My grandmother taught me: When it comes to baking measuring really matters. If you cook you could be more easygoing and improvising.
2
I tend to measure more accurately when baking than cooking. I've been cooking for 40 years but not able to bake without a recipe though I can flex them a bit or combine the bits and pieces from 2 or more to get exactly what I want.
Braising, stir fries etc I can wing it without a problem though I do like to use recipes since I like to experiment with new things.
I have a friend who has been cooking for years. she measures everything. it is horrifying and frustrating to watch. If a recipe says brown meat in 2 tablespoons of oil she will actually measure the oil. I have to say though, she has never had a failure in the kitchen. Or maybe it just seems that way because we're all starving by the time she finally puts food on the table.
Braising, stir fries etc I can wing it without a problem though I do like to use recipes since I like to experiment with new things.
I have a friend who has been cooking for years. she measures everything. it is horrifying and frustrating to watch. If a recipe says brown meat in 2 tablespoons of oil she will actually measure the oil. I have to say though, she has never had a failure in the kitchen. Or maybe it just seems that way because we're all starving by the time she finally puts food on the table.
2
Ratios are commonly used in cooking and essential in communicating a savory dish. While baking can be considered more exacting due to the chemistry, savory cooking is equally exacting when measuring sodium. Confidence and understanding basic ratios are what free the cooks imagination!
For Heather in Fairfield: It doesn't matter what the vessel is! It could be an actual 8 ounce measuring cup, a pint jar, a coffee mug at a camp site, or your shoe. As long as you follow the ratios, the recipe should work.
1
Throw in another dimension. Many cookbook authors appear in videos. The amount of an ingredient in the video frequently differs from the amount they say they are using or have called for in the recipe. Usually, they use more in the video than they call for. We have always thought this to be true of Julia Child. A few years ago, Mark Bittman did a video of Mario Batali making risotto. The two of them guessed at the amounts they were using-they all seemed greater than the claimed amount. Then, there is always he issue of less than fresh herbs, spices, etc. Seems reasonable to increase the amounts of these ingredients.
Baking is a different animal from cooking on the stove. More precision is required for baking, is it not?
I'm not much of a 'measurer' when I cook, most recipes don't actually require it; particularly things that aren't baked.
But I have, over the years, developed my own set of ratios, particularly for baked goods. Good cooking depends on ratios and understanding cooking techniques that are used for a dish.
Rhuman's Ratios is, I think, a good place to start. The ratios I've developed over time and with experience are slightly different, but that's how a cook develops their own voice.
And when measuring does count (particularly in baking) it's so sad that Americans too often turn to dry volume instead of weight. A kitchen scale, not vessels, are the key to measuring properly.
But I have, over the years, developed my own set of ratios, particularly for baked goods. Good cooking depends on ratios and understanding cooking techniques that are used for a dish.
Rhuman's Ratios is, I think, a good place to start. The ratios I've developed over time and with experience are slightly different, but that's how a cook develops their own voice.
And when measuring does count (particularly in baking) it's so sad that Americans too often turn to dry volume instead of weight. A kitchen scale, not vessels, are the key to measuring properly.
I've just created a page of lo-salt, low-fat, low-sugar recipes, follow the measurements or create your own:
http://nosaltnofatnosugar.com/recipes/
http://nosaltnofatnosugar.com/recipes/
The article ' A Measured Approach' made me recall Aunt Rae's recipe for stuffed peppers. Her stuffed peppers were delicious. So delicious, it was decided to make a recording of her telling everyone how to make the dish. There were of course, no measurements in cups BUT, Aunt Rae's 'secret ingredient' was as it turned out; ginger snap cookies. We asked, "how many?" and Aunt Rae answered "A box, a big box."
1
Thank you for this. Recipes are meant to inspire a cook's imagination, and not be a chemistry test. Joseph Heller's big sister, Sylvia, cooked from love, not recipes. Sunday dinners at Sylvia's were always good, sometimes an adventure, but nothing was served until it tasted right to Sylvia. I don't think she ever followed a written recipe. I worked for a lawyer who told me that his grandmother cooked by instinct and experience, a little of this, a little of that. I can't spell the Yiddish for "a little" but phonetically if sounded like "yaschitta" this.
Re-reading the binder filled with recipes I've created over the years, I come across a great many "glugs" and "bits" and "scoops" and "whispers" — all of which make perfect to sense to me but could stump any of the young cooks in my family.
