On Recipes
The church cookbook, The Joy of Cooking, Mom’s Index Cards, Newspaper clippings, and even Le Guide Culinaire are all just what some one has already done. But we do need a place to start. The trick is to see past the lists of measures and see the ratios and methods. I once had a chef who said that recipes were a dime a dozen, but technique was everything. While this may be true for some foods(entrées, salads, and sides) this is not the case for baking. The science of baking was so daunting for me as a chef, I not only always hired a pastry chef, I married her. Learning the ratios of bread and other baked goods has taken me 20 years of “you’re doing it wrong” to get to a place where I feel like I can play a bit with those old recipes.
Recipes are still needed though. When you see one you really want to try in this information is everywhere age, grab at least three different versions. You will see some common features and some replaced ingredients. I usually try the simplest version from someone with the same heritage as the food in question. For example I am currently planning to cook Feijoada using only outdoor methods. As I am researching the dish I will look at probably 10-15 recipes, but I am sure the base method will come from a Brazilian Translation instead of some California Chef’s Notes. This is not to say the Chef’s would be lesser in quality, but will probably lose some of the emotion of the food. Always look for something as close to the origin as you can for verisimilitude. You are making you version anyway, so don’t hesitate to change what you don’t like.
Now when it comes to why we need more recipes its simple. Our kids need to know how we did it. Comfort food is food that makes you feel like a time of comfort in the past. It is way easier for me to make my Deda’s chili with his recipe in front of me than if I just made chili. (Deda was my paternal grandfather and owner of The Brookland’s Café in Akron)
Remember the recipe is not rules, just guidelines and a window into the mind of the cook that spent the time to write it down. They are sharing their experience with you, so don’t devalue that. But if it bread or a complex cake or biscuit… Just follow it, Its easier than trying to explain to your Pastry Chef wife why the kitchen is a mess and you have a lump of bird food in the oven.