For my new book project, I’ve equipped myself with a supply of spices, including star anise! It’s not hard for you to guess what the subject of that book is: Pho. Many people have suggested that I write a pho cookbook since I make it at home, teach workshops on it, and regularly enjoy pho at restaurants. I have a thing about it. Since I’ve conquered Vietnamese sandwiches, why not spend time obsessing about pho?
Gathering from the response to The Banh Mi Handbook (we’re on the 4th printing since its July 8, 2014 release!), Vietnamese food is gaining in popularity. I can’t tell you how thrilling that is, given that my first Vietnamese cookbook came out in 2006. I’ve been working to help cooks of all levels to incorporate good Asian food into their lives. To that end, I’ve found that single-subject deep dives are great ways to fulfill that goal. I’ve written cookbooks on Asian dumplings (a type of food), tofu (an ingredient), and banh mi (a dish).
Viet foodways are especially close to my heart. I promise you that this book won’t be a pamphlet with just a handful of super long pho recipes. I’ve been eating, researching, and making for decades. This is great opportunity to highlight one of Vietnam’s national foods and tell the story of Viet cooking.
Ten Speed Press (Crown/Random House) is publishing The Pho Cookbook, our tentative title. The book will be my fifth work with Ten Speed, one of the best cookbook publishers in the United States. My super smart editor Kelly Snowden, a former editor at Food & Wine magazine, is jazzed about collaborating on crafting an informative and beautiful publication.
Our target release date? Fall 2016. That means that I’ll be turning in the manuscript this October. (Gulp.) It typically takes 12 months to produce edit, photograph, design and print a cookbook.
[6/9/2015 Update: To make an extra good book, my editor and I decided to take a little extra time for production, which now is at a 14-month turnaround. That means the book will release in early 2017. Thanks for your patience!]
The collages below offer a sliver of what I've been up to in the past few months. (My mom looks so rightfully stern! She didn't like that bowl.)
Excuse me if I’m a little quiet between now and October. There’s a lot to accomplish in order to produce a solid cookbook. The manuscript is the first and biggest hurdle.
Thanks for your interest and support! I have a lot of pho puns in my head but I’ll spare you from them, pho now.
{update 5/16/15: Interested in pre-ordering the book? Sign up for this mailing list and you'll get a pho cookbook update and ordering alert from me next year!}
