# The Illustrated Kitchen Every month, I pick a dish with a story behind it, and I illustrate the whole thing. The history, the politics, the strange accidents that got it into your kitchen. Then I make it into a collage. I'm Anna Lena Feunekes, an author-illustrator from NL. Page: Feed: --- ## [You might know the saying 'rosemary for remembrance', but where does it come from? (+rosemary honey flatbread recipe)](https://annalenavaniersel.substack.com/p/theres-rosemary-thats-for-remembrance) _2026-07-30 路 Anna Lena Feunekes_ We are going on a rosemary-scented trip from Greek exams to Tudor weddings, because rosemary has been inside human memory for five thousand years and modern science only just worked out why! ## [Tomatoes are more interesting to me than I thought possible (+tomato tatin recipe)](https://annalenavaniersel.substack.com/p/the-tumultuous-history-of-the-tomato) _2026-06-30 路 Anna Lena Feunekes_ I'm taking you on a wild ride from poisoned posh people to tomato gangmasters, to show you how the tomato has been deceiving us, and we ourselves. Includes illustrated recipe art and history deepdive! ## [There is NO WAY you knew all this about chickpeas and their history. (+ torta di ceci recipe)](https://annalenavaniersel.substack.com/p/there-is-no-way-you-knew-all-this) _2026-05-28 路 Anna Lena Feunekes_ From a veggie-shaped nose, to a 500-year recipe gap: chickpeas are older, stranger, and more enigmatically loaded than your grocery store lets on (+ a fab chickpea pancake sandwich!) ## [Watch the drawalong: white vs. green, collage, and a little mess! 馃尶](https://annalenavaniersel.substack.com/p/watch-the-drawalong-white-vs-green) _2026-05-07 路 Anna Lena Feunekes_ A full process video, just for paid subscribers, plus a teaser for everyone else [Listen](https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/195730102/20bed014e9ff41fafe3318b6354f95ef.mp3) ## [The vegetable that emperors built logistics operations around](https://annalenavaniersel.substack.com/p/i-spent-my-childhood-harvesting-a) _2026-04-30 路 Anna Lena Feunekes_ From Roman logistics to royal kitchen gardens to the Brabant sandsoils: white asparagus has never just been a vegetable. This newsletter was a blast to make, as well as the artwork! ## [Did you know the pancake in your pan is partly US foreign policy (+ okonomiyaki recipe)](https://annalenavaniersel.substack.com/p/did-you-know-the-pancake-in-your) _2026-04-01 路 Anna Lena Feunekes_ A city in ruins, a surplus of American wheat, and the world's most adaptable pancake ## [This is what happens if you put all your potatoes in one basket (+ potatoes with merk茅n walnuts recipe)](https://annalenavaniersel.substack.com/p/this-is-what-happens-if-you-put-all) _2026-03-01 路 Anna Lena Feunekes_ Chu帽o, the Irish Famine, and broligarch tariff wars: how the world's most biodiverse crop became boring, fragile, and a tool for subjugation. ## [Wrapped in migration: how dumplings traveled the world (+illustrated dumpling recipe)](https://annalenavaniersel.substack.com/p/wrapped-in-migration-how-dumplings) _2026-02-03 路 Anna Lena Feunekes_ What happens when you spend an afternoon folding dumplings instead of doomscrolling (spoiler: community, meditation, and really good food!) ## [The tips and tricks behind every artwork I create with collage](https://annalenavaniersel.substack.com/p/a-creative-resolution-you-might-actually) _2026-01-12 路 Anna Lena Feunekes_ Everyone鈥檚 doing that thing where they promise to exercise daily or read 52 books or become fluent in Swedish. Me? I鈥檓 suggesting something way more realistic: spend 45 minutes making something. ## [This newsletter will make you REALLY think about rice and its history (+Nasi Goreng recipe)](https://annalenavaniersel.substack.com/p/the-rice-that-fed-empires-why-every) _2026-01-02 路 Anna Lena Feunekes_ From ancient African kingdoms to Balinese water cooperatives: rice cultivation built