About me
I’m Kristin Jensen, the publisher, editor and chief disruptor at Blasta Books, Nine Bean Rows and Scoop. I eat, sleep and breathe books and food. I’ve got lots to say on the subject and I write about it all here.
I believe that the two things that connect everyone, everywhere, are food and stories. If you make a Venn diagram with food in one circle and stories in the other, connection is what’s in the middle. Food and stories are what humans all have in common, no matter who we are or where we’re from. (Me? I’m from the States but moved to Ireland in 1999.) You could even say that cooking and stories are what make us human.
I founded my boutique publishing house in 2021 via a successful Kickstarter campaign to change the way cookbooks are published, to provide a platform for more voices to be heard and to update the story of the modern, diverse and vibrant food scene in Ireland.
Before that I was a freelance editor and writer for over 20 years, specialising in editing cookbooks and recipes (and also textbooks – but that’s a story for another day). I’ve worked on hundreds of books and tens of thousands of recipes.
So why did I trade in my successful freelance career built over two decades to start a niche publishing company?
Because I was frustrated, both as a reader and as a food writer. I knew full well that traditional cookbooks – the kind with 100 recipes, 250 pages and sumptuous styling and photography – are incredibly expensive, and therefore risky, to produce. What this often means is that only the most high-profile people and only the most mainstream topics or trends tend to get published. But as someone who is immersed in the Irish food scene, I also knew that many talented voices and many parts of our diverse food culture were not being represented. In Ireland, we are cooking and producing food every bit as good as – and sometimes better than – the food in major world cities like London or New York. I wanted to provide the platform to shout about it and share it.
I’m also the co-author of Spice Box: Easy, Everyday Indian Food (Penguin Sandycove, 2023), Making Artisan Pizza at Home (Ryland Peters & Small, 2022) and Sláinte: The Complete Guide to Irish Craft Beer and Cider (New Island, 2014). I’m a member of the Irish Food Writers’ Guild, having previously served as secretary and chair.
When I’m not pottering in the kitchen or got my nose stuck in a book, you’ll find me walking for miles in the countryside with my dogs, probably listening to a podcast about food.
Follow me on Instagram at @edibleireland.
Read this first
Read ‘To niche!’ on how I turned the death knell of ‘too niche’ into the rallying cry of my publishing house instead to get a more in-depth feel for what I’m all about.
To niche!
There are two words I never want to hear again: Too niche. Before I became a publisher, I was a freelance editor for over 20 years, specialising in cookbooks and recipes. I’ve worked for publishers here in Ireland and in the UK and I’ve co-authored three books. Here are some of the things I’ve heard being dismissed as too niche over the years, either said…
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