I love this and how you describe the recipe in so much detail. I have always loved your blog for the stories behind the recipes and not just the recipes themselves. I collect cookbooks and especially love those that tell stories of family or country or culture that goes with the recipe. They transport me to their location with the story and with the food! Thank you for sharing! xoxo Lisa
I really enjoyed this article--and the subject matter. I've rarely seen it discussed. I have a graduate degree in Nutrition--but no one has ever taught me how to write a recipe. But, luckily, I am a scientist, too, and I cook a lot. Most of the recipes I write are for myself--so I can replicate a recipe I made or modified. I have taught cooking classes--so I needed recipes for that--and I also tell my patients how to cook--so I've thought about how to write recipes in a way that won't have mistakes (or I will hear about it from a patient!) I agree with you--doing it well requires several special components and qualities--including trust and faith--and much more than just a list of ingredients. Thank you for thinking this through so thoroughly--it was very helpful!
Thank you Ann for such an interesting comment. As a nutritionist and scientist, you definitely have many instruments on how to write recipes properly, especially when they have to be written for your patients!
What a beautifully written, and wonderfully thoughtful piece, Giulia. I love how you remind us of the power of recipes: culturally, politically but also on a very intimate level in people's home kitchens, and the responsibility that we have as recipe writers to be generous and thorough: two things I always hold close when I'm working on a new recipe. I definitely needed the reminder about the word 'delicious' too. Thanks so much for sharing. xx
This resonates with me in so many ways. I also recipe develop as part of my freelance work as a food stylist and former chef of many years. I also have a HUGE collection. Of cookbooks and have enjoyed the beautiful, evocative writing of many authors over many years for inspiration. I was recently asked to contribute 20 new recipes to a business with an online recipe app that I wont name and was horrified to learn that they expected me to write down the recipes and pass them to them to be used without me testing them first as they didn’t have the funds to pay me for that. I informed them that while the recipes might roughly work, I didn’t feel comfortable vouching for them to be great recipes and it went no further than that. A very sad state of affairs and apparently it happens a lot and I now understand why so many recipes one finds don’t work! It is especially bad for unconfident cooks who are really trying to make an effort to cook more when having to deal with these recipes. A more proficient cook can likely spot errors or, at least, comfortably deal with making changes themselves as necessary. In any case, how a business whose business is basically recipes doesn’t make allowance for funding of the proper testing of them is behind me.
What I also meant to say Giulia is that you described the importance and process of recipe writing beautifully. I really look forward to your articles!
What a wonderful piece - read while I drink coffee and listen to nightingales (in the morning??) overlooking the Tiber valley- that so beautifully describes and teaches the art of the recipe. I particularly loved the bit about generosity. Thank you!
Brava, Giulia! What an inspiring description of recipe-writing - both the responsibilities of the person writing the recipe and the potential of the form. As a fellow food writer, I am always telling people how hard it is to write recipes well. I feel that recipe writing is very little considered or respected in Britain, but recipes are foundational in spreading food knowledge and deserve our respect!
is it? I thought it was held in higher consideration in Britain, with so many excellent recipe writers. Here in Italy most of recipe websites don't even have the names of the recipe writers. So disheartening. As if recipe writing is a minor form of food writing.
Very beautifully expressed. I really never thought of a recipe this way and will try to pause as I start making a dish, using a recipe, and reflect on its beauty and poetry.
Sentirti parlare ieri è stato illuminante e, a tratti, davvero emozionante. Grazie Giulia per averci offerto chiavi di lettura nuove sul mondo del cibo, di come vada trattato con cura, degli ingredienti certo, ma anche della storia che questi raccontano. E con rispetto di chi, indossando un grembiule e mettendo le mani in pasta, con gli stessi ingredienti ma diverse competenze e strumenti, potrà contribuire a suo modo a quel racconto.
grazie Ada, perché è stato proprio XFood che mi ha permesso di approfondire il tema delle ricette e delle storie che riescono a raccontare, mi ha aiutata a rimettere in fila tutti i pensieri, le idee, le letture degli anni passati. Quindi grazie, anche per il feedback caloroso che mi ha davvero commossa!
Love this post. Makes me think though. Nowadays, recipes have to be full of instructions, down to the tiniest details. And books full of beautiful photos. Old cookbooks have hardly any pictures, and the instructions are brief. Then my grandmother's recipes give hardly any instructions, often just a list of ingredients. Is it because everyone simply knew how to cook back then? Or is it also because people today want to be given everything on a plate, don't want to think nor experiment... Which has more value? I'd vote for those old treasures every time.
What a beautiful and thoughtful treatise. Thank you for sharing it with your readers.
thank you Elizabeth, so happy it was interesting to read!
I love this and how you describe the recipe in so much detail. I have always loved your blog for the stories behind the recipes and not just the recipes themselves. I collect cookbooks and especially love those that tell stories of family or country or culture that goes with the recipe. They transport me to their location with the story and with the food! Thank you for sharing! xoxo Lisa
it is the same reason why I love collecting cookbooks, for the stories they share on a country, a culture, or a family.
