PORTRAIT OF YASMIN: ANDREW SISK. PHOTOGRAPHS: GETTY IMAGES. SOURCE FOR BOOK SALES: NIELSEN BOOK DATA UK
On a flight recently, I was scrolling through cover options for my forthcoming cookbook. I could feel my seatmate staring at my screen, itching for a chat. Finally she said, “What do you do for a living?” When I told her, she replied with, “Do people still buy cookbooks? Everything is online… You should do an e-book.” Ignoring the fact that not all recipes are online (thankfully), her comment left me a bit saddened: not only because I’ve written a cookbook, but also because I’m a deep lover of them.
The cookbook versus online debate is like comparing a bicycle to a car: both will get you to the same destination, but they’ll provide a very different experience on the way. We buy cookbooks for their inspiration and in-depth knowledge. The intimacy and engagement involved in reading from a cookbook is a world away from searching websites online, even though both methods have a valid place. Here’s my argument in defence of print.