Tuttle, whose mission is to bring Eastern culture to the Western marketplace, is four years into a cookbook publishing program that, the publisher says, has followed a model that has proved highly successful, doubling sales since 1997.
“We know people eat Asian food all the time but don’t cook it as much,” says Christopher Johns, sales and marketing director. “We use U.S.-based authors and try for recipes that take 30 minutes or less with ingredients you can get at most local supermarkets, with some Internet or specialty help.” Three fall cookbooks follow this model: My Indian Kitchen by Hari Nayak (Aug.), Easy Chinese Recipes by Bee Yinn Low (Sept.), and My Japanese Table by Debra Samuels (Sept.).
“Our authors are not standard cooking-school restaurant people,” Johns says. “They’re bloggers and connected to the Internet.” Johns describes Bee Yinn Low as “an Internet person. Her thing is social media.” Deb Samuels is a teacher whose forte is showing others how to do it, “the Julia Child of Japanese cooking,” in Tuttle’s words. And Indian cook Hari Nayak, Johns says, is very kitchen friendly; his chicken tikka masala recipe, which is featured at the hot bar at Whole Foods, is also featured in his new cookbook. “We have high hopes for good reviews, good sales, some awards,” Johns says. “This is not food porn; the books are made to be used.” Tuttle has hired an outside publicist.
All three cookbooks will be featured at the Tuttle booth, and today the publisher will be serving mini Matcha Mochi Cupcakes with servings of room-temperature sencha green tea.
Why room temperature? The rules of the convention center dictate that exhibitors use house caterers and house facilities for any hot food presented in a booth. Not only is that expensive, Johns says, but things can go wrong. “We served convention-prepared barbecue in L.A., and it wasn’t as good. And once we served hot ginger tea. We were given plastic cups, and you know what happens with hot liquid in plastic. ”
Service begins at the Tuttle booth (2838) at 3 p.m. and lasts until the cupcakes run out.