What I Do
Recipe Development and Testing
I accept recipe commissions for online sites and food publications and have written for sites including Great British Chefs, Food 52 and JamieOliver.com. I have also had recipes featured in delicious. magazine and BBC Good Food in the UK. Please contact me for my recipe development rates or to see my media pack.
Food Writing
I hold a Diploma in Food Journalism with Distinction from the College of Media and Publishing. I also cook, style and provide my own photography. My first cook book is called Wild Honey and Rye, Modern Polish Recipes, which draws upon my Polish heritage and recent travels to Poland. This will be published by Pavilion Books on 7th September 2017.
Reviews
I review a limited number of products on my blog and usually feature them within a round up post or within a recipe.
Where product or payment is received, all brand links will be ‘no-follow’ in keeping with Google’s current guidance.
Featured Work
Online writing and recipe development:
JamieOliver.com
Huff Post Food
UKTV/Good Food Channel
Great British Chefs
The Foodie Bugle
Channel 4 Food
Recipes/features in print:
BBC Good Food Magazine
delicious.magazine
Woman & Home
Morrisons Magazine
The Independent
Media campaigns/Judging:
Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs Polska: Spring into New
The Guild of Food Writers, Award Judge, 2015
Press Mentions – Wild Honey and Rye
The Best Cookbooks to look forward to in 2017 – Evening Standard, Julia Platt Leonard
“Challenge your misconceptions and fall in love with the healthy Polish kitchen.” Behan, a British food writer of Polish descent, shows how the focus has shifted from heavy dumplings and stews to lighter, fresher, seasonal recipes. Happily, she still includes pierogi. – The Bookseller
Magazine Features
BBC Good Food Magazine / Polish Apple Cake Recipe
BBC Good Food Magazine / Global Kitchen Feature
Delicious Magazine / Bring and Share New Year Feature, January 2013
Morrisons Magazine, July 2013
Delicious Magazine / My Inheritance Recipe Feature, August 2012
Interviews
- Food Blogger Connect – Fabulicious Food! Looking Forward to #FBC12
- Foodies 100 – January Food Blog of the Month
- Food Blogger Connect – 60 Seconds with Ren Behan
Lovely quotes & mentions
Woman and Home’s Top 100 Food Blogs
“Seasonal, family-friendly food with a local twist, inspired by the hearty food of Ren’s Polish childhood – and the blog is updated all the time.”
Sainsbury’s – Food Blogger Network
“Food, wine and lifestyle luxe, blogger and foodie Ren makes it all look so easy. We watch with awe as she whizzes round her kitchen, mastering everyday dishes, to specialty sweets treats inspired by Polish heritage. The blog is immaculately presented and eloquently written; readers will instantly warm to Ren’s excitement about food and eagerly anticipate her new recipes.”
Britmums – Finalist in the Outstanding category 2012
“The bloggers in the Outstanding category stand out with well-written, entertaining, thought-provoking, heartfelt and often highly informative posts. Ren Behan has created an enchanting, beautiful food blog.”
Channel 4 Food – Best Family Food Blogs
“Home cook Ren is a big believer in eating round the table as a family and praising her two children for trying new things. Like many mummy bloggers, her emphasis is on quick and easy recipes and she’s also keen on seasonality – take a look at her simple and in season section.”
Sainsbury’s Money Matters – 20 Fantastic Family Food Blogs
“Ren’s blog is home to seasonal recipes that use healthy, locally produced food. Special sections are filled with culinary ideas for kids, and blogging events such as ‘Simple and in Season’, where bloggers from around the world share seasonal recipes.”
Personal accolades
Silvana de Soissons, Editor, The Foodie Bugle
“Her writing style is very warm, engaging and human. She is a mother of Polish heritage with a young family to feed, and it is clear that her aim is to put simple, delicious and thoughtful food on the table. Her blog reflects the care and attention she dedicates to all her work.”
Jo Wiltshire, Author & Course Tutor, CMP
“Ren Behan’s writing comes alive through her passion for food and her knowledge of all things foodie. She deftly hooks in the reader with an engaging mix of the things that inspire her – seasonal ingredients, her own Polish heritage, and real cooking for real families. She has been a dedicated and imaginative writing student, and is someone I now hold up as an example to those wishing to turn a blog idea into a reality.”
Other Published Work
You can read my reviews for Flavour Magazine, London on The Soho House group of restaurants online from published editions:
Dean Street Townhouse
Electric Brasserie
High Road Brasserie
Pizza East Portobello
I am also a regular contributor to The Foodie Bugle:
The art of artisanal food – Published Article
Pasta Class with Katie Caldesi – Published Article
A Slice of Cherry Pie – A review
Lotte’s Country Kitchen – A review
Stew! – A review
The Italian Cookery Course – A Review
Stewed! Nourish Your Soul – A Review
The Real Food Festival, London 2011 – Published Article
The Free Range Cook by Annabel Langbein – A Review
Courses
- Leith’s School of Food and Wine – Food Styling November 2011
- CTJT Diploma in Food Journalism – awarded with Distinction