Blog Hop. Behind the scenes at Juls’ Kitchen

Let’s have a break from the usual stream of recipes. Yes, I promise I will share the recipe of these oat cantuccini with walnuts and honey in my next post, but today we’re going to do something slightly different. Today’s post will be about my projects and writing style. Tiana, from Tiana Kai in Florence invited me to join in on this Blog Hop. I am therefore supposed to share some of my darkest secrets with you. This is meant to be a little behind the scene or, better, into the kitchen of Juls’ Kitchen.

This Blog Hop is a series of four questions. You can check out Tiana’s answers and then come back here and read mine. I was supposed to nominate three other bloggers, but I will just keep the invitation open, so if you’d like to share some of your writing secrets with us, just grab the opportunity. And now, let’s start.

1. What am I working on/writing?

Thousands of recipes. Well, actually, just two – three recipes per time, but my mind in these days is spinning so fast I can barely keep the rhythm. I’ve been recently diagnosed with an intolerance to gluten and diary products, which I hope will be just temporary. This led me to a new perspective and a new curiosity. Now I am working on classical Tuscan recipes, but I try also to remake them following my dietary restrictions. Sometimes they work, and this makes me happy beyond words, sometimes they don’t, and believe me, it is more convenient to skip the description of the results.

I am working for magazines and companies to develop recipes, I take pictures, I am just at the end of the cooking classes season, so I am ready to step into a season which will hopefully be more focused on food writing, food photography and research. I need some good readings and this is the right moment to do it. My third book just came out, only in Italian for the moment, so I am also ready to promote it.

2. How does my work/writing differ from others of its genre?

I am deeply fascinated by words. I love food and I love English, too. These beginning features brought me to my ultimate goal, which is to depict my region, Tuscany, with vivid words and authentic recipes, with a perspective from inside, as I am a native Tuscan country girl. If you listen to my grandma, she even believes she has Etruscan ancestors, so I can assert I am truly local.

But English is not my mother tongue, I speak Italian with a sheer Tuscan accent, which you could easily recognize in any video recipe. This characterizes my written English, as well as my spoken English. I try to be ac correct as possible, I read English books and magazines, I listen to English tv programs, but my English is still extremely Italian. At the beginning I was scared and ashamed, then I realized this could be my uniqueness and my strength. Now I am quite proud of this strange mix of English words and Italian structures which I call my writing style.

3. Why do I write what I do?

One single world: passion. I’ve always loved cooking, growing up in a family where the good food was always given for granted. I discovered lately, though, how I deeply love talking about food, especially my heritage food and recipes, with a curious and light perspective.

Memories, imagination, traditions, words, images, colours, hues, accents work together to convey a unique story. Being a storyteller today is rewarding, especially when you can build such incredible relationships with your readers and fellow bloggers. Food is my natural habitat, as water is for a swimmer. I could not imagine my life differently now.

4. How does my writing/working process work?

Usually I’m pretty chaotic, but now I’m struggling with my schedule trying to be a tad more organized. I begin with an idea for a recipe and a story, or a mood. I cook the recipe and sometimes I take pictures of ingredients and different steps. In the meantime if I am in one of the better days, when I feel systematic, I scribble down ingredients and procedure.

Then it’s time to take the last shots, with the well styled recipe. I try to use visual elements which can convey my ideas and the general mood of the story. The very same day or even days later I collect all the details, pictures, notes… and I write my story, which in most of the cases is a blog post that will be published here on the blog.

So this was my Blog Hop! Feel free to grab the invitation and answer these few questions to give us an insight into your work and daily routine. Have a great Sunday everyone!