
Photo credit: Shirley Cai
Welcome to Chowhound’s Table Talk podcast, where Executive Editor Hana Asbrink chats with some of the most interesting names and newsmakers in the food space. Today: Australian cook, food writer, and Peddler Journal creator, Hetty McKinnon.
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How are you holding up? Have the days started blending together for you, too? It has already been a few weeks living the quarantine life here in New York, and I’ve been trying to create some structure in our home to maintain some sense of normalcy (that may or may not mean getting out of my sweats and into some non-elastic pants to start my day).
It feels like just yesterday I had a great heart-to-heart with cookbook author and creator of Peddler Journal, Hetty McKinnon. The Brooklyn-based Australian writer centers her cooking on beautiful, wholesome vegetarian fare and her latest book, “Family: New Vegetarian Comfort Food to Nourish Every Day,” is just the guide you need a right now: a perfect blend of comfort food and kinship.
From Turkish halloumi and kale gozleme that back to Hetty’s time in Australian markets to Cantonese tomato and egg stir-fry nodding to her Chinese heritage, Hetty’s vegetarian-friendly recipes are always inclusive, generous, and above all, delicious.
Related Reading: A Cantonese Stir-Fried Tomato and Egg Dish as Satisfying as It Is Comforting
Tune in to my chat with Hetty as we rewind back to her days peddling salads on the back of a bicycle in Sydney; explore her identity as a Chinese Australian cook living and working in America; and how her food is, ultimately, an act of love and an exercise in storytelling.

Photo credit: Shirley Cai