The power of recipes ~ to connect, to disrupt, to teach, to inspire. Loved this newsletter, Giulia.
thank you Domenica!
I really enjoyed this article--and the subject matter. I've rarely seen it discussed. I have a graduate degree in Nutrition--but no one has ever taught me how to write a recipe. But, luckily, I am a scientist, too, and I cook a lot. Most of the recipes I write are for myself--so I can replicate a recipe I made or modified. I have taught cooking classes--so I needed recipes for that--and I also tell my patients how to cook--so I've thought about how to write recipes in a way that won't have mistakes (or I will hear about it from a patient!) I agree with you--doing it well requires several special components and qualities--including trust and faith--and much more than just a list of ingredients. Thank you for thinking this through so thoroughly--it was very helpful!
Thank you Ann for such an interesting comment. As a nutritionist and scientist, you definitely have many instruments on how to write recipes properly, especially when they have to be written for your patients!
What a beautifully written, and wonderfully thoughtful piece, Giulia. I love how you remind us of the power of recipes: culturally, politically but also on a very intimate level in people's home kitchens, and the responsibility that we have as recipe writers to be generous and thorough: two things I always hold close when I'm working on a new recipe. I definitely needed the reminder about the word 'delicious' too. Thanks so much for sharing. xx
I am the first one who uses delicious more than I want to admit, but sometimes it is just the best adjective to use, isn't it? :P
This resonates with me in so many ways. I also recipe develop as part of my freelance work as a food stylist and former chef of many years. I also have a HUGE collection. Of cookbooks and have enjoyed the beautiful, evocative writing of many authors over many years for inspiration. I was recently asked to contribute 20 new recipes to a business with an online recipe app that I wont name and was horrified to learn that they expected me to write down the recipes and pass them to them to be used without me testing them first as they didn’t have the funds to pay me for that. I informed them that while the recipes might roughly work, I didn’t feel comfortable vouching for them to be great recipes and it went no further than that. A very sad state of affairs and apparently it happens a lot and I now understand why so many recipes one finds don’t work! It is especially bad for unconfident cooks who are really trying to make an effort to cook more when having to deal with these recipes. A more proficient cook can likely spot errors or, at least, comfortably deal with making changes themselves as necessary. In any case, how a business whose business is basically recipes doesn’t make allowance for funding of the proper testing of them is behind me.
this is so disheartening. It can really break the confidence of unexperienced cooks, who will blame themselves, rather than a badly tested recipe.
Exactly....
That is so true - I constantly work out adjustments to recipes - and as you say, shocking that there was no funding for testing.
What I also meant to say Giulia is that you described the importance and process of recipe writing beautifully. I really look forward to your articles!
thank you so much Beatrice!
What a wonderful piece - read while I drink coffee and listen to nightingales (in the morning??) overlooking the Tiber valley- that so beautifully describes and teaches the art of the recipe. I particularly loved the bit about generosity. Thank you!
lovely to picture there, drinking coffee and listening to nightingales!
Thank you - it was!
Brava, Giulia! What an inspiring description of recipe-writing - both the responsibilities of the person writing the recipe and the potential of the form. As a fellow food writer, I am always telling people how hard it is to write recipes well. I feel that recipe writing is very little considered or respected in Britain, but recipes are foundational in spreading food knowledge and deserve our respect!
is it? I thought it was held in higher consideration in Britain, with so many excellent recipe writers. Here in Italy most of recipe websites don't even have the names of the recipe writers. So disheartening. As if recipe writing is a minor form of food writing.
Very beautifully expressed. I really never thought of a recipe this way and will try to pause as I start making a dish, using a recipe, and reflect on its beauty and poetry.
thank you for your comment, Toby, I am happy it opened up a new level of understanding of the power recipes have.
That was very interesting. Cookbooks are more than recipes to me. They impart history as well as
how-to cook. They are an important part of my life. Thank you.
so so true! they are an important part of my life, too!
Sentirti parlare ieri è stato illuminante e, a tratti, davvero emozionante. Grazie Giulia per averci offerto chiavi di lettura nuove sul mondo del cibo, di come vada trattato con cura, degli ingredienti certo, ma anche della storia che questi raccontano. E con rispetto di chi, indossando un grembiule e mettendo le mani in pasta, con gli stessi ingredienti ma diverse competenze e strumenti, potrà contribuire a suo modo a quel racconto.
grazie Ada, perché è stato proprio XFood che mi ha permesso di approfondire il tema delle ricette e delle storie che riescono a raccontare, mi ha aiutata a rimettere in fila tutti i pensieri, le idee, le letture degli anni passati. Quindi grazie, anche per il feedback caloroso che mi ha davvero commossa!
Love this post. Makes me think though. Nowadays, recipes have to be full of instructions, down to the tiniest details. And books full of beautiful photos. Old cookbooks have hardly any pictures, and the instructions are brief. Then my grandmother's recipes give hardly any instructions, often just a list of ingredients. Is it because everyone simply knew how to cook back then? Or is it also because people today want to be given everything on a plate, don't want to think nor experiment... Which has more value? I'd vote for those old treasures every time.
Apologies. “Beyond” not “behind” me...