(There’s a lot of cited examples in this entry due to its topic, enjoy this somewhat rare treat)
Overall the internet tends to be pegged as being a potentially amazing source for all kinds of information but with a lot of warnings of false information. Recipes are the same except that instead of a warning of false information, there is a requirement for the acknowledgment of the gynormously varied skill levels, expectations, and above all varied tastes of the people posting these recipes (think of that guy or girl that you know that you seem to always disagree with and then realize that they can post recipes on the web). This applies mostly to sites like www.cooks.com that contain posts from everyday individuals. More official sites like www.foodnetwork.com will have some exotic recipes but their overall aim is to post recipes from professionals that many would like, some will love, and very few will hate. So these sites are safer sources in terms of finding lower risk recipes. However, more official sites (just like fancier cookbooks) will probably have a healthy amount of complex recipes with ingredients or techniques that you may be unfamiliar with (i.e. making ravioli is harder than you’d think).
Additionally, you will eventually find a random website with a recipe that you love (like http://www.thatsmyhome.com/fishermans/cilantro-snapper.htm).
Additionally internet recipe searches are like general internet searches in the respect that if you’re looking for something very weird… you will probably find it on the internet. To tackle the issue of safely dabbling in random internet searches you need to use your instincts. If something seems way too weird or way too difficult, then don’t do it. Adding some weird and difficulty to your recipes does help you expand your skills and recipe repertoire and improves your winging-it skills; just stay away from the very weird until you make a dish that makes the previously very weird or difficult into a not so weird or difficult recipe (Rome was not fed in a day). Do note that the simple but delicious recipes are often going to be the ones that you use and treasure most (i.e. http://www.home-ec101.com/back-to-basics-sauteed-cabbage/).
One last important source is food company websites. Yes, it’s ok to drink the company juice sometimes because these sites can have really good recipes on them (i.e. http://www.san-j.com/recipes.asp). More than that, these broad-audience recipe sharing endeavors by companies are often expressed in good teachable formats that can often give some interesting/helpful commentary (i.e. http://www.barillaus.com/Pages/Art-Of-Lasagne.aspxv).
So overall, you should treat internet recipe sources like you treat early romances; explore a little, then explore a lot, demand high-quality, be open-minded to new experiences, stick with good ones and they’ll treat you right, you’ll never forget your first good ones (http://www.df.lth.se/~thanisa/cgi-bin/wrapper.cgi?rec.food.recipes/misc3/du3) or your epic fails (http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1915,151162-232203,00.html), and most of all balance adventure with smarts. Good luck out there!
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Learning to Cook: Learning from Family Members
Learning how to cook from relatives is a great way to begin your introduction to cooking; not only do you get personal tutoring and honest commentary, but you will also get a lot of information about which recipes your family makes and likes and who makes it well: “yah know your grandmother's side of the family loves making stewed pork chops, I believe they use a tomato base and lots of peppers”. However, you most likely encounter a comical level of imprecision when it comes to timing, measuring, temperatures, and perhaps even ingredients: “hey ma, how much salt goes in this?” “I don’t know” “what do you mean you don’t know?” “yah know… some salt” “how much is some?” “(snicker) some is some” “fine then, how much thyme did you just put in the pot” “Oh.. a bit” “Geese ma!” “Hey I cook with love not units of measurement”. Now don’t fault your relatives for this habit, it comes from cooking for years and becoming so familiar with recipes and possibly so good at the winging-it factor that it would slow them down and make the food less fun to make.
Even though they may be annoyed by a certain level of questioning while they are cooking, you need to get your information out of them, because if you don’t they will make the meal on autopilot and not really teach you anything.
Your main objectives from learning from cooking relatives for specific recipes are:
• what are the main ingredients of the recipe?
• what ingredients have they often substituted when they were missing an ingredient?
• is there a shorter or longer (time of cooking) version to this recipe?
• why they are cooking the meal the way that they are? (time, cooking method, pot/pan size and type)
• is this a family/culture specific-recipe?
Some good questions to ask cooking relatives in general are:
• do they add any ingredients in particular very carefully to dishes due to price or strength of flavor?
• what is their favorite ingredients? why?
• what is their favorite cooking method? (baking, broiling, frying, wok-ing, grilling, etc.) why?
• what is their dish to make? why?
• what are the family’s favorite dishes to eat?
• what would they cook for themselves if they had all day and any ingredients that they needed?
• what would they make if they had half an hour and no unusual ingredients?
• what would they cook if guests came over?
Lastly, your relatives are family members and can help you begin to associate your cooking with your family’s culture. It’s good to have a knowledge of your culture’s cuisine; not only will it tell you more about your culture and family and make you feel good for knowing it, but you will also have something to share with others when you inevitably exchange cooking tips sometime in your life.
Even though they may be annoyed by a certain level of questioning while they are cooking, you need to get your information out of them, because if you don’t they will make the meal on autopilot and not really teach you anything.
Your main objectives from learning from cooking relatives for specific recipes are:
• what are the main ingredients of the recipe?
• what ingredients have they often substituted when they were missing an ingredient?
• is there a shorter or longer (time of cooking) version to this recipe?
• why they are cooking the meal the way that they are? (time, cooking method, pot/pan size and type)
• is this a family/culture specific-recipe?
Some good questions to ask cooking relatives in general are:
• do they add any ingredients in particular very carefully to dishes due to price or strength of flavor?
• what is their favorite ingredients? why?
• what is their favorite cooking method? (baking, broiling, frying, wok-ing, grilling, etc.) why?
• what is their dish to make? why?
• what are the family’s favorite dishes to eat?
• what would they cook for themselves if they had all day and any ingredients that they needed?
• what would they make if they had half an hour and no unusual ingredients?
• what would they cook if guests came over?
Lastly, your relatives are family members and can help you begin to associate your cooking with your family’s culture. It’s good to have a knowledge of your culture’s cuisine; not only will it tell you more about your culture and family and make you feel good for knowing it, but you will also have something to share with others when you inevitably exchange cooking tips sometime in your life.
Why I love food and cooking.
We need food. You can go for somewhere around a month or so without food (http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=how-long-can-a-person-sur), but most of us get antsy if we miss two meals in a day.
We want food. We want it to be tasty, delicious, and satisfying.
We have associations with food. Prospectively we plan celebration dinners and retrospectively we recall fond memories of childhood birthday cakes.
Food dictates feelings. A nice pint of beer or dulce de leche makes us feel better after a bad break up.
Food is a social mechanism. We use food to catch up with old friends, to test out new love interests, to facilitate business, and to lure students to research talks.
Food has cultural meaning. Each culture has ingredients, techniques, and/or tastes associated with it. Eating corned beef and cabbage on St. Patrick’s Day helps a contemporary girl feel like she is celebrating and experiencing her Irish culture appropriately. Making Bulgogi for your girlfriend’s Korean parents helps show them that you appreciate their culture (and that you may want to become part of the family… wink wink).
Food is work and accomplishment. Cooking for others is how hundreds of millions of people earn their living. Friends finishing a 12lb. burrito challenge they saw on Man v. Food makes them feel accomplished (as well as gross).
Long story short food is an integral part of being human. Cooking is the hands-on manipulation of ingredients to make food. My philosophy, empower yourself with some skills to harness the power and joy of food.
We want food. We want it to be tasty, delicious, and satisfying.
We have associations with food. Prospectively we plan celebration dinners and retrospectively we recall fond memories of childhood birthday cakes.
Food dictates feelings. A nice pint of beer or dulce de leche makes us feel better after a bad break up.
Food is a social mechanism. We use food to catch up with old friends, to test out new love interests, to facilitate business, and to lure students to research talks.
Food has cultural meaning. Each culture has ingredients, techniques, and/or tastes associated with it. Eating corned beef and cabbage on St. Patrick’s Day helps a contemporary girl feel like she is celebrating and experiencing her Irish culture appropriately. Making Bulgogi for your girlfriend’s Korean parents helps show them that you appreciate their culture (and that you may want to become part of the family… wink wink).
Food is work and accomplishment. Cooking for others is how hundreds of millions of people earn their living. Friends finishing a 12lb. burrito challenge they saw on Man v. Food makes them feel accomplished (as well as gross).
Long story short food is an integral part of being human. Cooking is the hands-on manipulation of ingredients to make food. My philosophy, empower yourself with some skills to harness the power and joy of food.
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