>>The trick is to not too slavishly follow the recipe. Sure, but this is mostly for experienced cooks who know what alternatives are feasible for a given ingre

>>The trick is to not too slavishly follow the recipe. Sure, but this is mostly for experienced cooks who know what alternatives are feasible for a given ingredient. For everyone else, ending up with something that tastes like crap and having to order pizza is too big of a risk. It's also about building expertise. When I learn a new recipe, I follow it as closely as possible until I can cook it without looking up the instructions. Only at that point do I feel comfortable with deviating and experimenting: because I know what the actual thing is supposed to taste like, I can try alternatives and judge whether they work well.