Catching up with Edgar Castrejon

At Unsplash, we love to catchup with our long time contributors to see what they’re up to and hear about the amazing things they’re accomplishing.

Edgar Castrejon is a plant-based chef, food stylist and photographer from Oakland, California, who is known for his stunning travel and food photography.

He recently came out with a cookbook, Provecho, capturing over 100 vegan Mexican recipes celebrating culture and community.

We chatted with Edgar to hear about his experience of publishing his first cookbook and where the passion all started.

How did you get started as a food photographer?

While I was in college, I began documenting what I was eating everyday. It was all through Instagram that I was able to connect with like-minded people, and I started learning how to photograph from all the trials and errors. I became a self-taught chef and photographer.

What do you love about food photography?

I love cooking and also being an artist. Food photography brings these two aspects together, which makes me really happy.

What was the process like of finding a publisher?

It was super difficult because a lot of publishers reached out to me about writing a cookbook, but it took a little while to understand which companies could most accurately and authentically represent me, while also being willing to commit to a realistic budget for the project. I also didn't know how to write an actual proposal, nor anything about how to approach writing a cookbook. It took at least 1 year of prep to get the proposal down and to figure out what kind of cookbook I was going to write, and another 2 years to pitch the proposal, land a publisher, and finish the book.

What was the process of creating the book?

This was an amazing experience but also stressful. I had to test recipes at least 3 times each, and then I had to hire people to make the recipe based solely on reading ingredients and directions, to find out if the recipes I wrote were accurate and understandable to a stranger. I had tons of meetings with editors and designers to help me with the look and feel of the cookbook. It took countless times to get the perfect image for the cover.

How many people were involved, what was the collaboration like?

I had 1 assistant half of the time helping me cook, clean etc. Also, once or twice I had someone come by to help by photographing me while I was cooking and photographing recipes. I also had the publishing team help me design and edit my writing.

How much time have you invested in the creation of the book?

I invested about 3 years total into creating this cookbook.

What was the most challenging part about creating your book?

The most difficult part was forcing myself to finish things by the deadlines.  

What’s your favourite recipe?

My favorite recipe has to be my Coconut Agua Chile recipe. It's a type of vegan ceviche, and it's a super easy recipe to make.

Have any tips for someone wanting to create a cookbook?

Here are my tips:

• Have at least a $20k budget for the cookbook.
• Work on making sure you hire an agent that can represent you well when the project is going into publishers eyes.
• Learn how to write a proposal.

What are your hopes for this book?

I would love to do TV segments to show people how easy some of the recipes are. Plus, I'd be showing that plant-based doesn't compromise flavor or culture!

You can pick up a copy of Provecho on October 12, 2021 (or pre-order now) here.