Gentle Foods is a newsletter about cooking how you want to feel.
It was born from a desire I, and I think many others, have to feed ourselves in a kinder, gentler way that prioritizes listening to yourself, takes cues from what’s around us (the seasons, our farmers), and deprioritizes notions of how to perform “health” the way modern, toxic diet and wellness culture says we should.
What happens here?
There are two versions of Gentle Foods:
Free subscribers get:
One to two brand-new recipes per month inspired by what I’m cooking right now
Occasional non-recipe posts (see below)
Announcements about my pop-ups, talks, classes, and other events before anyone else
Paid subscribers get:
A brand-new recipe every week inspired by what I’m cooking right now
Personal essays (if you were a regular reader of my Healthyish newsletter “What’s Chaey Cooking?” back in the day, this is the kind of thing you can expect)
Conversations with thoughtful food friends who are doing cool things in the industry
Recommendations for pantry goods, cooking tools, books, restaurants, and other things/places I genuinely love
Mailbag posts! Because I love to answer your cooking questions
Access to comments so we can talk about whatever we please in a fun safe space
Announcements about my pop-ups, talks, classes, and other events before anyone else
Who is Christina Chaey?
That’s me! I’m a recipe developer, writer and editor, former line cook, passionate home cook, and owner of 120+ cookbooks. I live in Brooklyn with my partner and a very loud, toothless cat.
I worked at Bon Appétit for seven years (yes, including during those years), during which time I wrote and edited features, developed home cook-friendly recipes (like my favorite Green Curry Lentil Soup), filmed YouTube series such as “From the Test Kitchen” and “Making Perfect: Thanksgiving”, and went on the occasional podcast episode. But I consider helping to form the Condé Nast Union to be my greatest professional accomplishment to date.
What are gentle foods?
Great question. The concept of “gentle foods” was born in March 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic March 2020, when I found myself desperately seeking comfort in the kitchen in the midst of many chaotic and frightening unknowns.
I think the answer no one wants to hear is that gentle foods are whatever you want them to be. But a less infuriating answer might be that, to me, gentle foods are the ones that are like a blanket. They’re nourishing, intuitive, and often quite simple. They’re not based on a grocery list so much as what your body wants to consume. Gentle foods are more a way of life than a prescriptive list of foods or dishes. For me, the term invokes steam-fried eggs, simple dashi-based soups with wilted greens and dumplings, bean stew with sourdough toast, poached fish bathed in oil-sizzled aromatics.
I used to write a weekly newsletter for Bon Appétit’s Healthyish (RIP) called What’s Chaey Cooking?, which began as a log of what I was cooking at the moment, but increasingly explored the intersection of food/cooking/mental health/toxic diet and wellness culture. Gentle Foods picks up where that newsletter left off, as a place where I can continue to explore my own relationship to food.
Why become a paid subscriber?
I believe recipe work, like all work, is not free labor (contrary to what Instagram or TikTok may dictate). Gentle Foods is my full-time job, and reader subscriptions are the number-one way for me to keep the work I love sustainable. Your support allows me to invest time, resources, and money into shopping for, developing, researching, writing, and editing trustworthy recipes; it also helps me to comp subscriptions for folks so I can keep this work accessible.
You also get all the extra goodies that come with being a paid subscriber, such as essays, recommendations, and comment threads.
Don’t be the ‘recipe?’ guy. Thank you for supporting independent creators.
How much is a subscription?
$7/month or $70/year. If you have the means, consider becoming a Founding Member at $150/year—which helps me offer comp subscriptions—in exchange for my undying gratitude.
If you need a comp subscription for whatever reason, email me at gentlefoods@substack.com and I’ll set you up, no questions asked.
Where can I find all your recipes in one place?
Find the full recipe archives here (for paid subscribers only).
Where else can I find you/your work?
Find me on Instagram (@seechaey), mostly for life updates.
Who did your adorable illustrations?
That would be my incredibly talented friend Leanne Gan, a.k.a. @gan_doodles. Hire her for everything.
Something else?
Email me at gentlefoods@substack.com and I promise I will do my very best to get back to you.
