To all good cooks out there: when you cook do you follow specific recipes or you can't help but modify it?!


Question:

To all good cooks out there: when you cook do you follow specific recipes or you can't help but modify it?

Precision or instinct and immagination in your cooking?


Answers: I follow the recipe the first time I make it and then I adjust it to my taste the next. My husband tells me that I have never made the same thing twice in 22 years! LOL I try to follow the recipe unless the recipe calls for something I do not like, such as ginger. I don't cook with ginger, so I figure out some other type of spice to use instead.

Cheers depends on the function of the ingredient, if its flavour, i modify, but if it depicts form, i stick to it
also depends on whom i'm cooking for, certain consumers expect a definate flavour for some dishes,if its casual, ie for friends, relatives etc i "create & experiment" rather than follow I don't like to follow recipes to the letter. For me, the fun in cooking is to use your imagination and improvise. This sometimes results in a creation not turning out so great because I probably should have payed more attention to the recipe and not been so stubborn to do it "my way" but I'm still glad I like to experiment and have fun in the kitchen. Its the latter. I cook quite well and usually wing it so to speak, but I was raised cooking so I know my way around a kitchen.
Love to cook, but since I am a bit lazy I prefer to use a crock pot for most things. Fire and forget. I can cook and I modify recipes. So far, I1ve been successful in doing so judging from the people who have tasted my cooking. I only follow baking recipes to the letter. But other recipies are usually only basic guidelines, since portion quantities need to be changed, and quality of ingredients improved. I used to own a cafe in the CBD of Brisbane Australia, and I wanted my food to be different. I started making up my own recipes for salads and frittatas and when I sold the shop, my recipes stayed with me. Many people still ask for the recipes.

Imagination, tasting and instinct is the key. Precision generally becomes a standard recipe.

But to change recipes involves cooking the same recipe over and over and trying to make it better each time. Which is why chefs are so good at it. If I have never cooked it before, I tend to follow it as closely as possible, but if there are ingrdients I'm not a big fan of (capers and fennel are the main culprits), I will strip them out and maybe add in something I like better instead. If I'm baking, I generally stick to the recipe. Sometimes I will change a small thing with the recipe, such as keep out baking powder when I make brownies because I like them chewier.

When I'm making dinner, especially pasta dishes, I usually always modify the recipe. Or sometimes if I never had the dish before, I make it according to the directions then modify it the next time I cook it. I like to modify most recipes. What I like to do, when I want to try cooking something for the first time, is to do a search for lots of recipes for that specific dish. Then I'll look at each recipe for what I like or don't like. In the end I will combine recipes to make my own. It depends on the ingredients available in the market and if not, I always do modify them especially on spices and seasonings for flavors.



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