# Most unusual measurement you've seen in a recipe

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unusual-measurement-youve-seen-in-a-recipe/820046>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [August 22, 2018, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unusual-measurement-youve-seen-in-a-recipe/820046 "2018-08-22T12:56:57Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 6

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**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\
**Post date:** [December 23, 2018, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unusual-measurement-youve-seen-in-a-recipe/820046/101 "2018-12-23T17:57:01Z")

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> [@LH75](#):
>
> My cooking style does not rely on strict measuring. I tend to add seasonings and ingredients until [Edesia](http://www.thaliatook.com/OGOD/edesia.php) puts her hand on my shoulder and says “Abbastanza, figlio mio…”

I love the way you express this. As a writer, the ghost of my 7th-grade English teacher hovers behind my shoulder, supervising my work, much as the Roman goddess of feasts supervises your cooking.

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**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\
**Post date:** [December 23, 2018, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unusual-measurement-youve-seen-in-a-recipe/820046/102 "2018-12-23T18:47:16Z")

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> [@HeyHomie](#):
>
> I just read Fannie Farmer’s Wiki entry, and I’m confused. Prior to her, did cooks all across America (nay, the world) just wing it? How did anyone ever bake (where precise measurements are necessary to create chemical reactions)?

Until a few people like Fannie Farmer and Auguste Escoffier actually went around and started encoding recipes, pretty much everything was taught mother to daughter or chef to apprentice. Ingredients were not really all that standardized, as the raw ingredients that you could get at the time were not going to be as consistent as you can pick up at the market today.  
In reference to the OP, my favorite unit of measure has always been the “glug.” As in, “How much lime juice do I put into the salsa?” “About 3 glugs.”

Not exactly a precise unit of measure.

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**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\
**Post date:** [December 23, 2018, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unusual-measurement-youve-seen-in-a-recipe/820046/103 "2018-12-23T21:33:05Z")

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> [@TruCelt](#):
>
> I have an old french cookbook which calls for a “thumbnail” of butter (une vignette de beurre) in the crepe recipe.
> 
> Of course, for all I know that could be a perfectly normal measurement in France.

A friend told me to sauté something with a knob of butter, and was surprised that I didn’t know how much butter that was. Turns out he meant the amount you need to sauté something. You just know.

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**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\
**Post date:** [December 23, 2018, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unusual-measurement-youve-seen-in-a-recipe/820046/104 "2018-12-23T21:42:45Z")

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The “glug” is actually the unit of measure I use for how much cleaning solution to add to the mop water, whenever I’m mopping. Except that’s only two glugs.

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