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I wish you good luck but I don't get it either. The thing that makes Duolingo great is that right away you learn words in a new language. It hooks you. Withi

I wish you good luck but I don't get it either. The thing that makes Duolingo great is that right away you learn words in a new language. It hooks you. Within 1 lesson you know several words or a phrase with a few variations. This is more just random trivia about food that no one cares about. I started with the cheeseburger recipe (apparently an advanced lesson or something). Right away it's asking me a bunch of questions about ground meat but teaching me nothing. Where's the hook? I want to see a recipe and learn to make it, not feel like I'm taking a test about a bunch of stuff I was never taught with no obvious path to simply making the thing I want to make. In the 5 minutes I spent on it I feel like I was just getting grilled (metaphorically). The first 5 minutes of Duolingo I actually learned something. Anyhow, suggestion would be to start right away with the thing people actually want... How to cook the food and make the recipe.

mizzao 4y ago
The goal we're building toward is that you can pick any recipe on the Internet and learn it in this way. But first we have to start with a small group (beginners) and make sure it's actually fun and interesting for them. I explain how this works at https://parsnip.substack.com/p/a-new-hope https://parsnip.substack.com/p/a-new-hope The unintuitive observation for beginners is that their pain doesn't seem to be cooking the food and making the recipe. It's "I don't know where to start", and building up confidence, and not being intimidated by that literal fire on your stove.
- Mikeb85 4y ago
  Just curious if you've ever actually taught someone to cook before? Like, I can definitely see a market for something that teaches skills versus recipes. I've thought about doing it myself. But if someone wants to learn to cook an egg, it's because there's an egg in their fridge and they're hungry. So start with actually cooking that thing. Like, getting a suitable frying pan, setting the right temperature, throwing some butter in and then cracking and flipping the egg, learning to recognise when it's cooked to the desired doneness. No one cares about how to buy eggs... And if they're scared to buy eggs it's not because they don't know ABOUT eggs, it's because they don't know how to cook them. Anyhow no need to take my advice, I just don't see the 'hook' or value versus a blog that teaches cooking, the millions of books geared towards beginners, TikTokers and YouTubers that teach cooking, etc... In a past career I was a chef (worked in restaurants up to a place that was top 100 in the world) and for beginnners who never cooked the first step was always to put food in their hand and have them cut it, season it, cook it and taste it. Extra information was always on a strict need to know basis mainly because it's overwhelming. The very first time you make a burger you don't care about lean versus fatty meat, you just want to not get e-coli and have something edible. Also, just want to compare some food apps that are successful. - Cookpad works because it skips a ton of BS involved in reading recipes and simply gives you the recipe. - TikTok (IMO the best food app there is) works because you see the entire recipe start to finish in one minute or less. It grabs you, then you can usually go to a link or something to get the actual recipe. I like your goal and the methodology is sound enough, just seems like there's not a ton of experience with actually teaching cooking...
  - SteveDR 4y ago
    > But if someone wants to learn to cook an egg, it's because there's an egg in their fridge and they're hungry. So start with actually cooking that thing. Like, getting a suitable frying pan, setting the right temperature, throwing some butter in and then cracking and flipping the egg, learning to recognise when it's cooked to the desired doneness. No one cares about how to buy eggs... This is exactly it. I desperately need to learn to cook and I came across this post while hungry. I was so excited. But after 5 minutes of giving this app my full undivided attention I was just learning about how to store potatoes and I’m still hungry. And I was meeting friends in an hour. So I closed the app and made my 4th Peanut-Butter-Nutella Sandwich this week. But the idea of a skill-tree for cooking sounds amazing. To start with simply scrambling an egg, then learning how to make an omelette, and then getting a bunch of toppings recommendations and whatnot— I would LOVE if this product existed and definitely pay for it, because I know cooking more could save me $400/month.
    - mizzao 4y ago
      I think it would be a miracle if any product could teach you how to cook and get you food in 5 minutes. I'm not sure it's possible. But, I think we can get you there after a few weeks of using Parsnip on a regular basis, with some basic dishes.
      - SharpestLives 4y ago
        Sorry but this is just silly. If you have an egg and butter on hand and the mental and physical capacity to tie your shoes you can absolutely learn how to make a basic scrambled egg in 5 minutes. Crack whisk pour flip eat. If I’m a novice cook and your pitch is that it’ll take me weeks for your app to get me able to make a scrambled egg or avocado toast (mash spread salt done) I’m probably just going to give up.
      - Mikeb85 4y ago
        There's plenty of techniques you can learn in 5 minutes. The key is to show something in 5 minutes. Whether it's just an egg, or just assembling a salad, making something in a blender, anything. On TikTok you can see a whole recipe in 1 minute. Sure making it takes a tad longer, but it's definitely possible to learn something in 5 minutes or less. Then build on that. I like the idea, it's good, but no one's going to wade through random trivia that doesn't matter.
- slingnow 4y ago
  So if someone came to you asking you to teach them to make a cheeseburger, you would "build their confidence" by quizzing them on trivia about ground beef? And that this will somehow translate into not being "intimidated by the literal fire on their stove"? I'm more confused about this app now than when I started.
- TheDarkestSoul 4y ago
  I don't mean to come off rude but your app comes off like it's aimed at people who are almost literally afraid and bewildered by the sight of a pan or stove or avocado like the apes in 2001 coming across the monolith. With people I know who don't cook it's usually due to wanting to avoid the hassle they think exists because of misconceptions about the difficulty or time it takes. I'm not sure there are that many people who are avoiding it because they're intimidated to the point that they need to be calmed down by playing a matching game with different spices
  - butwhywhyoh 4y ago
    Exactly. I have never met anyone in my life with the fear they are describing in learning to cook. Is there a person on earth actually afraid of the "literal fire on their stove"? I don't think an app is going to solve that problem.
    - mizzao 4y ago
      Here's someone in this very thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32270169 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32270169

