Molly and Kate speak with Anna Ansari, a London based Iranian American writer, about her new book Silk Roads and the major career shift that brought it about. A former customs attorney, Anna takes us from her childhood in Michigan to a stint in Beijing where she discovered Uyghur cuisine and how a move to the UK precipitated an interest in cooking and food writing. She shares how she got interested in this particular topic and geographic location, what the research process was like and what went into crafting her writing voice. She explains the thought behind the pitch and proposal, the process of recipe curation and research and why she decided to package the book the way it is before touching on the marketing and promotion strategy and what she is working on next.

Hosts: Kate Leahy + Molly Stevens + Kristin Donnelly + Andrea Nguyen

Editor: Abby Cerquitella

Mentions

Anna Ansari

• Website
• Instagram
• Substack

Bibliography for Silk Roads (scroll to the bottom)

MiGrateful organization

Silk Roads: A Flavor Odyssey with Recipes from Baku to Beijing, by Anna Ansari

Home Food, Olia Hercules

Visit the Everything Cookbooks Bookshop to purchase a copy of the books mentioned in the show

• Silk Roads: A Flavor Odyssey with Recipes from Baku to Beijing by Anna Ansari
• Home Food by Olia Hercules