My name is Rachel Finn. I am a writer and editor and the founder of the nonprofit Roots Cuisine.

In 2005 while living in Paris, I set out looking for Algerian pastries and a new career as a food writer was soon born. The delicately fragrant melange of almonds, honey and orange flower water led to an essay on Algerian pastries that was published in Gastronomica and to a couple of new obsessions: one for the pastries themselves and one for writing…about food in particular.

Since then I have been published in newspapers, magazines, and online and I’ve stepped into new realms such as food history, gastro-ethnography that satisfy my urge to “get all academic with things,” as a friend once remarked about me.  That urge manifests itself in a my writing and in Roots Cuisine, which is dedicated to promoting the foodways of African Diaspora.I have also recently begun to revisit strictly creative pursuits such as fiction writing and photography

Professionally, my writing and project consulting work for Roots Cuisine and as a freelance writer have tended to overlap and I have written articles on the food of African Diaspora for the Chicago Sun-Times and provided research used in museum exhibits.

For comprehensive lists of current and past published work and projects take a look at the “What I do” page. It will take you where you want to go!