Welcome to the world of food blogging

There are those who love to eat and then there are those who sort of cajole you into falling in love with food — without having to make much of an effort. All you have to do is log on to one of these blogs and explore the world without having to go anywhere, gastronomically speaking of course.

In a search to find some of the most interesting blogs, most of which are based in India, DNA came across enthusiasts who bring a smile onto your face simply by using words and photographs. 

But it’s not always about the fun factor; having a blog and maintaining it requires some serious commitment. Harini Prakash, who owns www.tongueticklers.com, says, “Initially, the food blog was an outlet for my passion for writing, and to create a space for my children to revisit memories, fun and food. I have grown up loving food, the process of selecting vegetables, cutting and cooking them in a healthy manner. Today, it is a space that promotes veganism, organic food and conscious living. I created the blog, but it is the blog that helped me evolve into the person I am today.” Harini admits that it’s more than being just a hobby — food blogging that is. “Once you have established connections with readers, it requires commitment and for me, it is to continuously provide recipes and writing that will measure up to standards I have set for myself and the expectations of my readers, ” she adds.

Owner of www.tastypursuits.com, Hazel, explains that her motivation to start a blog was simple — she loved to cook and bake. “I enjoy sharing my passion, knowledge and adventure with others. As an added bonus, the blog chronicles my kitchen experiments for my own future reference,” she says. Her blog, which she wanted people to take seriously, is also one amazing destination for food photographs and therefore, her commitment cannot be undermined. “The amount of work one puts behind a blog depends on the type and quality of the blog that you have. My goal was to create a professional blog, which means I spend a lot of time on the food photography. I also want people to get to know me through my food. Writing up a recipe also requires more effort because I need to measure everything when I cook, and write up instructions. These days my personal recipes tend to just be a list of ingredients. One post takes about three days of work (cooking/recipe testing, photography, writing, posting etc.). I actually cook and bake many more dishes than what appear on the blog. I often just snap a photo of those other dishes (and experiments) with my phone and post it on Facebook,” she adds.

Deeba Rajpal, a Delhi-based blogger, whose fattening 

www.passionateaboutbaking.com takes us through the wonderful journey of kitchen treats, started blogging in August 2007. “I had time, an internet connection and had recently discovered food blogs! I also had a newly-acquired digital camera and thought it might be a good idea to document my kitchen adventures in my spare time. It is a massive commitment once you build a readership; often, I bake more to feed my blog than the family, but there are no complaints from home! My adventures keep both the blog and family quite happy. At times I feel the pressure to commit more time to blogging, but there are only so many hours in a day and the kids, dog, home, everything demands time,” she says.

Nags, calls herself a cook, a writer and a photographer — the three key ingredients required to be a food blogger. She began www.cookingandme.com with the simple agenda of sharing easy recipes online for those, who like her, lived away from home and didn’t want to spend too much time in the kitchen. “Almost five years later, the blog goes by the same philosophy — simple recipes that anyone can make without spending a lot of time,” she says. “I spend an average of two to three hours per day on the blog. It can get taxing but I don’t let it become more than a hobby since I am already working full time. There’s so much more I can do if I dedicate more to it but for now, it’s just a hobby. I met a lot of amazing people through my blog with very similar mindsets and interests as me, that’s probably the best thing that came out of it,” says the blogger.

Blogs we like

www.lickmyspoon.com

www.cookingandme.com

www.foodatarian.com

www.tastypursuits.com

www.tongueticklers.com

www.passionaboutbaking.com

www.finelychopped.net

The 1-2-3 of food blogging

• Your love for food has to be innate and serious.
• Focus on the topics. You can’t write about everything under the sun; ask friends and peers to suggest ideas if you’re confused.
• Your pages should be neatly segregated, especially if the recipes and photographs and articles are divided according to cuisines and courses.
• Your forum, if any, should be clutter free. Check comments regularly and keep spam off.
• Simple designs and easy to load pages are always more popular.
• Don’t plagiarise; it’s not cool to pick recipes and photographs from others and pass them off as your own.