3 ms·

Next time, instead of traveling, just ask someone who's already been there for a summary.

• mbg721 3y ago
  Indeed, travel writing is an entire genre. But I also get the gp's point, that especially with cooking it's easy to overcomplicate things while ignoring how the inventors actually worked.
  • curl-up 3y ago
    My point is that it is silly to complain about people being nerdy about a specific topic, just because there are others with more expertise. Especially in cooking, the concept of "inventors" and "authorities" for such basic things as chilli oil, is a strange one. For me personally, getting deep into a specific food item like this is bascally like traveling. I will first do my own experimentation, not because I think I will discover something new, but because I will more deeply understand why things are done the way they are when I (later) read "proper" sources and consult with others. At that initial stage, I am bound to overcomplicate things, but it's the good kind of overcomplication. It is like traveling to a new place, and walking around randomly before opening a map. Of course I "overcomplicated" my path from A to B, but I've seen so many interesting (but not necessarily important) things on my way.