Welcome to Gentle Foods, a newsletter about cooking how you want to feel
Gentle Foods is a twice-weekly newsletter (and soon-to-be cookbook!) about taking care of ourselves through cooking. I believe that small wins in the kitchen can help make more of the world feel possible, and that they are meant to be celebrated.
Since 2023, Gentle Foods has been a space for folks who are learning to better care for themselves through food. Whether you’re someone who grew up around harmful diet culture rhetoric (and who hasn’t?) or simply struggle to incorporate cooking into your life in a meaningful way, you are my people. I think of this little corner as a place where we can try, learn, share, and grow together as cooks and as humans. My goal is to help you meet yourself in the kitchen with curiosity and compassion, on the good days but especially on the bad days.
Who am I?
I’m Christina Chaey, a Brooklyn-based food writer, recipe developer, recovering perfectionist, and soon-to-be cookbook author. My friends call me Chaey (and you can, too). My decade-long career in food has so far included gigs as a magazine editor, line cook, and test kitchen recipe developer, but my favorite role is home cook. I often have my nose buried in one of my more than 120 cookbooks, count grocery shopping among my top-three hobbies, and really, really love cooking dinner for people I love. You can find me on Instagram here.
What you can expect
Free subscribers receive my weekly Sunday newsletter, Gentle Pleasures, a grab-bag of things I’m into right now, from my favorite low-effort, refreshing party snack to the best birthday cake I’ve made in a long time. I’ll also share the cookbooks I’m currently devouring, links to recipes around the internet that I’ve cooked and loved, and thoughtful shopping recs for objects and ingredients I actually use.
Paid subscribers get so much more, including:
One bonus post a week
Genuinely useful cooking advice to bring into your own kitchen (like my annual Freezer Edit, or a new way to think about leftovers)
Recipes that are comforting to cook and joyful to eat, like Buttery Noodles with Melted Cabbage and a pantry-forward tomato soup
Personal essays like this one on breaking up with perfectionist cooking or this one on the insidious nature of diet culture
Fun (and occasionally chaotic) BTS content from my kitchen
Early access to special events, talks, and pop-ups I’m doing
Access to the full archive dating back to June 2023
Simply put, paid subscribers pay the rent. Your direct support enables me to keep making more of what I love and share it with all of you. Thank you deeply for considering supporting my work!
Here are some nice things paid subscribers have said about Gentle Foods:
"Of all the many wonderful newsletters out there, food-related and otherwise, yours feels necessary to exist/learn from/subscribe to. Many thanks!"
"Christina takes care of her readers like I hope she takes care of herself. Wonderful to read!"
"I love your writing, your recipes, your cooking style, your musings, I really enjoy it all. I have been an intuitive eating enthusiast for a few years now and I find I relate a lot to how you approach being a food person <3 "
"Your thoughtful way of approaching eating resonates with me, as someone who loves to cook and eat but also has struggled with disordered eating. Thank you for your transparency!"
"I just really love your work and appreciate what you're doing in the world. Also, as a poet, I really love your writing style. Thanks so much for everything you do."
