someday. I even told myself that one day, I would visit this bakery.
Life's Twists and Turns
Then life unfolded in unexpected ways. I opened my first store, then a second, and then more. I wrote my first book, The Big Book of Treats, in 2014, followed by others. I experienced career highs I had once only dreamed of, baking for people on my wish list, gaining recognition for my work, and even becoming a judge on MasterChef India in 2023.
There were lows too. Stores closed, a café did not survive COVID-19, and I faced the sobering reality of scaling a business. I went through periods of feeling lost and heartbroken. None of that was particularly enjoyable.
Finding New Passions
Somewhere amid all this, I discovered fitness. It began simply with showing up at the gym every day. Then I said yes to my first fitness racing event, Hyrox, in Mumbai last year, followed by a second. Before I knew it, I completed my first international half marathon in Bangkok last November.
Last year, Apple invited me to Los Angeles to experience Apple Fitness. It was November, and Santa Monica felt like renewal. I had just signed a space for a new café in Mumbai, decided to move my central kitchen, and launched my first children's fiction book, Aria & the Magic Apron. Life felt simultaneously full, scary, exciting, overwhelming, and expansive.
The Full Circle Moment
After a day at the Apple Fitness studio, a few of us decided to grab lunch. Someone suggested a wholesome, rustic café nearby. As the cab pulled over, my jaw dropped.
I saw a sign I had seen so many times before in my cookbook—a sign that had once felt like a distant dream.
"Do you like this place?" my friend Niraj asked.
I smiled. "It feels like life has come full circle."
I pushed open the door and walked into Tartine.
Standing at the counter, I felt absurdly happy just taking it all in. I ordered a salmon tartine with a poached egg, a lemon tart, and a coffee. I noticed every tiny detail—the warmth, the rhythm of the space, the quiet confidence of it all. I realized I had not thought about the cookbook in years and hoped I had not misplaced it.
A Special Lunch and Realization
That lunch felt truly special. The weather was perfect, and soft light fell on our table. With coffee in hand and a fork breaking into that lemon tart, something settled within me.
I had been nervous about starting something new again, about pushing my creative boundaries while still craving comfort, about putting myself out there in a different format. It felt safe where I was, but I knew I needed to let go of fear to move forward.
Sitting there, something told me everything would be okay. I made a mental note to find the book when I got home.
Rediscovering the Treasure
Back in India, I went straight to my bookshelf. Right at the bottom, there it was—worn, used, and clearly loved. Flipping through its pages, I could not help but smile. I am looking forward to making the Hazelnut Biscotti again; it has been a while since I baked them.
New beginnings always bring a mix of fear and excitement. Sometimes you just need an old recipe book to remind you that you have done this before. You have trusted yourself once, and you can do it again.
No matter what the outcome is, the journey of doing it again will be beautiful.
Pooja Dhingra is a Mumbai-based pastry chef, entrepreneur, and author. She is the founder of Le15 Patisserie.
