Colu Henry

Interview By Maria Buteux Reade

I met Colu Henry in October at a sagra, a celebratory harvest dinner, at the Hill Farm Inn in southern Vermont. We were all gathered at a long, communal pine dining table, one that cries out for people to take their glass of wine or dessert plate, shift to a different seat and meet another guest sharing the family-style meal. She introduced herself as Colu. Colu? I thought. “The” Colu, whose recipes I had pored over in the New York Times? The cookbook author? Indeed she was, but more significantly, she’s also warm, gracious, attentive, lovely, hilarious and down to earth. Now you get to meet Colu Henry! Enjoy.

Describe what you do.

I’m a writer, a recipe developer and a cookbook author. I also have a newsletter on Substack, Colu Cooks, a companion to all the things I’m doing. It’s a great platform to connect with people, a space where I give subscribers recipes and videos.

What path led you to food writing?

I majored in musical theater and worked in restaurants through college. When I moved to New York, I was doing cabaret, and a friend suggested I get into fashion PR. Fashion wasn’t the industry I wanted to be in, because I was always so curious about food. But my boss suggested I take a food writing class, which I adored, and that led me to restaurant and chef PR. I was fine-tuning recipes, coordinating photo shoots and handling all the back-end sort of tasks. I also took a fine cooking class at the Institute for Culinary Education so I could broaden my knowledge and skills. After that, I took a job with the Oregon Wine Board and moved out to Portland for a couple of years. I had learned a lot about food and thought wine would be the next step.

And then Bon Appétit came knocking?

Yes, they were going through a major transition and reached out to see if I wanted to interview for a PR position. I was ready to move back to New York. I straddled the editing and publishing sides, which gave me access to all aspects of the business. It was a really fun place at that time.

How did you delve into writing cookbooks?

I was cooking a lot of pasta and started #backpocketpasta on Instagram. It kind of took off, and a friend suggested I write a cookbook. Because I had gained experience with editing recipes and orchestrating photo shoots, I was able to put together a proposal and land a cookbook deal. Looking back, I still can’t believe it all came together. Even though I was in the publishing world, I was still incredibly naive and just got lucky. Back Pocket Pasta came out in 2017. I’m Italian-American and grew up with a lot of the foods in the book, so it was a really comfortable place for me as a first-time author to develop flavor combinations and put ideas out there.

When did you move full time to Hudson?

I left Bon Appétit when I started working on my book, and my husband, Chad, and I realized we didn’t need to be in New York for our work. We moved up here in 2016.

How did you land the position as a recipe developer for the New York Times?

I was feeling sort of burnt out after the pasta book came out and not really sure what my next steps were. So I reached out to a colleague at the Times in 2018. They were about to relaunch the cooking section and expand their cooking app. They invited me to contribute, and I ended up creating a lot of sheet pan weeknight meals, such as chicken thighs and salmon, because that’s what readers were looking for.

I can see from your recipes that you’re a fan of beans, hearty greens, warming spices, citrus. And pork!

I love bold, bright flavors with a nod to health and lusciousness. Pork? I could give up all other meats but not pork. It’s so versatile and flavorful!

Describe your own cooking style.

I sound like a broken record, but I shop as seasonally and locally as possible. I like to make people feel happy and special when they come over for a meal, spoil them a little. Or a lot. I love to tell stories through food, anecdotes about when I had something or share how the recipe came about. If a recipe of mine has inspired you to cook, then I feel I’ve done my job.

Did you cook much as a child?

I actually didn’t. My family was food-centric, and we ate amazing food, but I really didn’t embrace cooking until after I started working in restaurants during college.

Any special childhood food memories?

My grandmother lived with us, and I remember waking up on Sunday mornings to the smell of her meatballs frying in olive oil. I would run downstairs and eat them right out of the pan, without any sauce. We ate a lot of pasta fagioli growing up, but my mom used chickpeas as her bean. Later on, I developed that dish into a recipe for pasta e ceci, which had a crazy moment in the Times. My family also made chicken cutlets in a unique way. Instead of coating them in bread crumbs, we used flour and dipped the cutlets in eggs with pecorino and parsley then shallow-fried them. The dish is transcendent, thanks to this method, which is also how my family makes eggplant Parmesan.

