Hedonism Eats FAQ
What Everyone’s Wondering but Afraid to Ask
The first book in the series is now available on Amazon.com
The first book in the Hedonism Eats series (Hedonism Eats Barcelona) has hit Amazon.com, and I know there are some questions out there.
Let’s take the bull by the horns, shall we?
Why the name “Hedonism Eats”?
When I quit full-time law practice, I vowed to do only fun, pleasurable things with my non-law working time. My writing business is called Hedonism Ink because I collaborate exclusively with fun, interesting, creative clients (which to me means mostly food, wine, and travel industry folks). So my cookbook passion project is Hedonism Eats.
Who is this first Barcelona book for?
Anyone who’s passionate about – or curious about – eating like a local in Barcelona. If you’ve got a credit card and an internet connection, you can make this menu. No Iron Chef knife skills or sous vide machine required.
What makes this cookbook different?
Most cookbooks, even ones about dinner parties, give you recipes written as if you’re only making one recipe at a time – but that’s not how dinner parties work. In the real world, you plan your cooking by thinking about all the steps for all the recipes you need to complete, and you time those steps so each course is ready exactly when you need it. You start with the steps you can do way ahead of time, and end with the ones that must be done à la minute. (You also hopefully time everything so you can sit down and eat with your guests, instead of spending all night in the kitchen.)
I haven’t seen a dinner party cookbook that takes care of all that planning for you. And I certainly haven’t seen one that includes links to buy obscure ingredients, a printable shopping list, and theme-appropriate musical playlists. So, I wrote one.
Testing the Piedmont specialty vitello tonnato . . . .
Why a themed dinner party?
Some of the best nights of my life have been at dinner parties. As much as I loooove going out to eat in restaurants, there’s nothing like gathering a group of hand-picked people together to share great conversation and home-cooked food and wine. My favorite type of dinner party is one where the host shares a culinary experience with their guests: taking them on a taste adventure somewhere they’ve never been.
The world is full of delicious regional cuisines, most of which aren’t very well-known in this country. My hope is that these books will introduce people to some new world cuisines, and make it easier for them to recreate the ones they love.
Why is each book just about a single dinner party?
I want these to be practical, useful books. Narrowing the focus to one dinner party per book eliminates a lot of variables, and lets me do all the planning for you – compiling your shopping list, organizing your prep lists, picking music, sharing fun facts, etc. – without it getting too long or complex. My goal was something simple, straightforward, and efficient for people.
There are two more Hedonism Eats books on the way this year (Bangkok and Sicily), and more to come after that – each one with a different culinary theme. If there’s a theme you’re dying to host, shoot me a note and tell me what it is!
Delectable beet pkhali and amber wine from the Republic of Georgia. Who’s with me??
Why are these books ebook-only?
An ebook is really the only way to compile all the links and resources you need for unusual cuisines in one convenient place. No one I know is willing to hold a printed book in one hand and type in a URL with the other. The ebook format lets me pack in so much more value – putting extra help literally at your fingertips.
I know it takes some getting used to. But life is all about change, no?