Good food writing is mostly good editing. A recipe can be delicious and still fail on the page if the steps run out of order, an ingredient goes missing from the list or the pan size is left to guesswork. These are the stories I edit most often, and what I look for in each of them.
Recipe packages. A set of recipes built around one idea, like breakfast dishes that hold up at dinner. Every ingredient in the method has to appear in the list, in the order it is used. Yields and timings need to be realistic for a home stove, and each headnote should tell the cook why the dish is worth their evening.
Chef tips. Short, practical advice gathered from people who cook for a living. I make sure each tip is something a home cook can act on tonight with ordinary equipment, and that every quote says what the person meant.
Menus. A dinner party story is really a schedule. I add the missing pieces: what can be made a day ahead, which dish needs the oven when, and a shopping list that matches the recipes.
Trend pieces. A trend needs examples, and examples need checking. I look for the claim behind the headline, ask for one more source when a story leans on a single restaurant, and cut anything a reader cannot use.
Single-dish stories. One dish, explained well. The test is simple: after reading, could you make it without the recipe? If not, something important is still missing from the text.
How I work
- A first read for structure: does the story answer the question in its headline, and is anything in the wrong place?
- A second read line by line for clarity, consistent units and the style the publication uses.
- A last pass as a cook, with a pencil in hand, walking through the recipe as if the stove were already on.
Have a food story that needs a second pair of eyes? Get in touch.