photo credit: Kristin Teig
Jody Eddy is a James Beard Award-nominated author of narrative nonfiction and a culinary speaker with nine published books. Her books have been written about in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, Saveur, CNN, Food & Wine, and Travel + Leisure. She is an English graduate of the University of Minnesota and trained at the Institute of Culinary Education in Manhattan. She cooked at Jean-Georges (three Michelin stars, NYC), The Fat Duck (three Michelin stars, Heston Blumenthal, England), and Tabla (the late, great Floyd Cardoz, NYC). Those years in professional kitchens are the source of her authority on the subject; storytelling is the practice she brings to it. She was the Executive Editor of Art Culinaire and leads workshops for Fortune 500 companies and every group in between.
For nearly a decade, Jody has researched monasteries and sacred spaces across four continents, visiting 30+ locations from Zen Buddhist temples in Japan, gurudwaras in India, and Tibetan Buddhist temples in the Himalayas, to Sufi zawiyas in Morocco, Benedictine monasteries in Ireland, and Cistercian abbeys in Spain. This work forms the foundation of her most recent books, Elysian Kitchens and Eat Like a Monk, as well as her workshops and programming through Story Feast Collective. She mentors other writers on book projects and recently released The Monastery Method, 30 Days of Ancient Practices for Modern Living.
She recently opened the General Session at the Culinary Institute of America's Worlds of Flavor Conference and the keynote at the DesignThing Conference in Iceland. She organized the Roots conference at The Chef’s Garden for five years and has presented at Google for their author series. She is currently developing a television series for a global streaming service, writing her first novel, and working on a narrative nonfiction book about the rewilding movement in the UK. She writes the What’s Good Here Substack newsletter and hosts supper clubs and fantasy feasts in various locations throughout Europe.
She is from Minnesota and has lived in Europe for six years. She has two cats, Lucy and Rufus, but once she relocates this fall to her forever home in Scotland, where she will spend her free time hosting dinner parties, writing, reading, hiking, scuba diving, and kayaking, she plans to adopt a rescue collie.
PRESS & MEDIA FEATURES
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![Saveur magazine Elysian Kitchens cookbook feature]()
SAVEUR
Saveur Cookbook Club
How Food Fuels Faith in Sacred Spaces Around the World
With stories from 11 global temples and monasteries, Jody Eddy’s new book reveals there’s nothing more divine than sharing a meal.
by Jessica Carbone
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![The Splendid Table podcast Jody Eddy interview]()
THE SPLENDID TABLE
Episode 813
Fall Cookbook Favorites with authors Carolina Gelen, Sonoko Sakai, and Jody Eddy
with Francis Lam
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![Food and Wine magazine monastery kitchen article]()
FOOD & WINE
Life-Changing Kitchen Wisdom from Monasteries Around the World
Chefs turn to monasteries, temples, and mosques for lessons in how to cook and how to live.
by Jody Eddy
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![Mark Bittman podcast Jody Eddy interview]()
FOOD WITH MARK BITTMAN
Inspired by Food in Divine Places
with Mark Bittman
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![Literary Hub Elysian Kitchens Poblet Monastery Excerpt]()
LITERARY HUB
Heavenly Paella: Exploring a Unique Monastic Culinary Culture in the Mountains of Catalonia
Jody Eddy Visits The 12th-Century Cistercian Monastery of Poblet
by Jody Eddy (Elysian Kitchens chapter excerpt)
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![Tasting Table best cookbooks 2024 Elysian Kitchens]()
TASTING TABLE
The 25 Absolute Best Cookbooks Of 2024
by Koko Paranteau
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![Seattle Times cookbook gift guide 2024]()
SEATTLE TIMES
20 cookbooks to please everyone on your holiday shopping list
by Rebekah Denn
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![Civil Eats food farming book guide 2024]()
CIVIL EATS
Our 2024 Food and Farming Holiday Book Gift Guide
We curated a list of over two dozen books perfect for reading, gifting, and inspiration.