My mother taught me her unmeasured way to make crepes for blintzes. It started with the number of eggs, which determined the size of the batch. The eggs were beaten with a couple of pinches of salt, then flour was added until the eggs would not accept any more without leaving flour unmoistened. Then, milk was added until the batter had the consistency of heavy cream. After it sat for a few minutes, if the batter had thickened, water was added to thin it. The crepes were cooked only on one side, and were very thin. Determining the consistency of the batter was the only tricky part. But if the first crepe came out too thick, you added more water to the batter.
Some recipes are relative (e.g., vinagrette = blend 1 part vinegar mixed with 1/9 part Dijon mustard, salt and pepper to taste, then beat in 5 parts good olive oil until well emlsified) and can be expanded or contracted to the time and ingredients at hand - parts being teaspoons, tablespoons or quarter or third cups. Some recipes are forgiving and can always be done free hand - like vegetable soup. But for error-free, consistent results (as in baking, like cakes or muffins) I find that weighing the ingredients to the gram is the easiest, fastest and most satisfactory way to ensure a good outcome.
I love to cook and cook every day, and even as an amateur like to have consistent results on some things. Pick your process to fit the food.
I love to cook and cook every day, and even as an amateur like to have consistent results on some things. Pick your process to fit the food.
1
I am known by all who know me as the Queen of Pesto.
I grow huge amounts of basil and garlic (tomatoes as well, because it's a match made in heaven), have made quite literally oceans of pesto over the years, and measure nothing. I just know what it should look, taste, and smell like to be perfect. I have taught many people how to make it, yet they all claim theirs is inferior to mine -- I have no idea why! They make it the exact same way I make mine; perhaps it is that "knowing" and years of experience which makes the essential difference...
I grow huge amounts of basil and garlic (tomatoes as well, because it's a match made in heaven), have made quite literally oceans of pesto over the years, and measure nothing. I just know what it should look, taste, and smell like to be perfect. I have taught many people how to make it, yet they all claim theirs is inferior to mine -- I have no idea why! They make it the exact same way I make mine; perhaps it is that "knowing" and years of experience which makes the essential difference...
3
After you cook long enough you know what goes with what, and how much to use of each. There is no final recipe, and I would rather it be "different" than "perfect". Just like life.
Baking can also be done without measuring. My husband and I were cleaing out the attic one Sunday morning and came downstairs to find our boys had baked muffins from memory (they couldn't find the cookbook). They knew what the batter should look like and the muffins were great. And with experience, you can make yeast doughs without measuring (1 cake of fresh yeast or a packet of dry for 500gr flour for a soft, coffee cake-like dough). Its really about trial and error and experience. Just be prepared to eat your words once in a while!
1
Sometimes I cook from a recipe, because I want to know what worked for someone else. Sometimes I completely wing it, because I have some ingredients I want to use. But if I'm not sure, it's nice to have some guidelines - too much or too little of something can throw off a recipe, and it takes know-how to know where that "safe zone" is.
The amount of wiggle room you have varies greatly. It is greatest in soups and salads (the salad itself, not the dressing), smallest in that part of baking where the crucial chemical reaction takes place. But some parts of baking have a little more wiggle room: how much of which spice to use (part of the fun of making pumpkin pie is mixing your own pie spice), or how much of which fruit to use.
Besides, the units of measurement themselves are arbitrary. For all one knows, the right amount of some ingredient could fall between the standard quantities seen in most recipes. The amount of sugar in one of my recipes, which I settled on after much experimentation, is 1/4 cup plus one teaspoon. Further experimentation may tell me that a fraction of a teaspoon more or less is even better.
So if I'm making something where I dare not "eyeball it," yes, I level my dry measurements and measure liquids at eye level. But I don't sweat the last two cubic millimeters.
The amount of wiggle room you have varies greatly. It is greatest in soups and salads (the salad itself, not the dressing), smallest in that part of baking where the crucial chemical reaction takes place. But some parts of baking have a little more wiggle room: how much of which spice to use (part of the fun of making pumpkin pie is mixing your own pie spice), or how much of which fruit to use.
Besides, the units of measurement themselves are arbitrary. For all one knows, the right amount of some ingredient could fall between the standard quantities seen in most recipes. The amount of sugar in one of my recipes, which I settled on after much experimentation, is 1/4 cup plus one teaspoon. Further experimentation may tell me that a fraction of a teaspoon more or less is even better.
