Meghan Markle‘s new Netflix show, “With Love, Meghan,” may have audiences divided over her kitchen skills and entertaining prowess, but this isn’t the first time the Duchess of Sussex has talked about her love for cooking.
In 2018, Markle partnered with a group of women in West London for the release of “Together: Our Community Cookbook.” The 128-page cookbook features 55 recipes inspired by the Hubb Community Kitchen — a group of friends who started meeting and cooking together in the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower fire in London.
Together: Our Community Cookbook
After being displaced by the fire, the women found a sanctuary at the Al-Manaar Muslim Cultural Heritage Centre in West London, where they shared the kitchen for two days every week preparing food for their families and neighbors. The cookbook’s recipes are inspired by those created in that shared kitchen, incorporating flavors and dishes from the Middle East, North Africa, the Mediterranean, and Europe.
Markle provided the foreword for the book, and it marked her first royal project on her own since she married Prince Harry in a star-studded wedding in the UK. A portion of the proceeds from the sales of “Together” will go to the Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, to be distributed to the Hubb Community Kitchen and similar projects. (The word, “Hubb,” means “love” in Arabic).
The Duchess says she was drawn to the project because of how it brought together people from different ethnic groups, religions, and walks of life.
“This is an homage to the power of cooking as a community, and the recipes that allow us to connect, share and look forward,” Markle said, in a press release from the publisher. “Through this charitable endeavor, the proceeds will allow the kitchen to thrive and keep the global spirit of community alive.”
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The cookbook was an instant Amazon best-seller when it was released in 2018 and it’s back in stock right now for just $12. “Together” was bestowed with the U.K.’s André Simon Special Commendation Award, as part of the country’s annual shortlist of best food and drink books.
And while Markle’s Netflix show may have middling reviews, readers are decidedly kinder about the cookbook: almost 90% of reviewers give “Together” a full, five-star rating. “With Love, Meghan,” meantime, has already been renewed for season two.