Who are some of your culinary heroes?

Laurie Colwin and Ruth Reichl. Laurie’s books came to me later in life at a time when I was searching for my voice as a cookbook author. Reading her helped open up my ability to express what I wanted to say, and how I said it. I could be funny and be myself. When I was in college and had no money, I read Ruth Reichl’s first book, Delicious, and spent all my bartending money to make her raspberry tart, including buying a tart pan, pie weights and pints of super expensive fresh raspberries. These women really set me in the direction of food and writing and storytelling.

When your world is food, do you ever unplug? Are you always thinking of recipes?

Food, wine and travel are my passions, so I guess I see them as my lifestyle, not so much as work. Even when I read, I’m reading about food and drink.

How did the pandemic impact you as a cook?

My cooking itself didn’t really change, but I wasn’t traveling around the country all the time and eating at restaurants. During the pandemic, Chad and I would do some food or drink projects, like making eggrolls and frying them, or creating a cocktail that we used to enjoy in town. And even though I adore Marcella Hazan, I had never made her tomato butter sauce until the pandemic! How did that escape me all those years?

Are you daunted by anything?

Pastry freaks me out. That’s why I always delegate desserts to my friends!

Any foods you cannot abide?

Bananas! The only way I will consume a banana is in banana bread. My Aunt Cathy makes a bacchini bread that’s half banana, half zucchini, which is actually amazing.

Ultimate luxury?

Truffles. For my birthday in November, I treated myself to a fresh truffle from Elba, which we shaved over fresh pasta.

Comfort foods?

Fried chicken and a good cheeseburger. I’m also a big clam girl— pasta with clam sauce, stuffed clams, anything clam.

Ideal weekend at home?

Our best friends, Helen and Dan, come over and spend the night. The fire will be going, and we’ll have a great dinner and too much wine. We get up in the morning and Helen makes bacon sarnies, which is the British version of a bacon sandwich, with thick back bacon. Another reason to love pork! Then we spend the rest of the day planning our next meals.

How do you and Chad collaborate in cooking?

Chad is a great cook. He’s the master of pizza dough and fresh pasta. He’ll take care of those while I make the sauce or whatever other dishes. And he’s a better cleaner-upper than I am. We’ve been together for 18 years and married for 13 now, so we’ve got it down pretty well.

Happiest moments in the kitchen?

When I’m alone, cooking for myself. If Chad is away for the evening, I’ll make a pasta with a ton of anchovies, bread crumbs, garlic and a lot of herbs. But as I mentioned, I truly love having people in my home for a meal, so it’s always fun planning and preparing those meals. I love bringing pleasure to people through food, and a full house is a happy house.

Talk about your second cookbook—Colu Cooks Easy Fancy Food— which came out last August.

That’s truly how I like to cook and entertain at home: making dishes that are simple and straightforward while elevated and sophisticated at the same time.

What are some of the challenges of writing a cookbook?

Like any creative process, you have moments where you think, “Wow, this is brilliant!” The next minute, you think, “This is terrible!” Everything has been done before. How do you come up with a fresh idea or approach and make it your own in a way that feels authentic?

Who trials the recipes you create?

Chad is my first taster, and my friends are really good testers and tasters. My food stylist is an amazing baker, tester and taster as well.

It’s cool how you invite other friends and family to contribute their expertise to your cookbooks.

I love making these books a collaboration, finding ways for friends to share part of their own story. In Back Pocket Pasta, my friend Talia is a wine writer, and she did a wine and spritz section for the book. In Easy Fancy Food, I invited super-talented friends and colleagues to share a simple dessert recipe, thereby getting me off that dessert hook once again.

What’s the vision or theme of your third book?

That’s still in the works. Stay tuned!

5 Rapid Fire for Colu Henry

Breakfast today?

Over-easy egg on toast with arugula

Favorite childhood meal?

Roast chicken and pilaf

Cake, pie or cookies?

Lemon tart

Guilty pleasure in food or drink?

So many!! Very stinky soft cheese from France—any kind—and sherry

Late night or pre-bed snack?

Homemade popcorn