Sveinung Sudbø's Bang Cook Book Translates Thai Flavour into Hand-Ripped Collage

Norway-based illustrator Sveinung Sudbø, also known as Originalkopi, created the Thai recipe book Bang Cook Book with graphic designer Julie Elise Hauge. Rather than mapping flavour profiles, Sudbø renders the sensation of eating Thai food through collage and saturated colour. While seated in Thai restaurants, he drew between bites using a sketchbook and aquarelle pastels, recording the sensations each dish provoked. He chose collage as the final method because it mirrors cooking: separate elements are layered and mixed until the whole exceeds its parts. Sudbø deliberately avoided Thai visual art as reference, relying instead on personal experience of street restaurants where colours, smells and sounds heightened the senses. Inspired by Matisse's cut-outs, he tore and cut paper himself to preserve a handmade texture. The compositions range from camo-like and kaleidoscopic to quieter passages. The book follows his realisation that depicting food's appearance misses the dish's most exciting quality: how flavour feels. Published in 2026, Bang Cook Book is credited to Sveinung Sudbø and promoted via originalkopi.com. The article was written by Paul M, a Junior Writer at It's Nice That since May 2025.