The 5 Best Food Blogs for Ethnic Cuisines
5. Farmette
Cuisine
Irish (and Irish-American)
The Story
Once upon a time, Imen McDonnell used to live in Minneapolis, New York, or Los Angeles. Then, out of the blue, she met a “dashing Irish farmer” and decided to leave life as she had known it behind and move to the Irish countryside. She literally started life all over again, but not with glitz and glamor – this time around it was all about muck, hard work, farming, foraging, cooking, and all sorts of other traditional skills. Imen has a son and has been living on a farm in Ireland for several years now. She is currently working on her first cookbook, The Farmette Cookbook, Recipes & Adventures from Life on an Irish Farm, set to be published in Ireland, the UK, and the US in the autumn of 2015. In the meantime, aside from baking, cooking, farming, and making preserves, Imen writes a weekly column in the Irish Country Living/Irish Farmer’s Journal.
The Blog
Farmette is a charming diary of life on an Irish farm, complete with all those experiences one would think only happened in the movies: tending after the animals, doing housework, and cooking for “two farmers”. The blog is about that, just as much as it is about turning your life around and moving to a new country, while relinquishing a career, family, and friends. Since she’s started living on the farm, Imen has made butter, cheese, cream, cider, jam, honey, and bread, she’s taken up Irish-style home cooking, and has also directed a documentary on Irish food advocacy in the spring of 2012 – Small Green Fields. She’s also taken part in restoring the thatched farm house and keeps up a list of Irish talent to watch out for on her blog.
Blog Metrics
PR – 4/10
DA – 46
Alexa Rank – 1,173,688
Fans & Followers – Imen has got 7.7k followers on Twitter, 3.2k Facebook fans, over 20k fans on Instagram and also uses Pinterest.
Foodie Philosophy
“It is a blog about leaving behind a career, a city, a nation and a slew of family and friends when I fell in love with a man, a son, a farm, a country and its traditions… and perhaps most challenging: finding my way around a kitchen and becoming a home cook and baker in a world where traditional trumps quick and convenient.”
This blog is all about change and going back to the roots. Aside from the recipes, which are a charming blend of old world practicality and somewhat more modern and sophisticated trends, it’s also about integrating countryside living into the life of a former urban dweller. Check out some of Imen’s recipes below.
Signature Recipes
4. IndianSimmer
Cuisine
Indian
The Story
Prerna is the epitome of modesty, when she describes herself as “a learning cook”, judging by the skill she displays in creating and perfecting her recipes. She was born in central India and lived around the country until she eventually married an American, with whom she now has a daughter. She lovingly refers to her daughter as “the butterfly”. The three of them all live in the U.S., where Prerna cooks, learns, and fosters her two passions: the one for food and the one for photography. She dedicates a lot of time to creating, developing, testing, and retesting her recipes, and has set up a small studio in the former garage.
The Blog
The first thing that strikes you when you land on IndianSimmer is how well organized the recipe dropdown menu is: it’s got starters, vegetarian mains, non-vegetarian courses, breads, sweets (not all of them Indian), preserves, and a special lunch box section, which is ideal for those who want to pack a bit of Indian flavor to lunch at work. It also comes with an awesome section of how-to’s, in case you’re interested in honing your Indian cuisine skills, but don’t necessarily know how to bake Naan bread , make paneer, or use the right ingredients in order to come up with genuine Indian-style curry. The blog has been extensively featured on the U.K.’s Food Network, as well as on Saveur, and, like many others, it also features a cookbook: Everything Indian – Slow Cooker Cookbook. Prerna says she started the blog one day, when she realized her list of bookmarked blogs had become too long. She made it her goal to prove that there’s more to Indian food than just curry and spicy foods and that it’s nowhere near as complicated as people want to believe it is.
Blog Metrics
PR – 4/10
DA – 46
Alexa Rank – 399,876
Fans & Followers – Some 5.3k people like the IndianSimmer page on Facebook, while 2k followers are regularly looking forward to Prerna’s tweets on Twitter. You can also follow her on Instagram and Google+.
