Home cooking: The joy of following recipes to the letter
Once you gain confidence as a home cook, and you’re cooking every night, “it’s difficult to stray from the steadiness you know,” said Genevieve Ko in The New
York Times. But I made a resolution to try something different in 2021: seeking out new recipes and following them to the letter. There are obvious benefits, of course, to “eating something delicious and learning something new.” But following a precisely composed recipe precisely also is a way to taste the passion and experience of another person and perhaps of another place. I call it “cooking with empathy,” and I like to think it’s a way to promote greater unity and understanding. It’s also a way to travel beyond your own kitchen. Below, some tips:
Seek recipes that demand precision. “No-recipe recipes” are all the rage these days, and are highly useful. But look instead for recipes developed by someone with a passion for the dish, someone who’s precise in explaining technique and the reasons for it. To help weed out recipes that are only half-considered, choose cookbooks in which testers are thanked in the acknowledgments.
Track down every ingredient. When you’re trying to learn about other cuisines, the hunt for even hard-to-find ingredients is part of the process. Internet shopping simplifies the task, but also consider nearby ethnic markets you’ve not visited before; “it’s a way to see, smell, and hear the world.”
Read the whole cookbook. You know to read the whole recipe before starting. You’ll often learn even more if you also read at least the top notes and introductory material to understand the dish in context. Finally, resist the temptation to alter the method because it’s not your norm. “What makes cooking exciting is how much more there is to discover.”