Cooking from Scratch is chef and storyteller Toya Boudy’s most personal—and most irresistible—cookbook yet. Written during a transformative chapter in her life, it’s infused with warmth, humour and grit. Drawing inspiration from Malinda Russell’s groundbreaking 1866 cookbook, A Domestic Cook Book, Boudy reimagines simple, soul-satisfying dishes designed to bring people together. In the wake of divorce and deep self-reflection, she has returned to the kitchen—the place that saved her nearly 30 years ago as a teenage single mother.Cooking from Scratch includes 70 family-loved recipes shaped by the cultures that define her: Mini Crawfish Pies, Jamaican Curry, African Spinach Stew, homey Salisbury Steak and more. Beyond the table, she shares 20 natural remedies—from herbal cough syrup to “Detox” Lentil Soup—that nourish body and spirit alike. With every page, Boudy shows how healing, joy and resilience can begin with something beautifully simple: cooking from scratch.
Chef Toya Boudy is a New Orleans local and the author of Cooking for the Culture. She was crowned Best Home Cook by Hallmark’s Home & Family Channel in 2017, and she has appeared on Today, TLC, CBS, and the Food Network.
