# Modern Recipes That Are Barely Recipes **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [March 6, 2024, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-recipes-that-are-barely-recipes/998544 "2024-03-06T16:24:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2024, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-recipes-that-are-barely-recipes/998544/41 "2024-03-06T23:41:43Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > And can you all guess what I’ve been cooking lately? I don’t know, but are you cooking with GAZ? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2024, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-recipes-that-are-barely-recipes/998544/42 "2024-03-06T23:42:08Z")
It’s the breading and deep frying that is a lot of work. I make my own shish kabob. Need Saki for the teriyaki. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2024, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-recipes-that-are-barely-recipes/998544/43 "2024-03-06T23:44:49Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > There are a bajillion recipes already out there, for free. Who’s buying a book just for recipes? My wife. She is an excellent cook and is always cooking new things. She’s a fan of Kenji López-Alt and when his wok cookbook came out, she had to get it. I think she read the thing cover to cover. We already owned a carbon steel wok, but our gas range doesn’t get hot enough to do it proper so we now have a large outdoor propane burner that does it up right. And I have now eaten many delicious meals because of that cookbook. She doesn’t buy them often, but I alway benefit. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2024, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-recipes-that-are-barely-recipes/998544/44 "2024-03-07T00:37:41Z")
A few years ago, when I became a member of a local PBS station, they sent me a 20th Anniversary America’s Test Kitchen cookbook. Not much fluff to go along with the recipes. I just made the brownies today. Their gingersnaps are pretty good, too. ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2024, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-recipes-that-are-barely-recipes/998544/45 "2024-03-07T00:57:07Z")
> [@ParallelLines](#): > > The few times I’ve bought cookbooks that were in the 50/50 range of text vs cooking ideas it was from one of the Chefs who I love to listen too/hear their thoughts on subjects: Anthony Bourdain. > > Reading the snark and anecdotes was as much fun as trying to recreate some of his dishes. Probably more, because I’m far too cheap to buy the quality of ingredients to do his dishes full justice most of the time. Bourdain’s _Appetites_ cookbook is one of the few cookbooks I still have. It’s in a class of its own. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2024, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-recipes-that-are-barely-recipes/998544/46 "2024-03-07T00:59:51Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > A few years ago, when I became a member of a local PBS station, they sent me a 20th Anniversary America’s Test Kitchen cookbook. Not much fluff to go along with the recipes. A general cookbook like that I wouldn’t expect much narrative, but does this cookbook not have the usual America’s Test Kitchen/Cooks Illustrated type of breakdown of the different ways they tried to do the recipe and what worked and what didn’t and why it worked and why it didn’t? That’s kind of their brand. I’m surprised if they didn’t do that for their cookbook. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2024, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-recipes-that-are-barely-recipes/998544/47 "2024-03-07T02:55:36Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > America’s Test Kitchen/Cooks Illustrated My wife loves those cookbooks, along with Kenji’s Food Lab (along with the wok book I mention above) and they all have explanations. As someone that hasn’t spent time learning the ins and outs of cooking, I love all these cookbooks. I’ve learned a lot and if I follow any of those recipes, I get good results. When I go to random web recipes, sometime OK, but many times, meh. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2024, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-recipes-that-are-barely-recipes/998544/48 "2024-03-07T03:15:03Z")
I’m kind of partial to Robb Walsh’s cookbooks on Texas food. He’s got a very good handle on the right amount of the right information to include about a recipe to make it actually interesting without bogging you down in the weeds. And the recipes themselves are very good as well. He’s got seven that I know of - cowboy food, Tex-Mex, Chili, Texas barbecue, Tex-Mex grilled food, hot sauce/salsa, and a catch-all Texas food cookbook. The Tex-Mex and chili cookbooks are absolutely outstanding, and the others are merely good to excellent. ---
**Author:** ![DeadTreasSecretaries](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deadtreassecretaries/32/4817_2.png) [@DeadTreasSecretaries](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadTreasSecretaries)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2024, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-recipes-that-are-barely-recipes/998544/49 "2024-03-07T03:50:33Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > The only one with even a vestige of fluff is my old Jewish recipe book that explicitly gives religio-cultural background to the food. Just to try and one up you for no particular reason, my matzo ball soup recipe is a picture of a photocopy of a pamphlet from my Grandma’s old synagogue with Passover songs and recipes randomly interspersed throughout the page. ---
**Author:** ![Allthegood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c68b51/32.png) [@Allthegood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Allthegood)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2024, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-recipes-that-are-barely-recipes/998544/50 "2024-03-07T04:25:43Z")
Ah. Different recipe, I think. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2024, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-recipes-that-are-barely-recipes/998544/51 "2024-03-07T05:09:47Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > A general cookbook like that I wouldn’t expect much narrative, but does this cookbook not have the usual America’s Test Kitchen/Cooks Illustrated type of breakdown of the different ways they tried to do the recipe and what worked and what didn’t and why it worked and why it didn’t? That’s kind of their brand. I’m surprised if they didn’t do that for their cookbook. There’s some of that, but I don’t think it’s in quite the same category as the puffery described by the OP. There’s a “why this recipe works” section for each recipe. For the brownies, it says that they were trying to get the right chewiness, and that they found the right combination of saturated and unsaturated fats. The recipe calls for vegetable oil and melted butter. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2024, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-recipes-that-are-barely-recipes/998544/52 "2024-03-07T09:40:56Z")
