Victoria Minell: Print Cookbooks Still Thriving!

While the world of culinary creations is shifting increasingly online, one Aussie foodie is happily bucking that trend.

Victoria Minell, who boasts 3.9 million followers across and Instagram, showed off her kitchen prowess as a guest judge on for the series' Viral Wonders Week.    

Despite making a name for herself in the world of online content creation, Victoria revealed that she is planning to release her first cookbook later this year.

She told Daily Mail that while she has seen considerable success in the online space – via social media and her Substack, Recipes By Victoria – there had always been a high demand from fans to see her creations in print.   

'I am bringing out a cookbook in July, which is really exciting for me, mainly because I've always shared my recipes digitally on Substack – a platform where I direct all of my Instagram followers if they want my recipes,' she said.

'But that's a digital platform where I email out the recipes, or they have to search for them in an app, and over the four years that I've been doing this as a job, literally every day, people from all age groups are saying: 'We want your recipes in print,'' she said.

Victoria added that she had attempted to satisfy the demand by creating e-books, but she said people do not have the same relationship with a digital tome as they do with a physical book. 

'I've tried e-books and they are just not the same,' she said.

'You're not going to print them off and binder yourself. People kind of think that recipe books are dying out, and I really don't think they are – they're great birthday and Christmas presents.'

Victoria added that there was something intrinsically special about poring through the pages of a recipe book – a tactile relationship that is lost in the digital world and one she wants to cultivate with her upcoming release.

'When I go to a bookstore, and I go to a recipe book, I don't even read the cover – I just flip through the pages looking at the beautiful photography and food,' she said.

'And that's something I'm really proud of – that I've got some beautiful photography in this cookbook and I'm really excited to be bringing my world offline for once.

'Also, to see all the hard work I've done come out in print and be in people's houses.'

Victoria said that, while excited about the new venture, she was not about to abandon the world of online content creation, and the engaged and supportive community that she has fostered.

My community is just brilliant,' she said.

'I've been, I wouldn't say lucky, but I've really worked hard to build the community and to try and inspire, and educate all my followers on different ways of cooking that aren't boring chicken, and veg.'

Meanwhile, Victoria is still very much on cloud nine following her debut stint on MasterChef Australia's Viral Wonders Week. Speaking about her MasterChef experience, Victoria said that it was like a dream come true