by the Civil Eats Editorial Team
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![South China Morning Post monastery cookbook feature]()
SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
From Japan to India and the West, food of temples and monasteries inspires recipe book
From Asia to Europe, Africa, US and Canada, a food writer toured the kitchens of Buddhist and Catholic monasteries, a synagogue and gurdwara
by Victoria Burrows
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![WBUR best cookbooks 2024]()
WBUR
Best cookbooks of 2024
by Kathy Gunst
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![London Writers Salon podcast Jody Eddy]()
LONDON WRITERS SALON
Episode #134
Jody Eddy: Michelin Kitchens, Monks & The Cookbook Playbook
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![Broadview magazine monastery kitchens article]()
BROADVIEW
Inside the hidden kitchens of monks, nuns and mystics
This chef’s journey through monasteries, temples and abbeys reveals the spiritual power of food
by Ivy Lerner-Frank
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![Jewish Book Council Elysian Kitchens review]()
JEWISH BOOK COUNCIL
Elysian Kitchens: Recipes Inspired by the Traditions and Tastes of the World’s Sacred Spaces
by Kenden Alfond
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![Forks Over Knives monastery soup recipes]()
FORKS OVER KNIVES
Monastic Soup Recipes From Around the World
by Jody Eddy
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![NPR WAMC book picks Elysian Kitchens]()
NPR's WAMC
Book Picks
Battenkill Books and The Bookstore in Lenox
by Joe Donahue
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![Culinary Historians New York Jody Eddy event]()
CULINARY HISTORIANS of NEW YORK
Elysian Kitchens: Recipes and Stories from Monasteries, Mosques,Temples and Synagogues Around the World with Jody Eddy
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![Heritage Radio Network Taste of the Past podcast]()
HERITAGE RADIO NETWORK
Episode 406: A Taste of the Past
Elysian Kitchens
with Linda Pelaccio
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![Louisiana Eats podcast Jody Eddy spiritual foodways]()
LOUISIANA EATS
Spiritual Foodways
Elysian Kitchens
with Poppy Tooker
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![Table Magazine best cookbooks 2024 Jody Eddy]()
TABLE MAGAZINE
TABLE Magazine’s Best Cookbooks of 2024
By Julia Platt Leonard
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![Minnesota Monthly Story Feast St Johns Abbey event]()
MINNESOTA MONTHLY
Story Feast: From Krewe to the Abbey: The Mackbees’ Harvest Homecoming
At St. John’s Abbey, Chefs Mateo and Erin Mackbee gather faith, food, and community around a single table, where a 5-year dream reflects reality
by Taycier Elhindi
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![Central Minnesota Catholic Jody Eddy Profile]()
THE CENTRAL MINNESOTA CATHOLIC
St. Cloud native ‘will travel for food’
A profile of cookbook author Jody Eddy
by Dianne Towalski
BOOKS
My most recent book, Elysian Kitchens: Recipes Inspired by the Traditions and Tastes of the World's Sacred Spaces (W.W. Norton, 2024), draws on nearly a decade of research at monasteries, temples, and sacred spaces across four continents. It was featured on The Splendid Table and in Saveur and Food & Wine and was named a best book of the year by Tasting Table, WBUR, Seattle Times, and more.
I'm also the author of eight other books, including the IACP Award-winning Chaat and North. See all my books →
photo credit: Steve Legato
Speaking, Workshops & Cooking Classes
I teach hands-on cooking classes, lead workshops, and speak at festivals, bookshops, libraries, cooking schools, and cultural venues across the UK and beyond. Topics range from monastery kitchens and Nordic cooking to the art of hygge, narrative nonfiction, writing about food and place, and bringing literature to life at the table.
Recent and past engagements include opening the General Session at the Culinary Institute of America's Worlds of Flavor Conference, Google's author series, DesignThing Iceland, and workshops for Fortune 500 companies, libraries, schools, and community groups worldwide.
photo credit: Steve Legato