W H Y  C O O K     
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In the summer of 2016, our founder / graphic designer Eszter Laki travelled to Bangalore to meet the South Indian writer Archana Pidathala and for the printing of a very special book — Five Morsels of Love. Earlier that year Archana had asked Eszter to design her self-published cookbook. The book has since become a worldwide hit and their collaboration developed into a lifelong friendship. After the publication of Five Morsels, Eszter and Archana went on many journeys to explore India together. They found themselves in the colourful cities of Rajasthan famed for their magnificent palaces, and in the tea plantations of Darjeeling trekking up the lush hills. It was on one of these journeys that Archana’s idea for a new cookbook began to take shape. 

In January 2019, Eszter and photographer Balázs Glódi headed back to India. Together with Archana, they travelled across the length and breadth of India to document the life stories of 16 inspiring women and their connection to food and cooking. These inspiring women are farmers, musicians, designers, entrepreneurs, activists and writers. Eszter, Balazs and Archana visited the homes of these women located in small villages on the Himalayan hillside, on permaculture farms, in big cities and in the palm gardens of the southern beaches.

Archana’s new book, Why Cook, is bound in half cloth hardcover with a printed mandala pattern in silver. The recipes are accompanied with photographs by Balázs, and Eszter’s freehand illustrations complement Archana’s essays.


Author – Archana Pidathala
Editing – Sonya Balasubramanyam
Art Direction, illustrations – Eszter Laki
Graphic design - Réka Imre
Print – Pragati, Hyderabad
Photography – Balázs Glódi (book shoots by András Zoltai)

If you would like to own your copy, please click here

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