COOKING THOUGHTS
The Greatest Story Ever Told: The Story You’re Subjected To Read Before Getting The Recipe
When you want to cook, but the author of the recipe wants to get attention.
You see a beautiful recipe when scrolling on the internet, and it grabs you. ‘I want to make this!’ You can already taste it. You click on the recipe. It opens up. But where’s the recipe? There’s a long story there.
Did you click on the wrong link? No. This is the new way. Authors need to ramble on before letting you know how to make the dish. It’s the modern day filibuster for aspiring chefs.
Do we need the backstory? No. But there’s a compelling urge for the writer to make one. If I was reading about their daunting journey into the Congo, and they shared a recipe, that would be a bonus. When I click on a Congo-neese recipe, I’m not asking for a story. At most, I’m asking for ingredients.
The author knows they could just give you the recipe and let you start cooking, but why do that?
My only excuse for these overbearing authors are, possibly, they’re like sommeliers. They want you to savor the food in a certain way. They want you to appreciate the texture. They want you know how to savor it.
We just want to know:
A. Does it taste good?
B. Can I easily make this?
I don’t need the history on any dish. If it’s ‘Greek Tacos’, I don’t need a history on Mexico or Greece. Is this author Doris Kearns Goodwin or Walter Isaacson? No? Then I don’t need the history lesson. I just need the details.
What food do I need to make this food? Do I need to go to the store? It may be a struggle to make the dish with what I have. I don’t need to hear of the author’s personal struggles wrapped in the story of this recipe.
As far as trends go, we’ll be better off as a society when we can go back to just getting a recipe, and not reading an autobiography to get the preparation instructions.
Eat, drink and be merry. More eating and less reading. Bon appetite!
