(no subject)

[charlottezweb]

wow, i'm still reading and pondering the responses to my cooking question, but i've realized something important about why i make the distinction between cooking and non-cooking and recipes vs no recipe.

my mom not only rarely used recipes but made what seemed like negative judgments about people who relied on them. if you asked her the recipe, she would say it was so simple that no one needed one and i should just know how to do it. i never cooked growing up after she kicked me out of the kitchen since i "asked too many questions."

the people i'm closest too almost all cook without recipes--my mom, my sister, my partner, one of my best friends... i think of them as cooks but not me.

the truth is, pretty much everything i make is tasty, even if i do have to use a recipe.

(sorry abt the lack of caps--i have a sick and sleeping baby on me)

Comments

[dr-brat.livejournal.com]

Maybe it's cuz she was in an experimental mood, but I could swear your sister used recipes when she was cooking for me.

Of course, she'd put an absolutely amazing meal on the table and then swear she'd never cooked that particular thing before. *sigh of envy*

[prairierabbit.livejournal.com]

By the power vested in me by the Kitchen Ghod, I hereby dub thee "Cook" and invite you to come make me food anytime you want. Or sooner, even. ***HUGS!!!*** Isn't it funny how that voice in our heads turns out to be our mothers? (I'm fighting off the "HOLIDAYS MUST BE PERFECT" meme in my head at the moment.)

[dr-brat.livejournal.com]

I was giving my brother crap on the phone today about some thing or another. As soon as he started to giggle, I did too. It was definitely Mom talking.

[elissaann.livejournal.com]

I have personally watched your sister use a recipe.

If everything you make is tasty, you are definitely a cook!

[la-penguinita.livejournal.com]

I've been thinking about this for a bit now...

I mentioned it to my Mom and she suggested it's kinda like the difference between someone who paints craft items vs. someone who paints oil landscapes. One is considered artistic, the other an artist. Both are creating something new and pretty, though.

Thinking of what I make on a regular basis, I use recipes and 'wing it' about evenly. Mostly when I use a recipe, it's more of just making sure I have the right ingredients in approximately the right amounts. The techniques and methods are in my head.

Someone in the other entry said something about chefs not using recipes, and, from what I can tell, that couldn't be farther from the truth. They may play with flavors and textures and ingredients and create new recipes, but when they are at work and dishing up food for customers, they use recipes. (OK, they might be memorized, but it's still the same. Recipes enable consistency, and that's the most important thing to a restaurant and a chef's reputation.)

When I bake, though, I follow recipes. That's science, not cooking.

I firmly believe that if you are preparing tasty meals, it doesn't matter how they were prepared--you're cooking.

[berkeleyfarm.livejournal.com]

Your momma was being silly there. Observing and asking questions is certainly how I learned to cook.

Cooking == preparing food, hopefully nutritious and tasty. If you can do it without recipes, great. I'm moving more in that direction for savories - sweets I still measure, although some of them I have just committed to memory.

If you are cooking you are a cook

[pfunque.livejournal.com]

Nothing I've eaten of yours was ever nasty. Always tasty. I think you are a cook you just haven't let yourself go with it. Most chefs rely on recipes. I think I'm a stellar cook and I use recipes- just not all the time. Once you've cooked with the recipes A BUNCH then you get experimental. It is like jazz- some follow a formula and some just get jiggy. You'll get jiggy eventually. BUT sometimes the JIGGY can turn out NASTY.

I love you!

[porcinea.livejournal.com]

I use recipes!! I do I do I do! I even write them. :-).