Nara Smith Is Dressing Up the Cookbook
10 min readI’ve never been inside Nara Smith’s kitchen, but after watching enough of her cooking videos, I have a pretty good idea of what I’d find: the smell of freshly baked bread, a pot simmering away on the stove, a bowl of dough waiting to rise. There might be vegetables freshly picked from the garden, a batch of homemade jam in the works, and Smith herself standing at the cutting board in an outfit that seems more fit for dinner reservations than dinner prep.
After all, this is the woman who has peeled potatoes in a statement leather dress, picked fresh rhubarb from the garden in a dramatic red feathered top, and made cooking dinner in couture look like a perfectly ordinary Tuesday.
It’s this particular marriage of fashion and food that has helped Smith build a combined following of nearly 17 million across TikTok and Instagram. And her debut cookbook, Homemade, is an extension of that world. The 24-year-old model and content creator wasn’t interested in simply putting her recipes on paper. She wanted something that could live just as comfortably on a coffee table as it could on a kitchen counter. So, alongside the family recipes and from-scratch staples are photographs inspired by vintage magazine spreads, including a cover featuring a custom Rodarte dress. After two years of working on the project, Smith was determined to get every detail right.
When Smith and I connected over Zoom, she explained why she wanted Homemade to feel more like an old-fashioned editorial than a traditional cookbook, and how far she went to make that happen. We also discussed the importance of romanticizing everyday rituals, her favorite things to make from scratch, and the person the internet doesn’t always get to see.
You’ve been sharing your recipes online for years. What made now the right time to put them all into a cookbook?
It was just time for me to do it. A lot of comments on my social media were always asking for the recipes, and I am a very analog girly. I prefer a cookbook or a letter or whatever it may be, a piece of paper and a pen, over the digital aspect of it. So instead of putting things in the caption and them getting lost and people having to scroll to find a recipe, I thought it would be nice having everything compiled in a book on someone’s counter that they can just grab and use. That’s kind of how I work best, and a lot of people wanted it. So I gave the people what they wanted and also myself.
One thing that really struck me about Homemade, aside from the recipes, is the photography. It almost feels like a fashion story of its own. At what point did you realize you wanted to create something more immersive than a traditional cookbook?
Writing this cookbook for two years was magical, and it taught me so much about myself, but the vision kept evolving. Last year in November, we did a lifestyle shoot for the book for all the filler images, the cover, all of that. And looking at the images, they were cute, but the more I sat with them and the more I evolved, I wanted it to feel like an old-fashioned editorial of some sort, but also more creative. I wanted it to be able to live on someone’s coffee table.
All my favorite cookbooks that I’ve accumulated over this process live on my coffee table because they’re genuinely books that, when I have a second, I just look at and read and take time with. Also, a massive part of how I express myself is through fashion and food. So merging those two felt really important to me for this book specifically.
Then I pulled a 180 when we were supposed to be done doing images. I was like, “No, we need to pull a shoot together. I need a set designer.”
A photographer who shot one of my fashion campaigns, [Olivia Malone], we flew her out from L.A. We built sets for a week. It was a very intense shoot, but I’m so glad I did it because I am so happy with all the images and how it turned out.
Were there any particular fashion campaigns, photographers, films, or visual references that inspired the book?
My first shoot was very Ralph Lauren. I feel like it’s always classic and timeless and very sophisticated, and it felt like a bit of me. But then when I restructured how I thought about this book, I wanted it to go more fashion, fun, but also very vintage and retro. I wanted all these different aspects of me combined.
So when I started making my mood board, it was kind of all over the place. The cover actually was inspired by a cartoon, an old vintage cartoon that I just found on Pinterest.
Do you feel like getting dressed is part of your creative process, both inside and outside the kitchen?
Absolutely. I think throwing on whatever outfit it may be, whether it’s a couture outfit or a very simple fitted denim, whatever feels right for that day, it transforms your entire day.
I remember being on a shoot and I was supposed to wear sweatpants, and just the feeling I got wearing them was very tired and fatigued, and I didn’t quite want to do all the things that I needed to do. But the minute I got changed into a gown, I felt elevated and re-energized.
I think that’s what fashion is all about to me, whether it’s a simple trouser or a dress or a hat. I love a good hat. Just be a character for a day, why not?
What do you hope readers take away from Homemade, beyond the recipes themselves?
I want people to give themselves grace in the kitchen. I think there’s this pressure of being perfect and getting it right and doing it the way it’s supposed to be done.
I’ve found so much enjoyment in moments that weren’t perfect, and things turned out so much better than I thought, even though it wasn’t by the rulebook. That’s what I want people to take away when they read the book. And making everyday moments feel special to them in whatever capacity that is. It doesn’t have to look a certain way. It’s very individual to whoever is cooking and reading the book.
Your cooking brings together so many different traditions. Were there any dishes from your heritage or upbringing that you were especially excited to introduce to readers?
A lot of German meals that my grandma used to make. There’s some cabbage rolls in there, but also these beef rolls that I make for Christmas almost every year, down to very simple recipes, like a rice pudding.
