Writing recipes

karadekoolaid said:
That's a very perceptive comment and absolutely spot on.
There are so many variables when cooking; even if you follow your tried-and-tested recipe to a T.
That's also why it is so important to taste, taste, taste all the way through the cooking process, or in the case of oven cooking, watch, watch, watch!
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Agreed taste taste taste is the key.
I have a tiny frying pan (a single egg pan) and if I’m not thrilled with the end result I’ll cook off some extra flavours (usually spices) in that little pan and add them at the end to power a dish up.
 
I agree with all of the above, but now I'm trying to see it from a perspective of someone who has hardly ever cooked before.

My recipes are a mess, as they will go like "add a teaspoon of sugar", but if you don't like sweet, add less. Or add more if you like.

Beginning cooks need something to hold on to..
They may be too insecure to add or subtract or substitute.

I'm lucky, my parents loved food and esp my dad was able to replicate meals (more or less) we had eaten in restaurants or at friends places. But he never wrote anything down
 
badjak said:
I agree with all of the above, but now I'm trying to see it from a perspective of someone who has hardly ever cooked before.

My recipes are a mess, as they will go like "add a teaspoon of sugar", but if you don't like sweet, add less. Or add more if you like.

Beginning cooks need something to hold on to..
They may be too insecure to add or subtract or substitute.

I'm lucky, my parents loved food and esp my dad was able to replicate meals (more or less) we had eaten in restaurants or at friends places. But he never wrote anything down
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I reckon most of the people on this forum are lucky, we all appreciate good food and take time to rejoice in it with each other. That’s lovely and lucky.

But yes I agree you do need something to hold onto when you’re starting out until you understand ingredients and what they can do.
The chefs/cooks on tv used to get on my pip with their “add to taste” this is a blueprint so just play with it and sub what ever you like” comments. You have to already be able to cook to do that.

Edit: and now I am one of those annoying people and struggle to get any recipes written down because they tend to fall into, look at whats available that looks good and add it with some other things that compliment it and make it up as you go along 😂
 
SandwichShortOfAPicnic said:
I reckon most of the people on this forum are lucky, we all appreciate good food and take time to rejoice in it with each other. That’s lovely and lucky.
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You're absolutely right, of course. We all cook and enjoy our food, even though we cook a whole range of different things. As you say, though, for a beginner, it must be utterly confusing (and possibly incomprehensible) when they hear "Oh, just adjust the seasoning to your taste".
My SIL, bless her little cotton socks, has absolutely no idea (nor interest) whatever in cooking. She actually called me one day to ask how much was a "pinch" of salt. I empathise, to a certain extent, because I'm that way with cars - no idea, no interest.
When I started cooking "seriously"in 2004, I realised that, if I were going to sell my chutneys/jams/marmalades/pickles, etc. on a supermarket scale, then I'd absolutely have to ensure a Master Recipe, which is why I started writing down every single step,exact ingredients, adjustments, etc. I do trust my instincts, but I suppose I'm still pretty old school (with emphasis on the öld") and often look at a recipe again before cooking it.
 
Yeah and there are foods occasionally I would love to try to cook but since they are something I have never eaten, I feel as if I need to go to a restaurant (authentic for the cuisine) and try them before I try to cook them. How can I cook something if I have no idea how it's supposed to taste? I am sure I could make it taste good, but will it taste like it's supposed to taste? I am afraid to even try to follow a recipe for something like that since it could still be way off how it's supposed to be. Plus why would I want to go out and waste a bunch of money on ingredients only to find out that I don't love it (or I screwed it up by adding too much of this or that and not enough of the other, LOL)?
 
JAS_OH1 said:
Yeah and there are foods occasionally I would love to try to cook but since they are something I have never eaten, I feel as if I need to go to a restaurant (authentic for the cuisine) and try them before I try to cook them. How can I cook something if I have no idea how it's supposed to taste? I am sure I could make it taste good, but will it taste like it's supposed to taste? I am afraid to even try to follow a recipe for something like that since it could still be way off how it's supposed to be.
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That's never stopped me. I'll just go ahead and make it, and follow the recipe slavishly. If it tastes good, then that's a double incentive to find an authentic restaurant that serves it and go there to eat. I suppose taste-wise, we've all got a taste memory somewhere in the grey matter, and that's what will push me to say "OK, it's got shrimp, coconut, garlic, ginger and a few bits I don't know, but with the first 4, should be all right". I may discover (or I may never) how it should genuinely taste , if I happen to go to a restaurant that serves it. Still, I tried it; and as Einstein said, if you never make mistakes, it's because you've never tried anything.
 
With a new recipe I’ll likely read anywhere between 6-10 different authors take on a recipe then pick out the core ingredients common across all of the recipes and then pick the extras from the different recipes that I like the look of.

Reading their cooking method usually gives away whether they know what they’re talking about.
If I see something like step one “Fry the garlic first before adding the onions” they’d get ditched straight away 😂
 
karadekoolaid said:
That's never stopped me. I'll just go ahead and make it, and follow the recipe slavishly. If it tastes good, then that's a double incentive to find an authentic restaurant that serves it and go there to eat. I suppose taste-wise, we've all got a taste memory somewhere in the grey matter, and that's what will push me to say "OK, it's got shrimp, coconut, garlic, ginger and a few bits I don't know, but with the first 4, should be all right". I may discover (or I may never) how it should genuinely taste , if I happen to go to a restaurant that serves it. Still, I tried it; and as Einstein said, if you never make mistakes, it's because you've never tried anything.
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But that's not how I want to do it. I have no doubt I can make it taste good, but I want to know how it's supposed to taste before I waste a bunch of money on ingredients and my time making it.
 
SandwichShortOfAPicnic said:
With a new recipe I’ll likely read anywhere between 6-10 different authors take on a recipe then pick out the core ingredients common across all of the recipes and then pick the extras from the different recipes that I like the look of.

Reading their cooking method usually gives away whether they know what they’re talking about.
If I see something like step one “Fry the garlic first before adding the onions” they’d get ditched straight away 😂
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Fry the garlic first!!! :ninja:
 
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