So if I'm making something where I dare not "eyeball it," yes, I level my dry measurements and measure liquids at eye level. But I don't sweat the last two cubic millimeters.
As noted in the article, the notion of measurement usually flies out the window with experience. The drawback to this, though, is that the dishes you make, even if the recipe is new, tend to be predictable. Sometimes it's exactly the measurements that seem out of whack that add a really different twist to food. I remember my brother-in-law once made ribs with a terrific sauce. I asked him for the recipe but he said he'd been sworn to secrecy. He did divulge, though, that the recipe asked for "way more" pepper than a person would normally add.
Which brings me to the question: how was that salad dressing with double pepper, anyway?
Which brings me to the question: how was that salad dressing with double pepper, anyway?
1
Guilty as charged. I level off measuring spoons and check the side of measuring cups at eye level. Keep pretty copious notes on heat levels, times and temperatures, etc. The danger is a false sense of security which allows one to expect foolproof repetition of successful recipes at all times. I find the quality of the main ingredients to be the most important factor to a recipe's success, by far; consistency means little when mediocrity is repeatedly delivered with precision.
2
My mother's lament "it is not that I keep secrets from your sisters, I do not have fixed recipes. I know roughly how much to use - a pinch of this, a spoon of that, a thumb of another. And I adjust each measure depending on the quality of the spice/ingredients. If the ginger smells and feels too pungent I add less. Too weak I add more"
Oh and throughout the process she moniters by smell, look and taste adding to or moderating the dish/dessert.
Oh and throughout the process she moniters by smell, look and taste adding to or moderating the dish/dessert.
As others have noted, some recipes are flexible --sometimes a 25% variation does not affect the result much--and some are definitely not. For recipes with garlic, the amount does not much matter, except that "it is as good as ten mothers" so I am generous with it. I always do it the recipe's way the first time, and appreciate the available precision. After that liberties may be taken, especially if the result is bland or just a fail and I know how to fix it.
Also, environmental factors matter. Here at 7200', anything cooked in water can be expected to take 50% longer than a recipe prescribes, always written for sea-level cooks, since water boils at 198F instead of 212F. Baked goods need adjustment in flour, liquid, baking powder and soda, and oven temperature. Tables for this can be found online. At 9000', one really needs a pressure cooker for boiled recipes.
Also, environmental factors matter. Here at 7200', anything cooked in water can be expected to take 50% longer than a recipe prescribes, always written for sea-level cooks, since water boils at 198F instead of 212F. Baked goods need adjustment in flour, liquid, baking powder and soda, and oven temperature. Tables for this can be found online. At 9000', one really needs a pressure cooker for boiled recipes.
2
Beside volume and weight a cook can also use texture and taste and smell. My mother cooked professionally for over forty years and seldom measured anything but produced excellent results. It takes decades of practice to get to that point however.
Whether you use a measuring cup, a brekfeast cup or a mustard jar, you ARE measuring! Most of us more experienced cooks started out with some precise recipes years ago and at one point became more relaxed and free in our approach. When it comes to baking, most cake bakers start out with a certain amount of liquid and eggs while being more relaxed with fat and flour. There are some differences between European and American bakers. Europeans use scales. So the dry ingredients are weighted most of the time. Americans start out with the liquids in their measuring cups.
1
Nothing exotic in this recipe. For "vessel", substitute the bartender's "part".
All of this reminded me of Julia Child, who wrote impeccable recipes, however in The Way To Cook, she advocated the development of a range basic skills and techniques which could then be applied to a number of diverse dishes. This, in my experience, is the way most excellent cooks approach the crafting of a meal.
1
If I'm working with a new recipe for the first time, like a lot of the ones I find in the Food section of the NYT or the NYT's Food/Recipe Website, I will always use the measurements advised. I want to understand what the end result of the recipe should taste like as written. Invariably, if I like the the basic premise of the recipe or the actual food involved, I will fine tune it for my tastes. For instance, the recent NYT Texas-style Chili Con Care recipe published prior to the Super Bowl was excellent when I prepared it. But on a second occasion, other than the chuck, I used only New Jersey crushed tomatoes, garlic, a disc of Mexican chocolate, some salt and nine different dried chilies that were toasted, seeded, soaked in a little warm water and blended with the tomatoes and garlic. The mixture was simmered with the browned chuck and its juices slowly for a few hours, set to rest overnight then warmed and served with homemade re-fried beans and fresh tortillas the next day. The basis came from the original recipe but I eliminated many of the original ingredients making a more traditional Mexican style Chile con Carne but borrowing the addition of the chocolate from the published recipe. Thus, like the article said there's many ways of making chili. On another occasion I used to the letter, the April Bloomfield's NYT recipe for Yorkshire Pudding and never will I change a thing. It was prefect!
