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For folks who often find themselves searching the web for recipes, I'd recommend picking up a cookbook or two. My girlfriend has a stack of them she's inherited
by H1Supreme 4y ago
For folks who often find themselves searching the web for recipes, I'd recommend picking up a cookbook or two. My girlfriend has a stack of them she's inherited from family members over the years. We like to casually leaf through them to look for ideas.
I've come to prefer this method because it's effectively the opposite of searching for recipes. Here's a curated list of meals you can make, pick one. I'd recommend a used book store, if possible. You'll probably get some random Grandma notes in the margins for substitutions / modifications.
- Our_Benefactors 4y agoCookbooks still have the same issue as an online recipe. Namely, you won’t know how good the recipe is until after you make it.
- sidlls 4y agoThat's just the way cooking food works, regardless of the recipe source.
- Our_Benefactors 4y agoWhich makes the value proposition of cookbooks dubious!
- Arrath 4y agoI have to heartily disagree. Besides, you're more than welcome to make changes to any given recipe (and even notate those changes in the book!)
- Our_Benefactors 4y agoI love online recipes. I can see what other people said about the recipe, and it’s more likely to be something contemporary. Many of the recipes in cookbooks “age out” as that style of cuisine goes out of style. See: 1950s recipes with jello.
- bregma 4y agoMostly what other people say about online recipes is that they made something else by substituting one or all ingredients and altering the method.
- nofreelunch 4y agoYou have to be kidding. The culinary professionals who comprise the editorial staff of any edition of Joy of Cooking in fact know more about food than the average blogger. The recipes in Joy of Cooking are tried and true. I have seen too many recipes to count online that call for completely incorrect technique/equipmemt/etc. I have not once caught one of these types of errors in a reputable cookbook or professional culinary text. It is rare that one finds a good recipe online, though the internet can be usefup for gwtting ideas for flavor combinations, food pairings etc.
- VLM 4y agoThe used book store cookbook section, the supermarket checkout magazines, and internet recipes are all the same ultra low quality level. I find it fascinating that "pro cookbook" level recipes exist, but you'll NEVER find any mention in those three dumpy areas. You'll never see a copy of Modernist Cuisine at a used book store, much like those stores never contain contemporary, useful, high quality computer science / IT books... There's sort of a market for lemons out there where the widely held belief that competition will make great products simply does not apply. Just turn on a TV for another example, LOL.
- nofreelunch 4y agoI'd agree with your general point on the overabundance of mediocre quality recipes, but the availability of quality literature isn't really in question to me. There are plenty of reliable sources that publish good cooking manuals that are widely available (even in used book stores). This is more a problem with consumers not using their own discretion or doing proper research, but also with people publishing shoddy excuses for recipes that do not appear to have been tested.
- H1Supreme 4y ago> The used book store cookbook section, the supermarket checkout magazines, and internet recipes are all the same ultra low quality level. Perhaps the last two, but the cookbooks I use have been pretty great. YMMV, of course.