◉ Capture the recipe · Keep the story · Pass it down

Some recipes only live in one pair of hands.
Save them while you can.

Heirloom gently interviews the cooks in your family, captures each recipe exactly — even the "a handful, until it smells right" parts — and keeps the story behind it. Woven into one beautiful family cookbook, to hold and pass down.

The Nguyen Family Cookbook · 3 generations · 47 recipes
PRESERVED

Grandma Mai's Sunday Broth

  • 1 whole chicken, organic
  • "A good handful" star anise
  • 2 charred onions

"She made this every Sunday for forty years. The secret, she finally admitted, was the extra hour nobody had the patience for…"

Recorded from Grandma Mai · Spring 2026 · added by Linh

"Every family has a dish that will die with one person. Usually, nobody writes it down in time."

The best recipes were never written down.

[ BY HEART ]

She cooks by feel — a pinch, a handful, until it looks right. There's no recipe to inherit, only her hands.

[ THE STORY ]

It's not just the dish. It's who made it, the holidays it marked, the home it meant. That's the part that truly vanishes.

[ TOO LATE ]

Most families mean to write it all down someday. Someday arrives, and the recipes are already gone.

How it works
1

Invite your family cook

Heirloom starts a gentle voice conversation — no typing, no forms. Just cooking, remembered out loud.

2

Capture the recipe and the story

It turns "a good handful" into something anyone can follow, and records who made it and what it meant.

3

Watch your cookbook grow

Every recipe joins one beautiful family archive, organized by cook, occasion, and generation.

4

Print it and pass it down

When you're ready, hold your family's cookbook as a real bound book — and give a copy to everyone who should have it.

It talks to the cook, not the keyboard.

No forms, no typing. Heirloom gently interviews your grandmother, your dad, whoever holds the recipe — in a warm conversation that feels like sitting in their kitchen.

Recording Grandma Mai · 12:04
How much garlic goes in, Mai?
Oh, you know — a good handful. Until it smells right.
That's perfect. About how many cloves would you say — five, six?
Six. And you crush them with the flat of the knife, like my mother did.
I'll write it just like that. Tell me — who taught you this one?
Recipe captured story saved Mai's voice preserved

Sunday Broth

serves 6 · 3 hrs

ingredients

  • 1 chicken
  • 6 cloves garlic, crushed
  • Handful star anise
  1. Char the onions and ginger over an open flame until blackened.
  2. Add to a large pot with the chicken and crushed garlic.
  3. Simmer gently. Skim the top continuously for the first hour.
Don't rush the simmer. — Mai

It captures the "until it smells right."

The immeasurable parts — the feel, the instinct, the little secret they finally admit — Heirloom writes it all down, so the recipe survives exactly as they make it.

It keeps the story, not just the steps.

Who made it. When it was served. What it meant. Heirloom preserves the memory around every dish — the part that makes a recipe an heirloom.

The story behind it

"This was the dish that welcomed every new baby, mourned every loss, and marked every homecoming. To smell it cooking was to know you were home."

Told by Mai · transcribed & preserved
Holidays 12 recipes
Mai's recipes
22 dishes
Dad's grill
8 dishes
47 recipes · 3 generations · 6 family members contributing

One cookbook, growing across generations.

Every recipe your family cooks by heart, gathered in one beautiful place — organized by cook, by occasion, and by the generations who carried it.

Held in your hands, passed down for good.

When it feels complete, Heirloom prints your family cookbook as a real bound book — one to keep on the shelf, and copies for everyone who should have a piece of home.

The Nguyen Family
Cookbook

2 copies ordered · shipping to family
180k
family recipes saved from being lost
3
generations preserved in the average cookbook
1
irreplaceable thing, kept before it was too late

A taste, returned to you at the right moment.

Heirloom quietly brings a recipe and its memory back when it matters — an anniversary, a holiday, the day someone first shared it — so your family's food keeps living in your kitchen, not just in an archive.

A taste of today

"On this day three years ago, Mai first shared her broth recipe with you."

Cooking together

M
D
L
A

Everyone can add, record, and remember — together.

"A family recipe is a love letter you can taste.
Heirloom makes sure it's never lost in the mail."

Frequently Asked Questions

How does the voice interview work? +
Heirloom starts a gentle, natural conversation with whoever holds the recipe — no typing, no forms. It asks the right questions, gathers quantities and steps, and draws out the story, just like a grandchild sitting in the kitchen taking notes.
What if my relative cooks "by feel" and never measures? +
That's exactly what Heirloom is for. It asks the follow-up questions — "about how many cloves?", "how do you know when it's ready?" — and turns instinct into something anyone can follow, without losing the soul of the dish.
Can several family members contribute? +
Yes. Invite everyone — near or far. Each person can record their own recipes and stories, and it all flows into one shared family cookbook that grows over time.
Do you really print a physical book? +
We do. When your cookbook feels ready, Heirloom lays it out beautifully and prints it as a real bound hardcover, delivered to your door — with easy extra copies for the whole family.
What languages can the cook speak? +
Heirloom understands and records in many languages, so your grandparents can share recipes in the language they cook and think in — and you can read them in yours.
What happens to the recordings and stories? +
They're preserved privately for your family — encrypted, never sold, never used to train cross-customer models, and fully yours to keep, export, or delete. The original voice recordings are saved too, so you always have them.
Is it too late if my relative has already passed? +
It's never entirely too late. Heirloom can help you and your family reconstruct recipes from memory, notes, and the versions others remember — gathering what remains into one place before more is lost.

Save the recipe. Keep the story.
Pass down the love.