I was raised by my grandparents and it was my job to chop up wood and get the fire started in the wood burning cook stove and to make certain I had enough wood to last.
The meal was Thanksgiving and my granny (mom to me) would have been baking for several days. I can still remember gathering the persimmons and processing them and then she would make persimmon pudding. She did not have a measuring spoon or cup - she knew from many years of making meals.
We had a lot of hunters in the extended family and had everything from goose, duck, rabbit to deer and it was "cooked" by a platoon of aunties and enjoyed by all.
I am a foodie and love preparing new dishes and I use measuring cups/spoons but have no problem eliminating certain ingredients like salt and really hold back the spices when preparing Indian food for friends.
It is all about taste - how my granny always hit the mark with no measuring devices and how some are so dependent upon them with their results making you think to yourself - did he or she even taste this?
The meal was Thanksgiving and my granny (mom to me) would have been baking for several days. I can still remember gathering the persimmons and processing them and then she would make persimmon pudding. She did not have a measuring spoon or cup - she knew from many years of making meals.
We had a lot of hunters in the extended family and had everything from goose, duck, rabbit to deer and it was "cooked" by a platoon of aunties and enjoyed by all.
I am a foodie and love preparing new dishes and I use measuring cups/spoons but have no problem eliminating certain ingredients like salt and really hold back the spices when preparing Indian food for friends.
It is all about taste - how my granny always hit the mark with no measuring devices and how some are so dependent upon them with their results making you think to yourself - did he or she even taste this?
When my daughter was in first grade (30 years ago) I asked the kids what was the difference between moms and dads, and one said: Dad's measure, and mom's just sorta guess.
7
Funny! But my dad's a more intuitive cook than my mom is, so this isn't universal.
2
In my first kitchen I was introduced to making do with the measurement vessel that was borrowed, not the one I wanted from my mother's kitchen. We survived and so did the brownies, cakes, pies and the crepes to hold sweetened farmer's cheese, fried up in a hot pan in an unmeasured amount of butter, the level of which was maintained to keep them swimming obviously; all for the backyard brunches at 22 G st.
At risk of wrath, I really need measurements. I've baked many cakes, cookies, and crepes over the years, but cooking - to me at least - remains permanently stressful. I have no self-trust when cooking (too many failed attempts), and when recipes say things like "knead until the desired consistency", or "add enough milk to achieve a thin paste", I just don't know what it means. The comments make clear that lots of people find this stuff obvious, and I salute them, but give a clueless brother some help!
5
I started cooking "for real" about 15 years ago with the beginning of my 2nd marriage. Before, it was limited to 'breakfast for the kids on Sat.' and that ilk.
The 1st 2+ years were stressful and yet, thru the failures, I discovered a couple of very important things: the 1st was that I had a passion for cooking; the 2nd was that when I was in the process of cooking something, I was "in the moment", mentally -- totally absorbed.
The upshot is cooking is pleasurable for me, well received by my wife and others who sample my fares. If it's not for you, perhaps you should hand off that responsibility to someone else in your household (or outside of it), replace it with a discipline you "get" and stop being hard on yourself (e.g., I can't garden -- something my wife is supremely good at).
The 1st 2+ years were stressful and yet, thru the failures, I discovered a couple of very important things: the 1st was that I had a passion for cooking; the 2nd was that when I was in the process of cooking something, I was "in the moment", mentally -- totally absorbed.
The upshot is cooking is pleasurable for me, well received by my wife and others who sample my fares. If it's not for you, perhaps you should hand off that responsibility to someone else in your household (or outside of it), replace it with a discipline you "get" and stop being hard on yourself (e.g., I can't garden -- something my wife is supremely good at).
You are trying to make a point of not measuring with the crepe recipe, but using the word "vessel" rather than "cups" just gets plain old confusing. Some recipes need measurements. I am a seasoned cook, but even I had to pause for a second to ask "what is a vessel"? Not a word I have ever seen in any recipe.
