So you want to be a food writer? Here’s a BIG list of what all you can write
In the second post of my #FoodWritingFestival series, I list out 170+ ideas and writing prompts that will make food content writing a feast
Image: Heather Ford | Unsplash
We understand why you want to be a food writer or blogger. (Or a food YouTuber or content creator for that matter.)
It’s a colourful, scrumptious, and tempting world, with the opportunity to taste a host of treats along the way (because why not).
Besides, food brings the world on your plate when travel takes a backseat. Who doesn’t like being the person who sums up these mouthwatering experiences in the most delicious words and sends them straight to everyone’s reading devices? Even as a fiction writer, you’d want to be able to describe the sensory aspects of the culinary world like a pro. (If you’d like to see how I’ve done my food scenes in fiction, check them out in my book PiKu & ViRu. Buy/download, read, and review it here; it’s FREE on Kindle Unlimited. Do post a review on how you found the book and its foodie moments.)
And if you can get paid to write about food, it’s like the proverbial cherry on the icing.
Recipes and long-form stories have always been the most popular and sought-after avenues for food content writing. But not only are you going to need a huge bank of ideas for your pitching process. You should also keep your options open for other lesser-known but equally rewarding avenues.
That’s where this big list of food content ideas, formats, templates, and writing prompts comes in. Take whatever you need, mix and match, or make some tweaks to come up with something on your own. Or use more than one format to conjure multiple story angles for the same idea. You can also give one of your previously published stories a fresh lease of life by adapting it to a different template. In short, there are several ways of using this list. It’s a neverending one, as I’ll update it with more ideas as and when they strike me. Do share your ideas, too, in the comments.
So, here it is, without further ado. Let me know in the comments how it works out for you. In any case, food writing will become a piece of cake for you if you follow this one.
001. Essay spotlighting a particular dish
002. Essay spotlighting a particular ingredient
003. Essay spotlighting a particular cuisine
004. Feature on a particular restaurant
005. Essay spotlighting a cooking technique
006. Essay spotlighting a cooking equipment
007. Essay spotlighting a cooking tradition or practice
008. Feature on a specific food career
009. Profile of a food business
010. Feature on a food/eating lifestyle
011. Chef profile
012. Chef interview
013. Chef biography
014. Food entrepreneur profile
015. Food entrepreneur interview
016. Food entrepreneur biography
017. Restaurant, café, or bar review
018. Restaurant, café, or bar preview/first look
019. Restaurant, café, or bar profile
020. Restaurant, café, or bar comparison
021. Best restaurants, cafés, bars in a particular area or destination
022. What to eat in a particular area or destination
023. Where to have a particular local food/beverage (e.g. where to eat the best biryani in Hyderabad, Mumbai’s tastiest vada pavs, best hot chocolate in Switzerland)
024. Best restaurants, cafés, bars in a particular area or destination for a particular cuisine
025. Best breakfasts in a particular area or destination
026. What to eat for breakfast in a particular area or destination
027. Food & drink pairings
028. Best street food in a particular area or destination
029. What street food to eat in a particular area or destination
030. Food product review
031. Food equipment review
032. New food products and equipment
033. Meals with a view
034. Best rooftop restaurants, cafés, bars in a particular area or destination
035. Best alfresco restaurants, cafés, bars in a particular area or destination
036. Best new restaurants, bars, cafés
037. Recipes (of course!)
038. Food tips and hacks
039. Food explainers (what is foie gras, what is sous vide, why cocktail is called so, how is latte different from a cappuccino, etc.)
040. Food memories
041. History of a dish
042. History of an ingredient
043. History of a cuisine
044. History of a restaurant
045. History of a cooking technique
046. History of a cooking equipment
047. History of a cooking tradition or practice
048. History of a specific food career
049. History of a food/eating lifestyle
050. Fun facts about a dish
051. Fun facts about an ingredient
052. Fun facts about a cuisine
053. Fun facts about a restaurant
054. Fun facts about a chef
055. Fun facts about a cooking equipment
056. Fun facts about a cooking technique
057. Fun facts about a cooking tradition or practice
058. Fun facts about a food career
059. Fun facts about a food business
060. Fun facts about a food/eating lifestyle
061. Food trivia
062. Food trivia quiz
063. Food personality quiz
064. Best books to read on a particular food or food-related topic
065. Anything about food in ‘numbers’
066. Food memes
067. Food puns
068. Food quotes (can also be used on merchandise such as mugs, plates, and coasters)
069. Food events and days (like how I’ve compiled for October 2021)
070. Food photography tips and tricks
071. Personal experiments
072. Personal campaigns (for example, eating only one kind of food for a year to support a cause and then documenting the results in a series of articles or on your blog)
073. Photo essay
074. Food-related etiquette and dos and don’ts (for example, what to bear in mind during Japanese tea ceremonies, Russian vodka drinking, English afternoon tea, etc.)
075. Food souvenirs to bring back from your trips
076. Foods to take on your trips
077. F&B (food and beverage) industry news & updates
078. Best farm-to-table/eco-friendly meal experiences
079. Food-related quirks and oddities
080. A food-related problem you’ve been facing and how you’re solving it (or have solved it)
081. First-hand narration of a food-related lifestyle (e.g. searching for vegan food in a predominantly non-vegetarian place)
082. Food trends
083. Opinion on a food trend or news development
084. Column or diary based on your personal food experiences
085. Food fiction
086. Food poems
087. Food-focused travelogues
088. Tracing the timeline of a food
089. Tracing the timeline of an ingredient
090. Tracing the timeline of a cuisine
091. Tracing the timeline of an heirloom recipe
092. Tracing the timeline of a restaurant
093. Tracing the timeline of a cooking equipment
094. Tracing the timeline of a cooking technique
095. Tracing the timeline of a cooking tradition or practice
096. Tracing the timeline of a food career
097. Tracing the timeline of a food business
098. Tracing the timeline of a food/eating lifestyle
099. How-to articles
100. Food-related case studies, white papers, or research
101. Food-themed blog campaigns
102. Food-themed SM posts and campaigns
103. Obituaries and ‘In Memoriam’ stories
104. Scenarios—predictions of future events based on current trends or developments
105. Food tech
106. Food app review
107. Food app preview/first look
108. Food app profile
109. Food app comparison
110. Food polls
111. Food contests
112. Food show or video—concept, research, script
113. Food event—concept, research, script
114. ‘A to Z’ food stories
115. Press releases
116. Teaching stories for food techniques
117. Teaching stories for food equipment operation
118. Ad & product copy
119. Advertorials
120. Translations
121. Infographics
122. Tables, charts, diagrams
123. Transcripts of commentaries, event panels, talk shows, podcasts, etc.
124. Website & app content
125. Menus
126. Catalogues, brochures, manuals, and other promotional materials
127. Mission, vision, and purpose statements for a food business
128. The first, last, best, worst, smallest, largest in food
129. Shopping lists
130. Pantry & kitchen showcases
131. Celebrity food experiences & recos
132. Food experiences and recos by chefs or any other food expert
133. Exploring the science behind a dish, equipment, cooking tradition, or technique
134. Food farming stories
135. Health & nutrition
136. Best (and worst) cooking shows
137. Cooking show review
138. Interview with the team of a cooking show
139. Dream breakfast, lunch, and dinner
140. Most memorable breakfast, lunch, or dinner
141. Dream kitchen and pantry
142. Bucket list of restaurants
143. Bucket list of foods
144. Wish list of food and cooking products
145. Your diet plan
146. Cooking and eating routine
147. Favourite (and least favourite) cookbooks
148. Cookbook reviews
149. Cookbook author interviews
150. Face-off between two foods
151. Best foods for a given season
152. Best foods for a given reason (such as heartbreak, grief, exams)
153. Foods for specific kinds of travel (for example, treks, picnics, camping)
154. If you could have only food for a year or lifetime
155. Weird, unusual foods
156. Your dream wedding spread
157. Nutritional profile of a dish
158. Breaking convention (for example, having dessert as your first course, eating Maggi with dahi or pickle, ordering a mac-and-cheese ice cream)
159. Word clouds
160. Tasting notes
161. Review of a tasting session
162. Nutritional pros and cons of a dish, ingredient, cuisine, technique, equipment, or lifestyle
163. Best restaurants, cafés, bars in a particular area or destination within a specific budget
164. BTS of an iconic restaurant dish
165. Tracing the birthplace of an iconic dish (and if possible, interviewing its inventor)
166. The best cameras and/or smartphones for food photography
167. Camera/smartphone review for food photography
168. Best food scenes in movies and TV shows
169. The most expensive food experiences
170. The cheapest food experiences
171. Comparing the cheapest, mid-priced, and most expensive versions of the same food
172. Food-themed newsletter