Kilby Q&A: 10 Things You Always Wanted to Know About “The Secret Ingredient” (But Were Afraid to Ask)
It's time for another installment of Kilby Q&A! This week, I answer ten questions about my award-winning culinary romance novel, The Secret Ingredient! There’s always a story behind the story…
Q1: Why write about chefs? What’s so hot about kitchens? Pun intended.
A: Food is such an intimate experience—the cooking and eating of it—of course it’s a place where love belongs. It’s also a place that’s really ripe for passion and flirtation. I dated a chef for a long time. He was really my first serious boyfriend and we were together for three years. We met at a restaurant where he was the chef and I was waiting tables. A lot of our early flirtation happened during mise en place in the kitchen.
Q2: So were Max and/or Cella based on your ex and/or you?
A: Interestingly, no. The Secret Ingredient is a lot about the intimacy of Max’s home and cooking in his kitchen. When me and my ex (the chef) later lived together, he never cooked at home because he complained that he cooked at the restaurant all day. At the time, we were living in Paris, so it gave me a chance to eat out a lot in the city (bonus!) But working in fine dining restaurants when I was in my early twenties and growing up with a mom who was a gourmand sparked a lifelong interest in the culinary world. My mom would make really iconic dishes like Baked Alaska and Lobster Thermidor and Waldorf Salad and Fondue. She knew all the classic places they had been invented and served. My dad was also a great cook of comfort food. He always talked about when he had cooking duty in the army and had to make really simple stuff taste good.
Q3: Do you consider yourself a foodie?
A: Totally. I took a year away from the corporate world to become a food, wine and travel writer so I’ve reviewed a lot of restaurants and written about food in other capacities. I’ve done Boot Camp at the Culinary Institute of America and taken other courses there. While I was food writing, I became certified as a sommelier. So, yeah, I love food. I’m also fortunate to live near so many of the best restaurants in the world. We have a lot of Michelin stars in Northern California. A chef friend of mine who owns a place in Philly (but who worked at one of the Michelin restaurants in Yountville) says that even the food at mid-range restaurants she worked in, in California had food that tasted better than any place she ever worked on the east coast because the produce was always fresher here and the meats were always more natural. I definitely live in the right place.
Q4: Why did you choose to make Cella a curvy heroine? Did it have anything to do with the food?
A: When I pictured Cella, it made sense to me that she’s curvy. My favorite chefs on TV and in real life aren’t skinny and neither am I. Cella is based on Nigella Lawson and if you look at Cella’s physical description, you’ll see the resemblance. When this was originally published as a fanfic, her name was Isabella and her show was called “Isabella Bites” (get it? like the show, “Nigella Bites”?)
Q5: Some people have observed that Cella is not presented like other curvy heroines, whose weight is a part of their lives. You’ve even been accused of glossing over her weight. What do you say to that?
A: I love the fact that we’re seeing more curvy heroines in romance. But I wanted to write one who is not preoccupied with her weight or insecure because of it. I weigh 240 lbs. I’m a size 16. And I don’t think about my weight very often. I have a problem with the foregone conclusion that people who are heavy have low self-esteem, wish they could be skinnier, are unhealthy, are constantly dieting, have trouble dating or keeping a partner around, are only pursued by men who fetishize heavy women, or are regularly thinking about their weight, etc. This just isn’t me or other big women I know. I actually think it takes more self-esteem to not care about your weight in a society that shames fat people. Lots of us just aren’t worried about being fat.
Q6: Did anything from The Secret Ingredient draw on your real life?
A: A few details here and there. The graying stool that once was yellow that Max stood on as a child to cook next to his aunt was a nod to the yellow stool that I used to stand on next to my mother as a child. My mom didn’t cook much Italian food, but I do. I grew up outside of Philly, and Southeastern Pennsylvania is so steeped in Italian culture that it’s hard to grow up there without loving Italian-American food. I’ve also spent time in Italy and I appreciate certain regional Italian food as well.
Q7: What about the places in the book? Was Longport based off of a real town?
A: There’s a seaside community called Longport in New Jersey that’s a borough in Atlantic County. My partner proposed to me there on a stretch of beach that is special to him. Even though we live 3,000 miles away, he wanted his family to be around us the weekend when he proposed so we could all celebrate. It’s a very cute, small seaside town with really cute houses and it’s on its own little island. Not North Carolina, but it was the inspiration in name and in terms of the way it’s laid out.
Q8: How about Piccarelli’s Restaurant? Is that based off of a real space?
A: Piccarelli’s was mostly a figment of my imagination but is loosely based on Esalen in Big Sur, which is a magical place (literally—look it up) and has a lot of gorgeous vistas overlooking the ocean from the side of a cliff. Also, the farmer’s market is loosely based on Oxbow Market in Napa, a place where I’ve spent a lot of time, because Napa is right down the road.
Q9: So, will there be another book that tells the story of another character in The Secret Ingredient? I’ve got a book hangover now that Cella and Max’s story is complete.
A: I’m not sure I’ll ever be the author who writes series where everything happens in the same small town. I’ve thought about writing Deidre’s story. I might do that as a bonus short, but not a whole book. But there will be other books in the series that follow the culinary theme. I’ve recently decided to give the series the name Hot in the Kitchen. The next book in the series is called Spooning Leads to Forking and it’s coming out in April of 2020!
Q10: Well?! What is Spooning Leads to Forking about? Great title, BTW…
A: Thanks! Yes, it gives me a chuckle every time I read it, too. Spooning Leads to Forking is the same as The Secret Ingredient, but different. The main character, Shea, is a foodie (a revered food critic, in fact). Just as Cella is fleeing her problems in L.A. and renting a house for a couple of months to figure things out, Shea is fleeing her problems in New York and borrowing her friend, Kendrick’s, vacation house while she figures out her life. Just as Cella’s in a bad relationship with a business partner who is trying to steal control of their restaurant business, Shea takes extreme measures to escape a relationship with her husband who controls her financially and won’t accept that she wants a divorce. Just like The Secret Ingredient, there’s a great restaurant, a lot of good food and a ton of quirky townspeople. I actually did another Q&A about Spooning Leads to Forking. It’s right here.