NEW YORK â Best-selling cookbook author Julia Turshen concentrates on the raw material of each recipe â ingredients, utensils and ounces. But behind the food is something else. âIâve always been drawn to cookbooks because I think theyâre this remarkable way to share stories,â she says. âI think food is just a vehicle for these stories.â By that measure, her latest offering, âSimply Julia,â is as close to an autobiography as a cookbook can be, from her handwritten recipe titles to the inclusion of old family snapshots, photographs of her at home, essays and a peek into her life with every dish.