Halibut and cheese spread with pita; and reindeer sausage and kraut on a roll at Pier 49, Juneau, AK
I’ve just returned from the IFBC (International Food Bloggers Conference), and many of the attendees’ blogs were full of recipes, and several presentations concentrated on the business of recipe development: writing, testing, photographing, and making video for recipes. So I started thinking about my own blog.
I have a handful of recipes here on teaberry.life, but as I went through the site again, I started to realize that most of what I enjoy writing are food stories, not necessarily recipes. Even the recipe for my grandmother’s Christmas date-filled cookies, is mostly a food memory of family with a recipe attached to it.
So, my question is: do food blogs have to have recipes? Or can we fill our sites with food memories, stories, travel experiences, and the like, and still be considered a food blogger?
I’ve realized a surprising fact: I really don’t like writing recipes. Don’t get me wrong, I love to cook, but I see recipes as “guidelines”, suggestions for putting ingredients together. The way I cook is more organic—a pinch of this, a dash of that—and I have no idea how to catalog that. What I DO love about food is how it brings us together as family or community, and how food is the best representation of a culture.
When my husband and I travel, we explore a location through their cuisine. Every region has their own taste, and there are always new things to try. While in Juneau, Alaska for the IFBC, we were treated by a plethora of fresh seafood and wild game, which are part of the life and ecosystem of southeastern Alaska. From various species of salmon, to spot prawns, halibut, fish roe, and seaweed; to reindeer and caribou—ingredients that are difficult to get where we live.
By eating our way through a region, we begin to feel like locals, which garners a more intimate understanding of the cultures who live there. These are the things I want to explore as my blog evolves. Call me a food blogger, call me a travel blogger, or even just a personal blogger. Either way, I can guarantee that food will play a big role in my stories, as it is integral to our lives, and defines us as a people.
Growing up in an Italian family, food was an important part of my life. Many of my fondest memories are of certain smells and tastes. Our traditions revolved around food. When I get together with my cousins who are good cooks (which I’m not), they make the old dishes that we all loved. There are, however, very few recipes that were written down. Like you said, it’s a pinch of this and a dash of that.
Same with my family. I had to piece together my grandmother’s cookie recipe with my mom. My grandmother had 13 siblings, so some family holidays were huge, I had a lot of cousins! We had tons of food traditions. I’m just now trying to write some down.