3
part would have made more sense. 1 part egg, 1 part flour etc
1
I have my grandmother's recipes and even my great-grandmother's recipes. Both were wonderful bakers and cooks who passed down their love of creating good food to my mother and then me. These hand-written note cards list only the ingredients in a dish with some brief measurements, especially for baked goods. But there are no instructions for putting the dish together except vague references - assemble like pie dough, roll out like a crust, etc. Once I wanted to make grandma's Mandelbrot because I loved it when I was growing up. I could remember how delicious they were and I know I observed her making them in her spacious kitchen. But I never knew how she got the chocolate and vanilla dough to swirl in one slice. So I experimented with two colors of modeling clay until I could achieve her result. They looked similar and tasted good. But not the same as grandma's!
1
The first time you make a dish, you measure the ingredients. The second time, you don't. After that, you start to experiment with different amounts of various ingredients, and you create your own version of the dish. This is especially fun if you make a dish with some 30 ingredients, including fresh herbs and spices.
3
Ronal and I hitchhiked to Chatham on Cape Cod our senior year in high school to visit his sweetheart and her chum working as au pairs for a wealthy Boston family's summer home. There I learned the secret of making crepes. While Susie and Ronal mashed on the sofa and the kids played unsupervised on the beach, their parents in Boston for the week, Cathy taught me her error-proof crepe batter.
1 cup milk
1 cup water
three eggs
1 1/4 C flour
2 T sugar
1 t salt
4 T melted butter
When mixed it became a thick but fluid batter. We heated the crepe pans until the butter sizzled, dancing on its metal surface.
"The secret is wipe the surface with a paper towel so it's lightly oiled with butter," Cathy said, "then pour in a ladle of batter and evenly swirl it around until it covers the surface." Moments later, the crepe, golden brown on the bottom easily slid on the pan surface.
"That's the butter in the batter," Cathy said. "Now turn it over like this."
She shook the pan and flipped the crepe like a flapjack, landing on its uncooked side and browning in a moment.
She slid the crepe from the pan into a platter and covered it with a cloth.
"That's all there is to it," Cathy said as I admired her tan 17-year old frame, sea-kissed blonde hair and bright blue eyes.
"Roll it up with some jam," she said, popping half into my mouth.
Just then a car pulled up.
"It's the Smiths! Get out!
Ronal and I escaped to the beach and never made it back, but the recipe remained in my memory 45 years.
1 cup milk
1 cup water
three eggs
1 1/4 C flour
2 T sugar
1 t salt
4 T melted butter
When mixed it became a thick but fluid batter. We heated the crepe pans until the butter sizzled, dancing on its metal surface.
"The secret is wipe the surface with a paper towel so it's lightly oiled with butter," Cathy said, "then pour in a ladle of batter and evenly swirl it around until it covers the surface." Moments later, the crepe, golden brown on the bottom easily slid on the pan surface.
"That's the butter in the batter," Cathy said. "Now turn it over like this."
She shook the pan and flipped the crepe like a flapjack, landing on its uncooked side and browning in a moment.
She slid the crepe from the pan into a platter and covered it with a cloth.
"That's all there is to it," Cathy said as I admired her tan 17-year old frame, sea-kissed blonde hair and bright blue eyes.
"Roll it up with some jam," she said, popping half into my mouth.
Just then a car pulled up.
"It's the Smiths! Get out!
Ronal and I escaped to the beach and never made it back, but the recipe remained in my memory 45 years.
9
Too much water!
I cook every day and never measure anything. Why bother? Something like bread is so dependent on the humidity, moisture content of the flour, etc., that measurements are specious. Also, with all due respect to the professional cook below (whose needs are different from ours), what amateur cook cares about consistent results? I want different dishes, not the same one over and over.
3
I love to cook and I cook everyday. I never measure. I have had enough experience that I don't need to measure anymore. I can whip up basically anything from scratch with no recipe, just an idea of how I want it to look and to taste. This goes for baking as well as cooking, jam-making to sauces... Everything. The nose and eyes know! The only thing is, I have never actually made exactly the same thing twice in my life.
5
My favorite problem is "3 [or however many] cloves of garlic" or "one head of garlic." Did the author of these instructions actually ever use garlic? If you're trying to be precise, give a weight (preferably in grams).
4
Yes, or "one medium onion, diced." Some onions are the size of a small fist, some as big as child's head. HOW MUCH chopped onion do I need to produce? In cups!
3
Your're still measuring but using a different scale.
