Rhetoric of Recipes

Recipes are written to teach readers how to make the dish so they can recreate it themselves. Authors write recipes with different kinds of audiences in mind. For example, in the book Good and Cheap: Eat Well on $4/Day, author Leanne Brown writes, “I designed these recipes to fit the budgets of people living on SNAP” (Good and Cheap: Eat Well on $4/Day). Although the main audience of her book was for people who were part of the food stamp program, her book is also suitable for college students, people on a budget, or people who don’t want to spend too much on groceries, demonstrating how recipes can pertain to more than just one audience. The purpose of writing recipes can vary based on who the audience is; some authors might write recipes to inform readers on how to make the food, while others might write recipes just to get the information out there. Authors will also think about including certain words in the recipe title to catch the attention of audience members; for example, if an author wanted to write for college students, he or she might include the word “easy” or “quick” in the title, since many college students do not have as much time to cook. Most recipes follow a certain format which makes it easy to identify that a certain piece of text is a recipe. First, many recipes will start off with an introduction of the food so readers will know more about what they are making, followed by a list of ingredients. High quality recipes will include exact measurements of the ingredients, as well as serving size. After the ingredients, many recipes will list the steps needed to make the rest of the dish. These instructions are written so readers can easily follow along; in higher quality recipes, this could mean the steps are numbered and easy to read, or are split into short paragraphs. Some recipes will list out the ingredients on top before listing out the instructions, while other recipes will format it so the ingredients are in one column and the instructions are in another column of the page, side by side. In the Kung Pao Chicken recipe by Kho, we can see this kind of format with pictures on one page and the recipe on the next page (Phoenix Claws and Jade Leaves by Kian Lam Kho). More modern recipes that can be found online will also usually include the prep time, cook time, and how long it will take for the food to be ready. Recipes found on websites like All Recipes will allow people to rate the recipe, comment, and give feedback to the author, which also gives other people the chance to look at the recipe and decide if they want to continue reading (All Recipes: Joy’s Banana Bread). Some recipes will also include photos of the food, which can draw in readers who may not have a lot of cooking experience and are looking for something that looks delicious. Recipes are a way for the authors to share their culture with the rest of the world. People can make food from different cultures by reading recipes, and now with the internet, it is easier than ever to look up old recipes which have continually been passed down, or recipes that originate from other countries. In a web search for a Taiwanese beef noodle soup recipe, I was able to find a website which listed out the recipe with video tutorials and pictures detailing different parts of the cooking process (Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup). Food is an important part of a country’s culture and recipes help bring people together by providing a way for everyone to learn more about that particular food.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *