In this episode, I sit down with Seth, the builder behind Zap Cooking, to unpack how a simple idea—sharing recipes on Nostr—grew into a full-stack, food-first social experience with zaps, a built-in self-custody wallet, social feeds, AI cooking tools, and a peer‑to‑peer marketplace. We trace the project’s roots from early “Nostr Cooking” experiments to today’s Zap Cooking at zap.cooking, talk through why value-for-value matters, and how Bitcoin-native payments are changing what it means to “like” something online. We also explore onboarding and UX lessons from the wider Nostr ecosystem, wallet and zap UX (NIP‑57), and the realities of funding community projects without getting captured by ads or platforms. Along the way we touch on Primal, Damus, Alby, Breez SDK, and more; the role of meetups like Bitcoin Park; and why building sustainable businesses—memberships, marketplaces, and real products—matters if we want this new internet to last.

'Zap Cooking': https://zap.cooking
'NIP-57 (Zaps)': https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips/blob/master/57.md
'Damus (Nostr iOS client)': https://damus.io
'Primal (Nostr client)': https://primal.net
'Alby (Lightning wallet/extension)': https://getalby.com
'Breez SDK': https://breez.technology/sdk/
'GratefulDay (gratitude app by Seth)': https://gratefulday.space
'SoberKey': https://soberkey.org
'Magic Internet Math (host’s project)': https://magicinternetmath.com
'Edward Bernays (background reading)': https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Bernays

Cooking with Zaps: Nostr Talk w/ Seth