A living archive of traditional family recipes.
Creative Director
Forgotten Recipes is a documentary project about recipes that were never written down. The measurements are a handful, the feel of the dough and a colour they know when they see it.
Client:
Forgotten Recipes
Role:
Creative Director • Filming • Video Editing
Year:
2026
Explore the full story –
Challenge
Held in one person's memory, these recipes are always one generation away from being lost. The challenge was to capture them before that happens, without forgetting the person who holds them.
Objective
The key decision was what to make it. Rather than another recipe channel, we built a documentary archive that holds two things at once: the recipe in full, in enough detail that a stranger could make it again, and the person behind it, where they were born, who taught them, who sits at the table when it comes out. As creative director, I set the approach that ties it together. Every dish is filmed in the kitchen it has always been made in and in the cook's own words. It was a conscious choice to keep the work rooted in place and person, so the story stays as real as the food.
Results
The project came together end-to-end. I shaped the brand and identity, directed and filmed, edited the footage, and produced the social-first content the archive lives on. Ten episodes have been published, with a growing audience of 6k following along and 26k views a month. It runs in both directions: the recipe survives in a form the family can follow, and the person goes on the record in their own words. The dish outlives them now.