Cucina Aurora owner releases new recipe book

By Mya Blanchard

listings@hippopress.com

Everybody needs food to survive — this commonality connects all of us as human beings, and is a sentiment at the core of local chef Dawn Hunt’s new book Kitchen Witchcraft for Beginners: Spells, Recipes, and Rituals to Bring Your Practice Into the Kitchen.

Released Sept. 27, the book chronicles various methods of harvesting and cultivating love, connection and relationships through food. It’s the latest project for Hunt, the owner and founder of Cucina Aurora Kitchen Witchery, which offers a line of products like infused olive oils and risotto mixes.

Originally from New York, Hunt grew up in a traditional Italian family where, she said, “food is our religion.” As she has food allergies, Hunt began to look for ways to cook for herself that didn’t compromise flavor. Eventually her cooking spread beyond her own personal table, as she started selling at farmers markets and teaching classes about the principles of cooking with good intentions. This, she said, is what it means to be a self-proclaimed “kitchen witch.”

“For me, it’s about cooking with love, putting positive energy into the food and doing my cooking, my shopping, [using] my resources and purchasing foods intentionally,” she said, adding that it is this focus on intention that is at the core of witchcraft.

During her days of traveling to various farmers markets, Hunt found support in New England.

“My experience was that in New England people really got what I was doing, [and] they understood,” she said.

She found that she was embraced by the people in New Hampshire, a place where she had always wanted to live.

“The way the community … embraced this idea of cooking with love and [being] really intentional with what you’re eating and creating in the kitchen … was really unique for me to find,” Hunt said. “It wasn’t that experience in New York.”

A year after moving to New Hampshire in 2010, Hunt quit her job and decided to work on Cucina Aurora full-time. The company has been in Salem since 2012.

Hunt started working on her new book after being scouted out by the publisher, who was looking for someone to write about the basics of putting love and intention into one’s food. Unlike her previous book, 2020’s A Kitchen Witch’s Guide to Recipes for Love & Romance, which focuses on aphrodisiac food, this book provides more basic knowledge about the ingredients and tools used to make the recipes. It also includes recipes that don’t involve food, something she was challenged to do by the publisher, who asked Hunt if she could come up with blends for everything from teas to cleaning solutions and soaps. In addition, the book contains “seasonally synchronized” recipes.

“I try to stay connected to the rhythm of the seasons by eating and cooking seasonally,” Hunt said. “That’s a big part of what I consider kitchen witchcraft.”

To Hunt, “food is the connective tissue between human beings.” This notion is at the core of Hunt’s company and her book. Hunt said she believes “there is magic in the connectivity of food,” which the recipes and rituals in the book will help readers unlock.

Kitchen Witchcraft for Beginners
Kitchen Witchcraft for Beginners: Spells, Recipes, and Rituals to Bring Your Practice Into the Kitchen, by Dawn Hunt
Available now wherever books are sold. Visit cucinaaurora.com to order a signed copy.

A Kitchen Witch’s cure-all chicken soup
Courtesy of Dawn Hunt, as seen in her book Kitchen Witchcraft for Beginners: Spells, Recipes, and Rituals to Bring Your Practice Into the Kitchen (serves 6 to 8)

2 32-ounce cartons chicken broth (organic is preferable)
2 cups cubed cooked chicken
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chopped celery
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 cup chopped carrots
3 garlic cloves, minced
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Rosemary sprigs

In a large (5-quart) sauce pot, warm the oil over medium heat. Add the celery, onion, carrots and garlic. Cook, sauteeing on medium heat until the onions are soft and translucent. Add the chicken broth and the chicken. Bring to a boil. Once boiling, add the salt and the pepper to taste and stir three times, clockwise, to infuse the soup with positive intentions for health and healing. Reduce the heat to a simmer. Add the rosemary on top of the liquid and cover the pot. Let the soup simmer on low heat for at least one hour. Serve hot with noodles or crusty bread for dipping.

Featured photo: Dawn Hunt of Cucina Aurora. Courtesy photo.