Yeah - there’s nothing wrong with a recipe having a section explaining why/how to achieve a certain effect. What sets my teeth on edge is the unrelated fluffery about anything not relevant to the recipe. And there’s nothing wrong with someone doing a piece about the history of a food or even Thanksgiving at their nana’s home _as long as they’re not holding it out as something else._ Food history/culture/etc. has its place, but it’s different than recipes. It’s the bait-and-switch feel that irritates me. ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2024, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-recipes-that-are-barely-recipes/998544/53 "2024-03-07T10:40:29Z")
cookbooks? …paying for information feels so 1980ies to me … I really have a hard time doing that nowadays - when a wealth of info is available for free. its mostly YT for me (FF to relevant sections then 1.5 speed - and CC - and mostly checking for “_… and then, let rest in the fridge for 4 hours…_” no-no’s ) when i feel like “out-of-the-ordinary-cooking” … I also do a bit of recipe-shopping there … and quite often make a hybrid of recipe-A and recipe-B - as I see fit. Just yday, I looked up some Wiener Apfelstrudel, came to the conclusion its not one of those “high-effort” recipes (which stop me dead in the tracks) and went to town … came out really nice … but whatever floats one’s boat ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2024, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-recipes-that-are-barely-recipes/998544/54 "2024-03-07T11:41:28Z")
> [@Al128](#): > > but whatever floats one’s boat I often read them while sitting on the loo, for whats that is worth. Research into the input/output cycle. I do wash my hands before cooking. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2024, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-recipes-that-are-barely-recipes/998544/55 "2024-03-07T13:31:59Z")
Cookbooks are nice when they give you ideas for things you wouldn’t have otherwise thought of. Technically, I can open up my copy of Joy of Cooking to get ideas, but damn if that thing isn’t basically a wall of text, it’s hard to get inspired. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2024, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-recipes-that-are-barely-recipes/998544/56 "2024-03-07T13:43:48Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Luckily, I have a Chrome Extension that automatically pops out the recipe if it detects one in the page I’m visiting. I’m not at my computer right now, but I think it’s called recipe filter or something. I’m back home, and yes, it’s called Recipe Filter, and here it is for you Chrome users who might be interested. It’s been such a time saver for me: [https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/recipe-filter/ahlcdjbkdaegmljnnncfnhiioiadakae](https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/recipe-filter/ahlcdjbkdaegmljnnncfnhiioiadakae) ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2024, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-recipes-that-are-barely-recipes/998544/57 "2024-03-07T16:44:43Z")
What about cookbooks where you might have a chapter named “Early Combination Plates”, that goes into the history of Tex-Mex and how it was served for the first dozen pages, then has a section of recipes without fluff that detail how to make many of the dishes mentioned in the narrative section? That way, you can get to the recipes very easily and avoid the fluff if you strictly want the ingredients and instructions, but if you want the fluff, you can get it in one defined place. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2024, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-recipes-that-are-barely-recipes/998544/58 "2024-03-07T17:12:28Z")
I don’t know where it is now, but I had a copy of the [Mary Margaret McBride Encyclopedia of Cooking.](https://anitastabletalk.com/mary-margaret-mcbride-encyclopedia-of-cooking/) It is packed with basic recipes plus multiple variations of common dishes. Each chapter begins with introductory information about types of food, plus details on things like building outdoor barbecue grills and smokers. It’s all old, many ingredients considered exotic at the time are commonplace now, healthy eating then was just the food pyramid concept. I think Crisco was used often in some recipes, and that was the old fashioned type full of trans fats in addition to the hydrogenated oil it still has. It is also huge and after having it for decades I still found surprises in it. Some of it is available online, but yard sales are the best place to find a copy at a reasonable price. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2024, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-recipes-that-are-barely-recipes/998544/59 "2024-03-07T19:57:32Z")
> [@bump](#): > > What about cookbooks where you might have a chapter named “Early Combination Plates”, that goes into the history of Tex-Mex and how it was served for the first dozen pages, then has a section of recipes without fluff that detail how to make many of the dishes mentioned in the narrative section? > > That way, you can get to the recipes very easily and avoid the fluff if you strictly want the ingredients and instructions, but if you want the fluff, you can get it in one defined place. Sure, for a book that’s great - I have a wonderful Mediterranean cookbook like that, as well as my Jewish cookbook. But books are easy - they’re divided into section, you can use bookmarks, etc. A web page that demands you scroll past flashing ads, or a video that rambles on and on, is not so easy to navigate. There are a _few_ YT’ers who have “chapters” on their videos so you can fast forward to the actual recipe if that’s all you want but they’re very much the exception. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2024, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-recipes-that-are-barely-recipes/998544/60 "2024-03-07T20:07:30Z")
Most of the cookbooks I own are decades old and the authors didn’t bother with stories about each recipe. Is this trend in modern cookbooks just reflective of broader changes in the media? I remember decades ago people complaining about Olympic coverage with its focus on presenting us with narratives about the athletes, especially when there was some tragic or heartwarming aspect. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-recipes-that-are-barely-recipes/998544.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-recipes-that-are-barely-recipes/998544.md?page=4)