civilizations on cooperation, not conquest (+ a Nasi Goreng recipe, because theory without fried rice is sad!) ## [8.1% APY Plus Free Stock (Sponsored)](https://crawlproof.com/a/9GBcxnaRrQF0) _2026-01-02 路 **Sponsored**_ Claim 8.1% APY and up to $1,030 in SK hynix and Nvidia stock. ## [Basically giving away all of my illustration secrets for the good of creativity & the love of flowers (my first ever online art course!)](https://annalenavaniersel.substack.com/p/basically-giving-away-all-of-my-illustration) _2025-12-16 路 Anna Lena Feunekes_ Just in case you were looking for something creative to do this winter... ## [The most radical thing you can do at a holiday table is make sure everyone belongs there (+ illustrated stew recipe!)](https://annalenavaniersel.substack.com/p/the-most-radical-thing-you-can-do) _2025-12-01 路 Anna Lena Feunekes_ From mushrooms to miso, umami is the great equalizer (with a recipe so good that it'll make your meat-eating uncle weep into his mashed potatoes... just warning you!) ## [Red cabbage as a guide to the ground in the city of Gouda: when vegetables become scientific instruments](https://annalenavaniersel.substack.com/p/red-cabbage-as-a-guide-through-goudas) _2025-11-26 路 Anna Lena Feunekes_ Bonus newsletter! A local community project taught me so much about food science and biodiversity, I just had to make an extra newsletter to tell you all about it and show you the artwork. ## [Bet you didn't know this about Gingerbread... (Illustrated recipe inside!)](https://annalenavaniersel.substack.com/p/the-medieval-bakers-who-monopolized) _2025-11-01 路 Anna Lena Feunekes_ From ancient medicine to guild-protected luxury: how gingerbread became the OG edible art (with a vegan illustrated recipe that would've gotten you arrested in 1500!) ## [I'm finally doing the thing (custom recipe illustrations!)](https://annalenavaniersel.substack.com/p/im-finally-doing-the-thing-custom) _2025-10-13 路 Anna Lena Feunekes_ If you've been looking for holiday gifts or housewarming presents for family and friends who love to cook, this may just save your butt. ## [The medieval currency you can BAKE with (+14 other spices that changed history)](https://annalenavaniersel.substack.com/p/the-medieval-currency-you-can-bake) _2025-10-01 路 Anna Lena Feunekes_ From medieval currency to modern comfort food: the surprising journey of cardamom (with 2 illustrated recipes worth their weight in gold!) ## [The Turkish dessert secret hiding in my sketchbook (and your kitchen)](https://annalenavaniersel.substack.com/p/this-illustrated-turkish-dessert) _2025-09-01 路 Anna Lena Feunekes_ Kabak Tatl谋s谋 is what happens when pumpkin decides to ditch its hearty reputation and join the dessert hall of fame ## [Finally, recipe cards that are actually worth printing (free download inside!)](https://annalenavaniersel.substack.com/p/made-you-some-cute-recipe-cards-that) _2025-08-06 路 Anna Lena Feunekes_ I think you'll love adding these to your kitchen. ## [What happens when an illustrator gets fed up and makes her own cookbook](https://annalenavaniersel.substack.com/p/i-made-a-mini-cookbook-and-i-think) _2025-08-06 路 Anna Lena Feunekes_ Remember when I said I was going to take matters into my own hands instead of waiting for someone to give me permission to make the things I want to make? Well... I actually did that. ## [Zero-Persistence E2EE (Sponsored)](https://crawlproof.com/a/fjo2sIGMrOzw) _2025-08-06 路 **Sponsored**_ End-to-end encryption with client-side WebCrypto and volatile memory. ## [The Ancient Roman cocktail recipe your teachers never told you about](https://annalenavaniersel.substack.com/p/the-ancient-roman-secrets-your-teachers) _2025-08-01 路 Anna Lena Feunekes_ I'm going to be ballsy and say, I like the Roman Empire more than all the old dudes bragging about it on the internet. Watch me illustrate Roman history facts while I prove it, and let's catch up!