5
Consistent results are a valuable measure of all fine crafts, including food production. Recipes and measurements are a practical, but limited way to communicate the route to consistency. Good cooks use all their observations thoughout production to make sure the vector of the production is correct. The best cooks know how to adjust along the way when observation confirms a problem midway. It is a mark of insecurity that a cook should find the truth is in the measurements and the language of the recipe, because just as much is left unwritten. Confidence come from experience, bravery, and the absolute happy truth that it is only food.
5
My bubby's most reliable measurement tool was the word "some." I use it to this day.
3
This is an interesting piece and sure to draw criticism and praise. I will not say this is right or wrong but will provide my opinion where I have found measurements important and less so. To me it boils down into two things: desserts and everything else. If I want to make pasta and sauce, I can easily make a standard 16oz portion and the amount of ingredients you throw in the sauce would have a negligible impact. Too much sauce or meat? No problem, leftovers.
Now take a chocolate souffle or a cheesecake. The amount of flour, chocolate, cream cheese, sugar you use has a more significant impact on the overall dish. The difference between inedible cookies and delicious cookies can lie in fraction of flour, sugar, etc.
So, in essence, it is not that measuring is not important; rather the impact of the amounts of ingredients in desserts have far greater impact than in other dishes. Sure, you can argue, how in the world if you make lamb kabobs, if you use 1 cup of salt to season a 1/4 lb of lamb, how would that taste? This is probably totally arbitrary. But I like this article as I think its true purpose is to engage us in this debate...not really to say this is this and that is that.
Speaking of lamb kabobs, I made a delicious batch last week. If you would like to check out the recipe (with photos) with measurements(!) go to http://erezschnaittacherfood.tumblr.com/
Now take a chocolate souffle or a cheesecake. The amount of flour, chocolate, cream cheese, sugar you use has a more significant impact on the overall dish. The difference between inedible cookies and delicious cookies can lie in fraction of flour, sugar, etc.
So, in essence, it is not that measuring is not important; rather the impact of the amounts of ingredients in desserts have far greater impact than in other dishes. Sure, you can argue, how in the world if you make lamb kabobs, if you use 1 cup of salt to season a 1/4 lb of lamb, how would that taste? This is probably totally arbitrary. But I like this article as I think its true purpose is to engage us in this debate...not really to say this is this and that is that.
Speaking of lamb kabobs, I made a delicious batch last week. If you would like to check out the recipe (with photos) with measurements(!) go to http://erezschnaittacherfood.tumblr.com/
2
A very important ingredient: attitude. Are you attentive? Happy to be cooking? Happy to be sharing?
11
why not just say 1 part eggs + 1 part flour etc, and clarify that the volume should be equal? this is a bit thoughtless.
2
Well, how much is a "part"? Unless we agree that a "part" of egg is 1, and a "part" of flour is 1 cup (or whatever), your method won't work.
I love this. I'm the kind of person who is super precise and checks things too many times - but cooking is where I unwind, wing it, and generally come out with really tasty meals. There is something freeing about being comfortable enough to just kind of go with it and be rewarded with something tangibly enjoyable.
2
When I am trying a recipe for the first time I generally stick to the recipe. Then I know how the recipe writer intends the dish to taste and how I may want to improvise -- do I want it spicier, milder, thinner, thicker, perhaps use ground turkey instead of ground beef?
I am reminded of a joke:
One cook says to another, " I tried your recipe for beef Burgundy and it was terrible!"
The other cook replies, "I don't understand it. My beef Burgundy is always a hit. Did you follow the recipe?"
Says the first cook, "Of course! But the recipe just didn't taste good at all. Well, I used flounder instead of beef, and peas instead of mushrooms, and beer instead of red wine, but it was terrible!"
I am reminded of a joke:
One cook says to another, " I tried your recipe for beef Burgundy and it was terrible!"
The other cook replies, "I don't understand it. My beef Burgundy is always a hit. Did you follow the recipe?"
Says the first cook, "Of course! But the recipe just didn't taste good at all. Well, I used flounder instead of beef, and peas instead of mushrooms, and beer instead of red wine, but it was terrible!"
11
That sounds like the reviews on epicurious.
1 fork, awful recipe. I substituted flounder for the beef...
1 fork, awful recipe. I substituted flounder for the beef...
1
Some of us (like me) measure (I use a postal scale which is accurate to 5 grams) because we are pre-diabetic and measuring portions (along with proper diet and exercise) has kept this disease controlled for 28 years without drugs.
