How to Cook from Substack
A 5 point guide, with lessons learned so far
Hello and welcome back to Cooking the Stacks. I am so glad you are here to join me for some experimental home cooking, where I pick a foodie stack I admire, and cook or bake from it through the week.
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When I first started Cooking the Stacks, it was a little side project for my other stack Bake Experiments. I envisaged doing it for six weeks, until my holiday.
I didn’t expect the overwhelmingly positive response I received. I didn't expect so much encouragement that I would set up a separate stack for it.
As a food writer I get it. There is no greater buzz than seeing your recipes being baked or cooked. The joy and excitement I have brought to other writers has brought me untold joy too.
As I have been on my holidays, I’ve been unable to cook from any other stacks. So, this felt like a great point to do a round up, with five lessons learned, and my six top dishes so far.
Lesson 1: If you can, work off a tablet or laptop.
A logistical one to start. Cooking from a phone is tricky, particularly if you are cooking with someone else.
While cooking
’s Bumbu Seafood finale, my husband and I got in a bit of a bicker over looking at my phone. And when my phone locked my husband out at a crucial cooking moment (I was putting the kids to bed), his frustration was palpable.Working off a tablet or laptop helps.
Or you can print favourite recipes out and make a folder, perfect if you are the kind of cook to make a lot of notes.
Lesson 2: Expect some ingredients to be named different things
The audience for Substack is completely international. It's a wonderful mash of cultures and ideas.
Which means you will be cooking from Substacks from around the world. There will be ingredients you have never heard of, and have a wonderful time searching out in new, specialist shops.
However, there will also be times that ingredient you’ve never heard of, is just called something else in your country.
My best example of this is pepperoncino. While cooking from
’s Weeknight Pasta from Italy stack, I looked everywhere for the dried pepperoncino Lolly spoke so highly of. I thought it was a special kind of Italian chilli.I couldn’t find it anywhere. Lolly even kindly offered to post some to me.
I was just getting myself set up to drive out of town to find a specialist Italian delicatessen, when Lolly messaged me to let me know that in British English, dried pepperoncino is known as simply, dried chillies. Sold in pretty much every British supermarket, and I have a big pot in my cupboard. Ha!
So, it's worth doing your research. I have something in the pipeline to help readers with this too.
Furthermore, there are differences in cooking temperatures. Get used to converting from °F to °C, or the other way!
This has really opened my own eyes to my own recipes. Ensuring I include different cooking temperatures, as well as considering if the ingredients I’m using will be available elsewhere.
Lesson 3: Buy yourself a good set of cups, but bake by scale.
The issue of cups vs. scales is a controversial subject on Substack. In the interest of balanced journalism, here’s both sides of the coin:
Karlee Flores is a baker who measures with cups, to make baking accessible for her reader
Whereas Nik Sharma conducted some amazing experiments to show how weight does matter
If you want to cook from Substack, there are moments when you need to embrace how other countries and cultures do things.
So, for this Brit, that meant buying a decent set of cups - ones with a set of thirds (1/3 and 2/3), as well as half (1/2) and quarter (1/4) cups helps too. Can't find 1/3 cups? I have been informed by an internet chat forum that 1/3 cup is 5 tbsp and 1 tsp.
In the cups corner, they can make the whole cooking process a bit quicker and easier. And for cooking with kids? Marvellous! My cups set is decorated with pink flamingos and my daughter adores scooping ingredients with them.
But, if I want to bake with precision? If I want to make macarons or pastry? Cups simply won’t do. I’m very set on this and I’m going to explain why…
During my lemon tart assessment at pastry school, my scale went on the fritz, I got very flustered (assessments are nerve wracking, it happens) and measured out my filling with, you guessed it, cups and a measuring jug.
As I took my finished tart over to be assessed, my tutor knew immediately, by briefly looking, that my filling hadn’t been measured out properly. I passed, but barely. In fact, it’s the worst mark I received.
So, while I’ll happily cook with cups, I’ll always bake by scale.
Lesson 4: Get to know your own palate and tweak accordingly.
There is a wonderful quote in Asako Yuzuki’s bestseller Butter, about knowing what a “good amount” for you is.
The characters Rika and Reiko are discussing recipes terms such as ‘sugar to taste’ or ‘a good amount of salt,’ and how cooking is about trial and error. Figuring out what a ‘good amount’ looks like for you.
Rika then turns the concept into a metaphor for life:
“Nobody has to be fully satisfied by just one thing, and nor do they have to aim to be like everyone else. It's plenty if people can enjoy things a good amount, and be satisfied with their life overall.”
We all have individual palates. I love a bit of acid and a sour tang to elevate my food. Perhaps it’s all those years of drowning chips in malt vinegar. So, if a recipe isn’t finished with lemon juice, or a good whack of acid. I add that in.
Similarly with chillies. Not only am I a pale and pasty Brit, I’m a pale and pasty Brit with young children. So, there’s not a huge amount of chilli action in this household. But, I was keen to try the flavours, so toned down the amount of chilli initially, and have been gradually building up.
Get to know your own palate - do you have a sweet tooth? Perhaps you like bold flavours? Or more delicate ones? Maybe you are a fan of super spicy? Or need lots of fresh fruits and veggies. Whatever it is, don't be afraid to tweak recipes to work for you.
Lesson 5: Give the little guy a chance
Sure, big stacks may have a team of recipe testers. Or the writer is hugely experienced and knowledgeable. This generally means their recipes can be trusted.
But never discount the passion and ingenuity of one person having a wonderful time in their kitchen. There is some amazing work happening out there, so give small stacks a chance.
Another pro is that you get to join their community too. If you aren't sure about something in a recipe, you can pop them a line and ask. Everyone I have cooked from has been delighted to answer any questions, and give hints and tips.
It's good to remember, this person is often writing for free or not much money at all. For love and enjoyment. It's a passion they may have dreamed of for years, and are learning on their own. So, my motto is always be kind, food tastes better that way.
My greatest learning from the past six weeks? If you are open to other culinary perspectives, cooking from Substack will be such a valuable and fabulous experience, and will up your culinary game too.
The top six dishes so far
And which recipes have I already cooked again? Because that really is proof of the pudding!
’s Sensational Salmon Pantry Pasta (I have cooked again, twice!)’s Za’atar Chicken with Tumeric Rice ’s Bumbu Prawns in Yellow Curry ’s Chicken with Orange and Shallots’s Berry Cobbler with Sugar Cookie Topping’s Honey & Gochujang Chicken Wings (I originally cooked these as drumsticks, so I have cooked again as wings. Still absolutely delicious, although I might slightly prefer as drumsticks)Next week
As many of you know, I am a baker. May is also my birthday month.
So, throughout the month of May I am going to be baking through some awesome baking stacks - starting with
.Sophia is the queen of food trends and unusual flavour combination in her bakes, particularly savoury condiments. I can't wait to check it out.
Is there a foodie stack you are loving? Or perhaps you want to tell me about your own?! Please do let me know in comments, I’d love to hear about it.
Just put all these TOPs on my list to make! This is a brilliant post, Shell. Smart tips.
This is so fun. One more tip: with newsletters especially, it’s crucial to read all the way through before you start. Are all ingredients accounted for in the steps? Is there all the info you need about temperature? Best to find out before you have a bowl of batter waiting…