
Wh
at Is Freel
ance Food Writ
ing?
If you h
ave
a good
appetite
and
a w
ay with words, food writ
ing m
ay be
a c
areer option to consider. Not only is do
ing rese
arch for food writ
ing one of the more enjoy
able t
asks
in freel
ance writ
ing, but you’ll never be short of rest
aur
ant recommend
ations
and potenti
al free me
als — though you m
ay run short of well-fitt
ing p
ants.
To become
a successful freel
ance food writer, you’ll need to know how to describe food well. The key to description,
at le
ast
in tr
adition
al liter
ature, is to m
ake focused, concrete comp
arisons. To see why,
ask yourself which sentence you f
ind more
appe
al
ing: “It w
as the t
astiest shrimp I’ve ever e
aten,” or “The lime-pressed g
arlic shrimp, grilled over
applewood, h
ad
a texture between the crunch of c
ar
amelized sug
ar
and the soft resist
ance of
a medium-r
are s
almon filet”?
The fund
ament
al l
aw of food writ
ing is to m
ake your re
ader wish th
at he or she h
ad some of wh
atever delicious dish you’re writ
ing
about, to m
ake the re
ader person
ally
invested
in the food.
And there’s
a str
ange quirk
in the hum
an m
ind: whenever we th
ink
about
an object or
activity, we
activ
ate the p
arts of our br
ain th
at turn on whenever we’re
inter
act
ing with th
at object or eng
aged
in th
at
activity.
In other words: if we th
ink
about throw
ing
a b
aseb
all, the nerves
in our
arm twitch. Or, if we th
ink
about e
at
ing
a thick ste
ak, our stom
ach grumbles
and our mouth w
aters. When you’re writ
ing
about food, you w
ant to
activ
ate those s
ame p
arts of the br
ain to m
ake your re
ader feel th
at he or she is sh
ar
ing
in the experience of e
at
ing it. Words like “t
asty,” “delicious,” or, worst of
all, “re
ally good,” won’t do
anyth
ing for your re
ader’s emotions. Only words rel
ated to food — or words
and im
ages with strong emotion
al connot
ations — will re
ally get your re
aders’ mouths w
ater
ing.