Foodie Philosophy
“Three things made me this awesome cook (sarcasm!) that I am today… circumstances, no help and hunger!”
Prerna loves life and cooking, she’s adamant about learning through testing and retesting until she gets a recipe right, and she has a lighthearted nature. All these things shine through her recipe writing – while her photography skills are getting better by the day! Check out some of her traditionally Indian recipes below.
Signature Recipes
3. Muy Bueno Cookbook
Cuisine
Latin (Mexican) and TexMex
The Story
decided she wanted to write a cookbook to honor the memory of her grandmother, Jesusita, her northern Mexican recipes, and the love they inspired in the family. To this day she fondly remembers her grandmother tirelessly working in the kitchen, then inviting the whole extended family to come in and enjoy the food. Currently living in Denver, Colorado, Yvette was born and raised in El Paso, Texas. For many years, she was one of the few in the family who didn’t cook and serve Mexican dishes, but the memory of her grandmother has altered her perspective about cooking and determined her to share Jesusita’s recipes and love for tradition with the world. The blog is also maintained by Yvette’s mother, Evangelina Soza, who brought up her three children as a single mother and ended up running a grocery store as well. The third contributor is Evangelina’s other daughter, Veronica Gonzalez-Smith, who is a teacher with several years lived in Japan in her story. The three have eventually published the cookbook that started it all, in October 2012.
The Blog
The blog is a delicious celebration of all the best things about Latin cuisine: you’ll come across tortillas, enchiladas, quesadillas, carne asada, and all the other things la cocina is famous for – plus some more modern additions. They are proof to the fact that Yvette, her mother, and her sister are doing a great job at keeping the tradition of Mexican cuisine alive. The blog has also spawned opportunities to work with the three women, in promoting certain brands and it also features a special video section with tips on cooking, as well as cultural information about major Mexican traditions, such as La Dia de los Muertos. It also has a travel section, which sees one or all of the contributors relating their exploits around the world, from Colorado to Paris to Germany, where Veronica now lives.
Blog Metrics
PR – 4/10
DA – 54
Alexa Rank – 754,347
Fans & Followers – Yvette has got 2.5 followers on Twitter, 8.8k Facebook fans, and can also be found posting on Instagram, Google+, and Pinterest.
Foodie Philosophy
“We learned to cook from our grandmother and mother, Jesusita, whose hospitality and irresistible Mexican recipes were legendary among family and friends. We wrote our cookbook to celebrate and preserve our family’s special culinary heritage.”
Indeed, there is an unmistakable blend of love among three generations of the same family and love for cooking on Muy Bueno Cookbook – as Matt Armendariz from MattBites.com put it, the blog “is above all else a delicious family love story”. This love shines through in every recipe: check out a small sample below!
Signature Recipes
2. She Simmers
Cuisine
Thai
The Story
You may not be able to pronounce her name from the first go, but you will probably want to remember it: Leela Punyaratabandhu Simmers. Leela is of Thai heritage, but has been living in Chicago, in the United States, ever since she was born. She’s a foreign languages graduate, which is apparent both in her list of interests, as well as in the quality of her writing – it’s both educated and articulate, as well as well-structured and evocative. Leela is interested in linguistics, philology, intercultural communications, and history. When she’s not busy cooking or developing new recipes she’s a freelance writer, as well as a Tumblr blogger with a penchant for doors. You can also check out her regularly updated linguistics blog here. Her writing has been praised in the Chicago Tribune, featured on CNN Travel, and applauded by literary and food critics alike.
