Their first cookery book had a better launch week than Jamie Oliver, breaking records to become the UK’s fastest-selling non-fiction book.
Now the double act behind Pinch of Nom are celebrating again after landing a Nielsen Bookscan gold award, the literary equivalent to a gold disc for selling more than half a million copies in its first month.
Pinch of Nom is the first cookery book to ever reach the 500,000 mark in just five weeks – another record previously held by Jamie, whose 30 Minute Meals book took eight weeks to reach the landmark figure in 2010.
PON, as it is abbreviated, sold 210,506 copies in its first three days on sale – a whopping 45,000 more than any other non-fiction work has sold in a single week since records began in 1998, outselling Jamie Oliver’s Jamie’s Italy, which sold 155,000 copies before Christmas 2005.
Kate Allinson and Kay Featherstone (pictured) who are the creators of record breaking recipe book Pinch of Nom, revealed they are set to publish two more books this year
Its record breaking sales now put it 20th in the bestselling cookbook charts since records began.
Jamie Oliver holds four of the top six slots, his 30-minute meals is top with 1.9 million sales since September 2010, with Joe Wicks Lean in 15 second with 1.4 million and Delia Smith is down at fourth with one million sales of How To Cook: Book One since October 1998.
But scaling the 500,000 mark so quickly is unheard of for a work of non-fiction – only Michelle Obama and Alex Ferguson have come close, with their autobiographies hitting the milestone after seven weeks.
Pinch of Nom, which readers of the Daily Mail can experience for themselves with a pullout series starting in tomorrow’s Weekend magazine and running in the paper next week, has been a publishing phenomenon.
The cookery book associated blog with the same name developed a cult following online, before it was snapped up by publisher Bluebird, the company behind fitness and diet guru Joe Wicks.
Pinch of Nom creators and cooking duo Kate Allinson and Kay Featherstone are enjoying something of a golden run.
Pinch of Nom (pictured) is the first cookery book to ever sell more than 500,000 copies in just five weeks
Their first book, which features 100 slimming ‘home-style’ recipes, including such unlikely low-calorie fare as cheesecake-stuffed strawberries, pizza-stuffed chicken and chocolate eclairs, did so well it became the ninth-fastest selling book of any description, joining the company of authors JK Rowling, Dan Brown and EL James.
A new collection of 26 new recipes together with a food planner, is set to launch in June. A third book is scheduled for publication at the end of the year.
And starting in tomorrow’s Weekend magazine, readers will get the chance to sample some of Kate and Kay’s recipes for themselves, starting with an array of recipes ( including those strawberries) and continuing on Monday with ‘fabulous fakeaways’, then family favourites and sensational suppers.
The success of the book may have taken some by surprise, but came as no surprise to the blogging duo’s army of fans: 1.5 million followers on Facebook and 500,000 on Instagram.
Wirral-based Kate, 47, and Kay 33, have been a couple for 14 years, but began their adventures in food blogging in earnest in 2016.
Classically-trained chef Kate went to catering college and was head chef for a brewery chain, before leaving to head up her own restaurant in 2000.
Kay learned her culinary skills at Kate’s side. When family ill health led to the closure of the restaurant, the couple had a short-lived foray across the pond, where they both worked in the tech industry.
The Pinch of Nom story began as a method of sharing recipes with friends; the first recipes were not exactly diet-friendly and and featured lots of cakes. Things took a different turn when Kate’s sister Lisa encouraged the couple to think about losing weight.
It’s part of the appeal of the culinary double act that they are facing much the same battles and struggles as their fans – they had 30 stone to lose between them and have so far lost five and seven stone each.
They candidly admit they are not ‘skinny minnies’.
But they are shrinking, and it was as their waistlines got smaller that their internet fan base grew. Within six months the website was drawing more than 60,000 people a month attracted by he refreshing normality of the food.
There’s chicken Balti, doner kebab, even a cheeseburger pizza – with meatballs and actual cheese on top; and it’s only 343 calories a serving, along with an entire section on sweet treats.
To keep the calorie count low the couple deploy low-calorie cooking spray, reduced fat spread and sweetener.
So Bakewell tart is made with low-cal tortilla wraps and the Full English Breakfast (minus black pudding) is served in a wrap rather than piled high with toast.
‘Switching out a few ingredients has a massive impact on the calorie, fat or sugar content of food,’ they say. ‘It tastes just as delicious – especially when flavours are enhanced with clever spicing and seasoning.’
Self-taught, they tackled every aspect of their growing blog industry themselves before growing so big they had to deploy some extra team members. They insist the food is the focus, hence no photographs of either chef in the book.
Brands have reportedly been queuing up to work with the pair, so it probably won’t be too long before we hear more Pinch of Nom.