RECIPE WRITING

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RECIPE The recipe itself is a blueprint for food production. It should facilitate the reproduction of a food item with easy and accuracy. Recipe standardization is the process of "tailoring" a recipe to suit a particular purpose in a specific foodservice operation. The following are keys to a successful recipe. It should be

REPRODUCIBLE it that it is written so that it can repeated with consistent results.

EASILY PREPARED with a minimum of steps in logical sequence to produce appropriate end results - from simple to complex recipes. Ingredients are listed in the units in common use that enhance accuracy.

CONCISE is brief but comprehensive enough to furnish needed information.

INTERESTING has appeal in that it furnishes variety to the meal.... [more]

PLEASING TO THE SENSES has stimulating and satisfying flavor and aroma with appropriate texture and mouthfeel.

ECONOMICAL has qualities of economy-not always from budget standpoint but also economy of human and material resources. Minimum and efficient human energy expenditure, use of dishes, utensils and appliances are appropriate.

"STANDARDIZATION OF RECIPE DEVELOPMENT"

Standardization is the optimum goal for a recipe development procedure. THE IMPORTANCE OF COMPLETENESS, ACCURACY AND RELIABILITY IN RECIPE DEVELOPMENT CANNOT BE OVEREMPHASIZED, whether developing recipes for consumers, patients or other end users. Too often, shortcuts are taken-resulting in unreliable disappointing recipes. The importance of techniques of standardization has been acknowledged widely within certain segments of the food industry and should continue to be encouraged.

Acceptance and implementation of standardized techniques and guidelines have widespread continuing benefits for both clients/management and the food professional.

Standardization of recipe development gives further credibility to the value of the traditional home economics discipline. As the importance of proper recipe development is continuously emphasized, the much needed and skilled service of the home economist will be strengthened. If any of you students would like to do a special project, it would be possible for you to annotate the content of Dr. Lowenburg's cookbooks. The cookbook itself is an excellent resource of both changes in food patterns and changes in food preparation procedures itself.

Let us compare the recipes of the Jarsberg Vegetable Bisque. There are several formats that can be used. There is the narrative form. In this part procedures and ingredients are presented as needed in the recipe. The procedure statements may include both ingredient amounts and directions. Below is a modification of procedure format.

Jarlsberg Vegetable Bisque
1/2 lb. Broccoli, trimmed & coarsely chopped
1 small carrot, pared & chopped
1 stalk celery, slice thin
1/2 small onion, chopped fine
1 small clove of garlic, pressed
1/4 tsp. Thyme leaves, crushed between the fingers
2 cups chicken broth (divided)
1 1/2 tbsp. Margarine
1 1/2 tbsp. Flour
1/8 tsp. Pepper
1/2 cup whole milk
3 oz. Jarlsberg Swiss cheese, grated.
Heat 1 cup of chicken broth to boiling in covered 2 - qt. Saucepan. Add prepared vegetables, garlic, and thyme. Cook about 3-5 minutes (slow boil) until vegetables are just tender. Meanwhile melt margarine in a 1 qt saucepan and stir in flour. Gradually add remaining cup of chicken broth and cook over medium heat, stirring until mixture comes to a boil. Turn down heat and add pepper, milk, and hot cheese. Stir until cheese melts. Combine with undrained vegetables. Serve hot. Serves 3-4.

The standard form of recipe includes a list of all ingredients at the top of the recipe with the numbered procedural steps listed below. This can be seen below

Jarsberg Vegetable Biscuit
1/2 lb. Broccoli, trimmed & coarsely chopped
1 small carrot, pared & chopped
1 stalk celery, slice thin
1/2 small onion, chopped fine
1 small clove of garlic, pressed
1/4 tsp. Thyme leaves, crushed between the fingers
2 cups chicken broth (divided)
1 1/2 tbsp. Margarine
1 1/2 tbsp. Flour
1/8 tsp. Pepper
1/2 cup whole milk
3 oz. Jarlsberg Swiss cheese, grated.
1 Heat 1 cup of chicken broth to boiling in covered 2 - qt. Saucepan.
2 Add prepared vegetables, garlic, and thyme.
3 Cook about 3-5 minutes (slow boil) until vegetables are just tender.
4 Meanwhile melt margarine in a 1 qt saucepan and stir in flour.
5 Gradually add remaining cup of chicken broth and cook over medium heat, stirring until mixture comes to a boil.
6 Turn down heat and add pepper, milk, and hot cheese.
7 Stir until cheese melts. Combine with undrained vegetables.
8 Serve hot. Serves 3-4.

When the above "traditional" form is used the eyes really are checking in two places. For that reason one should strongly consider a recipe where the directions are to the side. This has not been done for you as it does require other formatting. Sometimes the ingredients on the left are listed in order across from the direction of their use.

Recipes may be written or rewritten as follows

1 Name Of Food Item
2 Ingredients by weight and/or measure (volume) and sometimes by count.
3 Procedures and approximate times for combining ingredients.
4 Cooking or baking temperatures and times.
5 Panning or portioning information.
6 Total quantity and the number of portions of a specific size to use.

These are the requirements for the recipes used in most small service or home/household service. For commercial foodservice large scale operations one might include a computer code for inventory, the total time to produce the product, portion cost information, and a description of the product. One of the activities that I have found useful in developing, modifying and adapting recipes is to decide on phrases, approaches and formats. This has not been always accomplished; however, it is useful to do something like always say

Cream shortening, sugar and eggs

Instead of sometimes

Beat shortening, eggs, sugar

Mix well eggs, sugar and shortening°.

Also, it is useful to put in a recipe as much as possible. For example, although it is understood that recipes calling for "flour" mean all-purpose flour, increasingly this is put in the recipe by this instructor. If it is important that canned, frozen or fresh is used, this is also stated. However, I have attempted to pull out the actual preparation technics from the ingredients -- for example, grated cheese is now listed as "Cheese, variety".

It just makes it better understood by the potential cook if it is always put one way. Having said that, admittedly, this has not yet happened. It takes a considerable amount of secretarial/clerical time to do this and sometimes computers and reproduction limit it all. Another point should be made, homemakers and cooks are not always literate and/or English may not be there first language. Recipe reproduction should take this into account. Note examples of recipes which attempt to address the problem. Note the recipe below, if you can not read, you can still follow it.

Polly W. Buchanan (1993) lists the advantages of using a standardized recipe. For household, these can be modified as follows:

2. Promotes uniform quantity of foods produced.
3. Encourages uniformity in served foods.
4. Increases productivity of cooks.
5. Increases managerial productivity.
6. Saves money by controlling overproduction.
7. Saves money by controlling inventory levels.
8. Simplifies costing of menu items.
9. Simplifies the training of cooks.
10. Fosters job satisfaction for the homemaker.
11. Reduces anxiety of family members in suspected outcome.

Buchanan, P.W. 1993. Quantity Food Preparation. American Dietetic Association.

Updated: Friday, July 24, 2009.

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