The Social Spoon

A favorite food can tell you a lot about a person. During COVID lockdown in 2020, I had started college in a single-person apartment away from everyone I knew. As a way to reconnect with the friends I had moved away from, I had asked them to send me their favorite recipes and I would cook them at home over the phone. As my time in university progressed and I had gained the idea to turn the same concept into a cookbook with new people I had met while away at school. Each recipe is named first after the volunteer of the dish and listed as to “why” it is their favorite. Every recipe in the book, I would make myself with the company of the volunteers, and write down exact instructions based on their preferences on how the recipe is made. The photographs of the dish were made by allowing the participants to pick out a plate setting, so each photo could also reflect the personality of whom the recipe is for. The social spoon was ultimately conducted as a personal project to connect readers to a stranger through something that unites us all: a good meal.