mizzao 4y ago

The goal we're building toward is that you can pick any recipe on the Internet and learn it in this way. But first we have to start with a small group (beginners) and make sure it's actually fun and interesting for them. I explain how this works at https://parsnip.substack.com/p/a-new-hope https://parsnip.substack.com/p/a-new-hope The unintuitive observation for beginners is that their pain doesn't seem to be cooking the food and making the recipe. It's "I don't know where to start", and building up confidence, and not being intimidated by that literal fire on your stove.

Mikeb85 4y ago
Just curious if you've ever actually taught someone to cook before? Like, I can definitely see a market for something that teaches skills versus recipes. I've thought about doing it myself. But if someone wants to learn to cook an egg, it's because there's an egg in their fridge and they're hungry. So start with actually cooking that thing. Like, getting a suitable frying pan, setting the right temperature, throwing some butter in and then cracking and flipping the egg, learning to recognise when it's cooked to the desired doneness. No one cares about how to buy eggs... And if they're scared to buy eggs it's not because they don't know ABOUT eggs, it's because they don't know how to cook them. Anyhow no need to take my advice, I just don't see the 'hook' or value versus a blog that teaches cooking, the millions of books geared towards beginners, TikTokers and YouTubers that teach cooking, etc... In a past career I was a chef (worked in restaurants up to a place that was top 100 in the world) and for beginnners who never cooked the first step was always to put food in their hand and have them cut it, season it, cook it and taste it. Extra information was always on a strict need to know basis mainly because it's overwhelming. The very first time you make a burger you don't care about lean versus fatty meat, you just want to not get e-coli and have something edible. Also, just want to compare some food apps that are successful. - Cookpad works because it skips a ton of BS involved in reading recipes and simply gives you the recipe. - TikTok (IMO the best food app there is) works because you see the entire recipe start to finish in one minute or less. It grabs you, then you can usually go to a link or something to get the actual recipe. I like your goal and the methodology is sound enough, just seems like there's not a ton of experience with actually teaching cooking...
- SteveDR 4y ago
  > But if someone wants to learn to cook an egg, it's because there's an egg in their fridge and they're hungry. So start with actually cooking that thing. Like, getting a suitable frying pan, setting the right temperature, throwing some butter in and then cracking and flipping the egg, learning to recognise when it's cooked to the desired doneness. No one cares about how to buy eggs... This is exactly it. I desperately need to learn to cook and I came across this post while hungry. I was so excited. But after 5 minutes of giving this app my full undivided attention I was just learning about how to store potatoes and I’m still hungry. And I was meeting friends in an hour. So I closed the app and made my 4th Peanut-Butter-Nutella Sandwich this week. But the idea of a skill-tree for cooking sounds amazing. To start with simply scrambling an egg, then learning how to make an omelette, and then getting a bunch of toppings recommendations and whatnot— I would LOVE if this product existed and definitely pay for it, because I know cooking more could save me $400/month.
  - mizzao 4y ago
    I think it would be a miracle if any product could teach you how to cook and get you food in 5 minutes. I'm not sure it's possible. But, I think we can get you there after a few weeks of using Parsnip on a regular basis, with some basic dishes.
    - SharpestLives 4y ago
      Sorry but this is just silly. If you have an egg and butter on hand and the mental and physical capacity to tie your shoes you can absolutely learn how to make a basic scrambled egg in 5 minutes. Crack whisk pour flip eat. If I’m a novice cook and your pitch is that it’ll take me weeks for your app to get me able to make a scrambled egg or avocado toast (mash spread salt done) I’m probably just going to give up.
    - Mikeb85 4y ago
      There's plenty of techniques you can learn in 5 minutes. The key is to show something in 5 minutes. Whether it's just an egg, or just assembling a salad, making something in a blender, anything. On TikTok you can see a whole recipe in 1 minute. Sure making it takes a tad longer, but it's definitely possible to learn something in 5 minutes or less. Then build on that. I like the idea, it's good, but no one's going to wade through random trivia that doesn't matter.
slingnow 4y ago
So if someone came to you asking you to teach them to make a cheeseburger, you would "build their confidence" by quizzing them on trivia about ground beef? And that this will somehow translate into not being "intimidated by the literal fire on their stove"? I'm more confused about this app now than when I started.
TheDarkestSoul 4y ago
I don't mean to come off rude but your app comes off like it's aimed at people who are almost literally afraid and bewildered by the sight of a pan or stove or avocado like the apes in 2001 coming across the monolith. With people I know who don't cook it's usually due to wanting to avoid the hassle they think exists because of misconceptions about the difficulty or time it takes. I'm not sure there are that many people who are avoiding it because they're intimidated to the point that they need to be calmed down by playing a matching game with different spices
- butwhywhyoh 4y ago
  Exactly. I have never met anyone in my life with the fear they are describing in learning to cook. Is there a person on earth actually afraid of the "literal fire on their stove"? I don't think an app is going to solve that problem.
  - mizzao 4y ago
    Here's someone in this very thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32270169 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32270169