The Blog
Leela’s blog has stood out from among the rest of them almost since the very beginning – in part because of her wonderfully descriptive writing style for recipes, in part for the quality of her pictures, but mostly thanks to her creativity and genuine passion for Thai home cooking. The blog is organized by categories which play upon the title. She Simmers, She Bake, she braises, churns, and does just about everything in the kitchen with great refinement and ingeniousness. The blog also includes a ‘Thai pantry’ section, which lists some of the most often used ingredients in this cuisine. She Simmers was born out of Leela’s feelings of homesickness – she lives in the U.S., but her palate fondly remembers her past and its flavors. She founded it in November 2008 and dedicated it to the memory of her mother, who was allegedly a “cookbook addict” and inspired Leela’s love for cooking. Leela has recently completed her first cookbook, which is bound for publication in May 2014. What we love best about She Simmers is how she takes a cuisine that seems too exotic not to be complicated and completely demystifies it, turning it into a way of cooking that’s both accessible and delicious! If you enjoy her blog, you can support it by buying one of the She Simmers-inspired t-shirts.
Blog Metrics
PR – 5/10
DA – 59
Alexa Rank – 259,535
Fans & Followers – Leela’s got some 3.9k Twitter followers, 4.9k Facebook fans, 1.1k followers on Pinterest and can also be found on YouTube and Instagram.
Foodie Philosophy
“Longing for the taste of home, Leela Punyaratabandhu has spent the past several years testing and refining her favorite Thai recipes using the ingredients which she can find in the United States.”
There you have it. That’s why Leela cooks – in order to remember her heritage. In the meantime, she also does a fantastic job at explaining the Thai cuisine to all her (Thai and non-Thai) readers from around the world. Check out a selection of her recipes below.
Signature Recipes
1. Manger
Cuisine
A fusion of French, Asian, and everything in between
The Story
Mimi Thorisson has always been around food and it has always been a major part of her life. Traditional French and Chinese cooking are especially important to her, since they are part of her heritage. She has become a cook thanks to her memories of food. She’s also worked in the media, which has, throughout the years, allowed her to meet some of the best chefs in the world and eat the top bistros/cafés/restaurants/eateries/trattorias/brasseries/dai pai dongs. Mimi is a mother of four and also has two teenaged step-children by her husband Oddur, who is a photographer. She says part of the pleasure of cooking for her is cooking for her family. She has lived in Hong Kong, Singapore, London, Reykjavik, and Paris and since she was craving a bit of peace and quiet, she eventually moved to the French countryside with her family. She now lives in Médoc with her family and their 14 dogs!
The Blog
The blog is chockfull of fusion goodness, with great emphasis placed on countryside living – as a matter of fact, there’s even a separate section for it on the blog. You can check out all the awesome things about living in Medoc there, from days at the farmers’ market, to cepes, mushrooms typical for the area, to entries replete with seafood and wine, the specialties of the area. There are over 1,500 vineyards in Medoc, Mimi lives 4 kilometers away from the beach, and there are so many beautiful chateaux in the area it’s a surprise these people ever get anything done over there! The blog has crossed over from the online world into that of offline print and has been featured in many magazines, including Elle France and Glow Greece, not to mention oodles of websites (which include Buzzfeed and the Huffington Post). Perhaps the most amazing thing about the blog is that it doesn’t just feature the staples of the local cuisine, such as onion soup, Niçoise salad or duck confit parmentier. You can also find picture perfect recipes of chicken Tandoori, osso bucco, and Flammekueche on it!
Blog Metrics
PR – 4/10
DA – 51
Alexa Rank – 380,504
Fans & Followers – Mimi and her blog boast 77.9k Instagram followers, 6.5k Pinterest fans, and 7k fans on Facebook.
Foodie Philosophy
“All my favorite dishes have been engraved in my palate and these memories have inspired me to become the cook I am today.”
If you check out Mimi Thorisson’s blog, you can’t help but notice this. It’s wonderfully cosmopolitan, with recipes from every single corner of the world, but it’s also very much rooted in Mimi’s Asian and French heritage. Here’s a sample of her skills below!
Signature Recipes
Next up, the 5 coolest cooking blogs for kids and families!