Good recipes hook me with a picture that makes me forget all my fears and worries. All I can think about is how soon I can eat all of the food. After the spectacular picture comes a title followed by a description. Whether short or long the description generally relays the significance that the author has to the particular dish. It might be an explanation of what goes well with the dish, the cultural background and history of the dish or a fun, personal anecdote from the author about the recipe. Also near in proximity to the title is generally the amount of servings the recipe makes and the amount of time it takes to make the recipe. After that comes the ingredients and the measurements needed of each ingredient. After the list of ingredients come the directions necessary to make the dish.

Authors write recipes in order to help other people experience food. Whether they are writing to help people on a budget or working class families stay well fed under $4.00 a day (Good and Cheap) or to nostalgically recreate a meal that is has a personal meaning to them (From My Mother’s Kitchen: Birthday Cake). With Good and Cheap, Brown is trying to make healthy food very accessible to people who don’t have time to make a budget for affordable, healthy food. Brown is taking an economic approach to helping people experience food and it is very specific to the context around her. On the other hand you have people who are nostalgically trying to recreate recipes that have a sentimental place in their hearts. The motivations for writing recipes are as vast as the motivation for people to write stories, essays, poems. Recipes and the rhetoric of food can be very personal and cultural and can also be very impersonal and universal. The author through the description communicates the motivation and audience. The directions and ingredients needed can also help to identify the audience that is targeted. If there are many obscure or culture specific ingredients needed then it is more targeted to a specific audience.

The author needs to be a good guide – that is what separates a good recipe from a bad recipe. How do we navigate different cultural foods? How do we navigate the temperature and time needed to make sure the chicken is cooked perfectly? How do we navigate the spice rack? A good recipe is written by a good guide.

 

http://www.biggirlssmallkitchen.com/2009/10/from-my-mothers-kitchen-birthday-cake.html

https://cookbooks.leannebrown.com/good-and-cheap.pdf