Leda Scheintaub - Ghostwriter
Publishing professional who collaborates on cookbooks from concept to finished book.
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Overview
I work closely with authors to turn their vision and voice into finished books, including proposal writing, developing and testing recipes, and coordinating every stage leading up to publication. My clients range from Laila Ali and Carol Alt to four MasterChef winners. I have tested recipes for numerous books, including Oprah’s Food, Health, and Happiness. I have been in the industry for more than twenty years.
My in-house background includes stints as managing editor at Penguin Books and The New Press. While at Penguin Books, my work on Rebecca Wood’s seminal Whole Foods Encyclopedia inspired me to complete the Chef’s Training Program at the Natural Gourmet Institute in New York City. I then worked as a private chef in New York City while making my way into the world of cookbook writing. My skills reflect the hundreds of cookbooks I’ve copyediting and proofread over the span of my career. My combined publishing and culinary background brings a broad picture perspective to the work I offer.
I am also the author of Cultured Foods for Your Kitchen and, with my husband, Nash Patel, Dosa Kitchen: Recipes for India’s Favorite Street Food. We own a South Indian food truck based in southern Vermont called Dosa Kitchen. When I’m not in the kitchen, you can find me walking in the woods behind my house or making a day of it at farmers’ market, the hub of my hometown of Brattleboro, Vermont.
My in-house background includes stints as managing editor at Penguin Books and The New Press. While at Penguin Books, my work on Rebecca Wood’s seminal Whole Foods Encyclopedia inspired me to complete the Chef’s Training Program at the Natural Gourmet Institute in New York City. I then worked as a private chef in New York City while making my way into the world of cookbook writing. My skills reflect the hundreds of cookbooks I’ve copyediting and proofread over the span of my career. My combined publishing and culinary background brings a broad picture perspective to the work I offer.
I am also the author of Cultured Foods for Your Kitchen and, with my husband, Nash Patel, Dosa Kitchen: Recipes for India’s Favorite Street Food. We own a South Indian food truck based in southern Vermont called Dosa Kitchen. When I’m not in the kitchen, you can find me walking in the woods behind my house or making a day of it at farmers’ market, the hub of my hometown of Brattleboro, Vermont.
Services
Languages
English (US)
Non-Fiction
Cooking & Food Wine & Spirits
Health & wellbeing
Certifications
- Natural Gourmet Institute
Work experience
Editorial Freelancer
Self-employed
February, 2001
–
Present
(over 19 years)
Collaborate on cookbooks from concept to finished book, including writing, editing, and recipe development and testing
Managing Editor
The New Press
December, 1999
–
June, 2002
(over 2 years)
Managed a list of 60 titles a year, from manuscript to bound book. Created production schedules, oversaw typesetting process, including design, and coordinated with all departments
Managing Editor
Penguin Classics
January, 1998
–
December, 1999
(almost 2 years)
Oversaw all aspects of editorial/production process on Penguin Classics, Compass (Penguin’s spiritual line), and Penguin Ediciones (Spanish language titles)
Portfolio (17 selected works)
Dosa Kitchen: Recipes for India's Favorite Street Food
Nash Patel, Leda Scheintaub
Dosas, a popular Indian street food, are thin, rice- and lentil-based pancakes that can be stuffed with or dipped into a variety of flavorful fillings. Dosa Kitchen shows you how to make this favorite comfort food at home with a master batter, plus 50 recipes for fillings, chutneys, and even cocktails to serve alongside. Dosas are endlessly adaptable to all tastes and dietary restrictions: nat... read more
One hundred inspired recipes to enliven your cooking with pickles, yogurt, kombucha, and beyond. Cultured Foods for Your Kitchen draws on the traditions of fermenting from around the world, offering inspiring ways to incorporate nutritional cultures into everyday cooking. Fermentation is a traditional means of preserving the harvest, and today it is also prized for the range of flavors it crea... read more
The Whole Bowl: Gluten-free, Dairy-free Soups & Stews
Rebecca Wood, Leda Scheintaub
A compendium of delicious soup and stew recipes that just happen to be gluten- and dairy-free.From Julia Child Award–winning author Rebecca Wood and food writer Leda Scheintaub, The Whole Bowl offers soups and stews using real food ingredients both familiar and new to restore, nourish, and heal the body. The two authors share a philosophy about the deep nurturing power of real, wholesome food ... read more
Four-time undefeated boxing world champion, cooking personality, and passionate health advocate, Laila Ali’s Food For Life features over 100 sassy recipes that will help you “swap it out.”In Laila’s kitchen, nutrition is King, but flavor is Queen! In her debut cookbook, Laila shows you how to make knockout meals in ways that work with your busy and demanding life, so you can eat healthy, delic... read more
From the founder of Cali'Flour Foods comes a cookbook that offers guilt-free recipes for every carb craving! Welcome back pizza, pasta, cookies, and sandwiches with 125 recipes! Cali’Flour Foods has helped millions transform splurge foods into superfoods. And now, their first cookbook, Cali’Flour Kitchen, offers recipes for the dishes you haven’t been able to enjoy for years—from French Onion ... read more
