The Cookbook Remixed

The minds behind TasteBook.com have created a virtual space for discovering, organizing and sharing recipes--with an old-school option for printing the collection in a customized cookbook.

“I was shocked that there was no iTunes-style service for recipes out there,” says Kamran Mohsenin, founder and CEO of TasteBook. With investment capital from Condé Nast and Random House, Mohsenin and his team of “food-loving culinary junkies” were looking to target the 60 million online cooking enthusiasts when they launched in October 2007.  Since then, more than 1.1 million user-generated recipes have been uploaded to the site, and unique monthly visitors have swelled to half a million.

TasteBook is free to users and monetized by deals with food brands that offer online services like branded, printed TasteBooks. Through partners such as Food Network and Bon Appétit, the site now offers 100,000 recipes for its members.

Create: Members can create My TasteBook accounts to add their own recipes and photos, along with any recipe from the site’s library. They can also order a print copy of their TasteBook, complete with a customized cover photo.

Share: Members can share the recipes they put on TasteBook with friends via e-mail. When 10 friends set up accounts, users earn a free TasteBook, which retails for between $19.95 and $34.95.

Visitors can also build group TasteBooks by importing their e-mail address books.

Shop: Visitors can browse “starter TasteBooks,” which contain 50 recipes. They can also shop for TasteBooks such as “For the Organic and Healthy” or “For the Dessert Maven”--then add their own recipes.

Video: Cookbook author and Food Network personality Tori Ritchie hosts video segments that explain how to use TasteBook.com.