3
I've been cooking for a diabetic husband for about 25 years. Measuring and weighing never worked for us. A good sense of proportiim and taste has worked insread. Making really tasty food, with the little deck of cards size protein, a nice portion of carbs (rice, potato or sweet potato chunks roasted w garlic sand onions) , and a goodsize green salad or good veg (broccoli or Brussel sprouts sautéed w olive oil, red cabbage w Apple and cider vinegar) , and you are good. Truly you don't need to measure or weigh. Go with heart, and eyes, and a sense of proportion on a smaller plate!
2
Wouldn't an unmeasured recipe describe characteristics of the concoction? E.g. Add enough milk to make the batter the consistency of… the batter should taste sweet, not salty…
Seems to me that ratios are measures.
(As an aside: many recipes in France still use a "mustard glass" as a standard measure. Not having been raised with such knowledge, I still ask my wife if that means a larger mustard jar or a smaller mustard jar. :)
Seems to me that ratios are measures.
(As an aside: many recipes in France still use a "mustard glass" as a standard measure. Not having been raised with such knowledge, I still ask my wife if that means a larger mustard jar or a smaller mustard jar. :)
6
It is of course the Amora glass, not a jar at all, which can be found to this day on any French supermarket shelf. By American standards, a quite small glass:) You use the mustard and then drink out of the glass - my mom's cupboard if full of them collected through the decades. Maybe a tad more volume than a cup, but not much.
1
In south east asia the standard measurement for a long time was a condensed milk can.
If I could only retrieve my mother's recipes. a handful of this, a half glass of that, a spoon, 36 spoons, 3 glugs of oil. Rugalach, apple cake, strudel, babka. All I have is a fraction of her style, and I improvise, but I'll never be as good as her.
I do not particularly enjoy cooking but I enjoy eating and also enjoy knowing what's in what I eat. So I do cook. Soup is particularly forgiving and usually I more or less make it up as I go. Recently I ran across a recipe for minestrone that sounded good. I diligently made sure I had ever ingredient. I prepared and measured them to the recipe's specifications. I was proud of myself and got so carried away that I did not actually taste this soup before serving it. It was the thinnest, blandest soup I have ever made and unfortunately the entree for my "soup supper." Well, that taught me a lesson - two weeks later I made a soup the old fashioned way - by instinct, sight, and taste. It was orders of magnitude better. And you know what? It has emboldened me to tinker with any recipe from now on (not baking of course).
2
Probably just needed a spoongul of salt!
The examples cited are extreme. And while you can cook most recipes with a minimum of measuring, the chemistry of baking does generally require precision. No matter how you measure the yeast/baking powder/baking soda, whether it's by weight, by conventional measuring devices, or with Grandma's special cup, it has to be in the right proportions and in the right combination with the other ingredients or you will get dismal failures instead of good baked goods.
8
My Mom was a fabulous cook and baker. Yet she never measured anything by standard measures. She worked full-time and had six kids. She would whip up a delicious batch of brownies by filling "that bowl" to "about here" with flour, etc. She was too busy and too talented of a cook to measure precisely. Her best dishes: roast loin pork on the bone with dressing and fixings; homemade chicken pot pie with a from scratch crust to die for; homemade spaghetti sauce and meatballs. Yum!
15
She was measuring by eye and experience. My mother made biscuits by "this many handfuls of flour", "that hand-scooped amount of shortening", etc. When my newlywed oldest sister asked for recipes, Mother transferred it all into measuring cups.
1
I beg to differ with respect to your referenced recipe for "Unmeasured Crepes." In this you use a nonstandard measurement that you call a vessel. If you really want to convey the notion of unmeasured, then use parts and let the reader use what ever they wish to define as the base of one part. Seasoning to taste, of course, should be encouraged.
4
This DOES use parts, as "vessels" are interchangeable; just use the same one all the way through. The vessel is what you define as the basis. Different words, same concept.
4
My mother-in-law made the best cornbread without standard measures. She had one special pot she used and her cornbread was not nearly as good when she did not have her special beat up old pot. So people measure in different ways. When I make Italian bread and other kinds I start with the liquid measured and go from there. When food looks right and tastes right, it's "right"!
10
This reminds me of the time a friend was visiting from France, and she wanted to make crepes, she called her Mom, who told her to measure everything with a mustard jar, just like they did it back home.