I think it’s a glimpse into my world and how I grew up, but also what I then evolved into making, and what I feed my family. It’s an accumulation of all these different recipes that make up my everyday repertoire. Just having people look into my brain for a little bit feels fun.
Do you remember the first thing you ever made from scratch, whether it was documented or not?
It was documented. It was bread and jam.
Nara Smith.
Your videos have become part of a larger conversation about soft living and homemaking. Why do you think that lifestyle has become so aspirational to younger generations? What do you think people are searching for?
I can only speak for myself because I don’t know what goes on in other people’s minds or what their intention is. But for me, as I said, I enjoy so many different things. I enjoy working and traveling and being in different places and having a very tight schedule.
But I also enjoy finding moments in my day or in my week, or whenever that is, to slow down and be intentional, just because I feel like everything moves so quick outside of my home. When I am at home and I am with my kids and I am in the kitchen, I want to slow down and really take the time to enjoy all these moments that we get to share together. It just genuinely brings me joy because it grounds me and makes me feel very at ease.
That’s what I want to show people, in a way. I want them to be able to take a deep breath and relax when they watch my content because I know that life can be really stressful.
Making the home beautiful is important to me just because I spend so much time in my home and I have children that are growing up in my home, so I just want it to feel like a place that they’ll remember when they grow up, but also that I find peace and joy in when I am home and not working.
Do you think your followers really know you through your videos, or are there misconceptions about you that you wish you could clear up?
I always say the people that get it, get it, and the people that don’t, don’t. I show what I find enjoyment in a lot, which is my home, because it’s such a fun experience for me to be cooking in outfits and gardening and doing all these things.
I probably have to show more of my work life to make people realize that I do work. I think the people that get it, get it.
How has motherhood changed the way you approach your career and the content you create?
I mean, being a working mom is a lot to juggle. I compare it to playing Tetris, trying to make it all fit and slot in just about right.
But with creating content, it is my job. A lot of my job. I obviously also do other things, but creating content is a massive part of my work life. So it is something that I prioritize and have to find ways to figure out.
My kids are also, a lot of the time, watching or helping me off camera, and it really is such a fun experience to have them be a part of my work as well.
One thing that stuck out to me was the dedication at the beginning of Homemade, where you write about how small things can become beautiful. Was that always at the heart of the book?
It didn’t start off as that. I think I approached Homemade in a very traditional way where I thought of it as just a cookbook, but the more I wrote and the more I thought about it, the more it evolved into me putting out a little part of myself.
And with that, I wanted to show people a little bit more about my day-to-day, but also the way I think and the way I approach things. I want you to see the beauty in the everyday things because I think life moves so fast.
What I’ve learned very recently as well, with the changes in my life and in my family, is all the small things that you think are not important, like making a meal or making your bed, cleaning up—whatever the small tasks are that you don’t necessarily like or want to do, or that feel very mundane to you, when those get taken away from you and you have to look at them in a very different way, it almost shows you how beautiful they are. So why not make them even more beautiful when you can?
Does it surprise you how invested people are in every little detail of your videos?
Yeah. And it makes me feel happy. It makes me happy that people keep returning to it and they find joy in it or relaxation.
I love when people come up to me in public and tell me that they turn it on for their kids or that their husband asked to turn it on before bed or whatever it may be. Or if it’s someone making jam in their apartment for the first time or people at high school saying that they went and tried a recipe with their friends at a sleepover.
All these different things that bring people together and bring them joy are what I do it for. And I’m so grateful that people are invested and along for the ride and also just always being supportive and loving because it means so much to me.
What’s one thing about your day-to-day life that might surprise people who only know you through your videos?
Probably that I get stressed as well. I think I am this very calm and serene person online, which I am in real life, but I do get stressed; I do get anxious. I sometimes have a meltdown. I’m only 24, at the end of the day.
The kitchen has so many distinct sounds, from butter sizzling to cream being whisked. What’s your favorite?
I like the sound of chopping. There’s something about the knife hitting the cutting board. Also sizzling, butter sizzling. And kneading—it’s not a sound, but the motion of it is very grounding. And turning on the water to wash your hands.
What’s one vintage recipe you love or think deserves a comeback?
My mother-in-law makes these very old-school recipes. I don’t know whether this is a vintage recipe because I’m not American, so I don’t know the history of it. I’m assuming because she’s made it for a hot minute and her parents did. But it’s pretzel salad, and it’s in my cookbook. It’s this dessert that’s just so beautiful.
Homemade jam or homemade butter?
If I had to pick, one, two, three, go: Jam. Because I feel like the French do a really good butter. I love buying French butter.
What’s one kitchen item you’ll happily splurge on?
My KitchenAid and all the KitchenAid attachments. But also, very good sharp German or Japanese knives.
What’s your controversial food opinion?
Not everything needs to be fancy. Simple is better. That’s just me.
What’s one thing you think everyone should make from scratch at least once?
Bread. Or ice cream, actually. Ice cream as well. It’s so easy, and it’s phenomenal.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.