Oprah Winfrey will be the first to tell you, she has had a complicated relationship with food. It’s been both a source of delight and comfort for her, but also the cause of an ongoing struggle with her weight. In Food, Health, and Happiness, Oprah shares the recipes that have allowed eating to finally be joyful for her. With dishes created and prepared alongside her favorite chefs, paired with... read more
A companion to the #1 New York Times best-selling diet book that has swept the nation, The Doctor's Diet Cookbook is a collection of simple, delicious, and balanced recipes that will help you maintain a healthy weight now and throughout your life. The highly flexible and workable plan in The Doctor's Diet unlocked the power of 10 Food Prescriptions to activate weight loss while restoring healt... read more
Orange Is the New Black Presents: The Cookbook
Jenji Kohan, Tara Hermann, Hartley Voss, Alex Regnery
Staffed and run by a band of misfit inmates, the kitchen at Litchfield is in many ways the center of the popular show Orange Is the New Black—a setting for camaraderie, drug smuggling, power struggles, and plot twists. And then there is the food. With 65 recipes, 12 sidebars that expand upon the fiction of the show, and 60 photographs from the show featuring favorite characters and memorable m... read more
Replicate the go-to cleanse for Hollywood A-listers at home with this beautifully designed, lavishly illustrated, and inspiring lifestyle book by Denise Mari, founder of Organic Avenue, the hugely popular juice cleansing and raw vegan lifestyle company.Denise Mari, founder of Organic Avenue, went from peddling her fresh juices from a backpack in the Lower East Side of New York to opening a boo... read more
Nearly twenty years ago, thanks to a raw food diet, Carol Alt cured a world of headaches, stomach issues, and fatigue and became healthier, more energetic, and slimmer than she’s ever been. In Easy Sexy Raw she shares how anyone can experience the benefits of the uncooked lifestyle. Carol takes all of the intimidation out of going raw, providing straightforward advice, easy tips, and 130 super... read more
The new cookbook from America’s Newest MasterChef, Claudia Sandoval! MasterChef serves home cooks a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to show their skills and creativity as they are mentored, tested and judged by world-renowned culinary experts. These home cooks put their passion on a plate over a series of iconic challenges that promise to delight and entice viewers. Claudia’s Cocina: A Taste of... read more
My Modern American Table: Recipes for Inspired Home Cooks
MasterChef Winner
Viewers fell in love with Shaun O’Neale on Season 7 of MasterChef. In his debut cookbook, O’Neale presents his take on modern American cuisine with international influences. It’s experimental, it’s edgy, and it’s full of big flavors. This book is not your average home cook’s cookbook. O’Neale encourages you to push your own personal cooking boundaries and teaches you that home-cooked food can ... read more
The number-one prime-time summer program on FOX, MasterChef, is a nationwide competition to find the best home cook in the country. The judges are some of cooking’s biggest stars—award-winning chef Gordon Ramsay, restaurateur and winemaker Joe Bastianich, and acclaimed chefGraham Elliot. The prize? A chance to win $250,000—and a cookbook deal. This book celebrates the food of Season 5 winner, ... read more
WELCOME TO MY ITALIAN KITCHEN AND MY BIGGEST PASSION: FOOD.Most of my family memories revolve around food, especially family holidays, and everyone knows how important food and wine are in Italian culture. Here are the recipes passed down from my nonnas (grandmothers) that reflect the warm, rustic flavors of Friuli, Italy: rich frico, risotto, and savory polenta. I also love the lighter bites,... read more
If you are like most people, you have probably tried many diets looking for one that works, makes you feel good, and that you can actually follow for more than a few days. You've probably come up empty-handed. We've all been therebut Natalie Jill's 7 Day Jump Start is different. This easy-to-follow plan is based on REAL food and you get to choose the foods YOU like best. Natalie has helped mi... read more
The Ciao Bella Book of Gelato and Sorbetto: Bold, Fresh Flavors to Make at Home
F. W. Pearce, Danilo Zecchin
TO TRY ONE SPOONFUL OF CIAO BELLA’S GELATO OR SORBETTO IS TO BE INSTANTLY TRANSPORTED. When you think of the most delicious and fresh gelato and sorbetto in America, you are craving Ciao Bella. The premier gelato and sorbetto maker in the country may be known for using the world’s finest ingredients—Sicilian lemons, Valrhona chocolate, Louisiana pralines—but you don’t need to travel the globe ... read more
The Hell's Kitchen Cookbook: Recipes from the Kitchen
The Chefs of Hell's Kitchen
The first official companion cookbook from the enormously popular Fox cooking competition show.Hell's Kitchen debuted in 2005 on Fox and is currently in in its 14th season. On the show, one explosive, charismatic Head Chef oversees 16 chefs as they battle it out to win a job as Head Chef of top restaurant with a total prize value of $250,000. In each episode the chefs are put to the test in a ... read more
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