11
Ridiculous. From the introduction to my cookbook: “The hallmark of a professional (in any field) is consistency of results. It is not possible to consistently prepare a large number of internationally varied dishes without using recipes.” To which, in response to this culinarily irresponsible piece, I now add, “without using recipes or measurements.”
15
Only if you cook for a restaurant kitchen.
6
That's fine if you're running a restaurant, where customers come in expecting the same perfect meal that they had last time. But since when does a home cook have to be a professional cook?
7
Ms. Adler wasn't advocating abandoning measurements. She merely advocated not being a slave to them. I think, too, that you'd do well by explaining what you mean by "consistency of results." Consistently delicious? Great. Consistently Identical? If you're in a restaurant, then I suppose that's a good idea, but at home? No need.
1
Most modern cookbooks go overboard with detailed instructions - they assume you are a total idiot and have never baked a cake before. So you end up with cookbooks the size and weight of an encyclopedia but they are highly repetitive. A lot of 19th century recipes, though they are precise enough (you can't really bake a cake without fairly precise measurements), are just a brief list of ingredients. They assume that you've baked a cake before and you know what to do with them. And then they give the variations in even shorter form - recipe for Cake B - same as Cake A but substitute this for that. You can fit a lot of recipes in a short book that way.
2
Some contemporary cookbooks are huge tomes; but so are Apicius and Escoffier, written for professionals. Loosey-goosey old-time recipes relied on community knowledge that has largely been lost. "Butter the size of a walnut"??
I edit cookbooks for a living. I ask my authors to give as specific measurements as possible, because people following the recipe probably do not know how that particular dish should taste or look when done, even if they have cooked something similar. Giving them precise measures is helpful; it should result in a dish close to what the recipe developer intended.
But the measures should be a point of departure. My hope is that all who start out following recipes to the letter--um, number--will learn to TASTE and develop a sense memory of what pleases them and those they cook for. Then they may start to feel comfortable experimenting with a little more this, a little less that, or a different ingredient altogether. They can then choose to follow measurements exactly, or not, knowing how those measures resulted in a pleasurable experience.
Not in the article, but: exact timings in recipes are a minefield, as pots, stovetops, and ovens are all different. So I ask for visual or other sensory cues to supplement "boil for 2 1/2 minutes." With experience, the cook should learn the foibles of her/his equipment and be able to make adjustments.
You don't measure when you cook? Good. You measure when you cook? Also good. What matters most is that YOU COOK.
I edit cookbooks for a living. I ask my authors to give as specific measurements as possible, because people following the recipe probably do not know how that particular dish should taste or look when done, even if they have cooked something similar. Giving them precise measures is helpful; it should result in a dish close to what the recipe developer intended.
But the measures should be a point of departure. My hope is that all who start out following recipes to the letter--um, number--will learn to TASTE and develop a sense memory of what pleases them and those they cook for. Then they may start to feel comfortable experimenting with a little more this, a little less that, or a different ingredient altogether. They can then choose to follow measurements exactly, or not, knowing how those measures resulted in a pleasurable experience.
Not in the article, but: exact timings in recipes are a minefield, as pots, stovetops, and ovens are all different. So I ask for visual or other sensory cues to supplement "boil for 2 1/2 minutes." With experience, the cook should learn the foibles of her/his equipment and be able to make adjustments.
You don't measure when you cook? Good. You measure when you cook? Also good. What matters most is that YOU COOK.
10
There's always a first time, Laura, always someone who has never baked a cake before.
5
Well said, Suzanne F.
Awesome. I only cook without measure-recipes from my head, and concoctions with whatever I have lying around. Some of our favorite recipes have come this experimentation. For me following a recipe is a chore-best avoided. Of course this approach drives my husband and nephew batty -when they try to cook something using my very rough recipe outlines
3
I hate to take issue with an innocuous article like this one, but a recipe is only "right" if the cook preparing it finds it helpful and likes the results. So, although I'm not much of a measurer, I know many cooks who are not "new" who still measure every last thing--it's what they need to do. And it should be mentioned that in baking, the precision of measurement is often crucial to success. Becoming a good cook is truly a matter of trial and error and the mastering of techniques, knowing when a piece of meat is "done" or when to turn down a flame. And once you've figured out the way to do it that pleases you, you'll want to do it that way again, which might mean exactly the same proportions that you used the last time. That doesn't make you a tyrant or a fussbudget or in need of gifts from the more intuitive.
34
Hear, hear! Precision without obsessiveness can be very gratifying in all disciplines.
3