The Art of a Recipe

The recently concluded New York Food and Wine Festival was better than I imagined. Most of the food network mainstays such as Bobby F. , M. Morimoto, Rachel R. , Giada, Alton B. and Tyler F. were around. Those that did not make it this year were Lydia Bastianich and Gordon Ramsay which were replaced by Ming Tsai and Guy Fieri.

There were many activities that you could attend for a fee such as the culinary demonstrations of the celebrity chefs, wine seminars and cocktail clinics, food tastings and wine pairings, organic farming and many more which is far too many to describe. Of course I could only sign up for those affordable ones and not like those $500 parties which you could hob nob with the people of the food industry which included many celebrity chefs. My purse could only take me to panel discussions and book signings, but is equally enjoyable. Besides, after every event, they serve wine on small plastic cups and sometimes some hors d oeuvres to go with it.

Last year, I did go to a symposium of “So you wanted to write a cookbook?” where Latina author/chef Daisy Martinez, a book agent and a book publisher were speakers. It proved to be very informative, but then I wasn't ready to publish anything, because I was just barely starting to write some recipes. And this year, I was contented with signing up for the Anthony Bourdain interview, and that was it.

Besides, there was a workshop about food styling and food photography that I was joining at the Gourmet Institute which could be useful for my cookbook project. The affair , though, was cancelled and thus caused me to rivet back to joining events at the food festival.

I knew that tickets to the festival would sell out fast, but I tried to see if there was an activity which was still available. “The Art of the recipe” caught my eye, and soon enough I was looking over the panelists and searching their achievements on the internet. James Peterson was a person of interest since he was not only an author, but he was also a photographer and a member of the faculty at the Institute of Culinary Education in NY. I was very fortunate to get tickets at the last minute.

The affair proved to be more than I expected. Rocco Di Spirito, the cutest chef I've seen so far and a 'Dancing with the Star' competitor, started the ball rolling with his explanation of how a recipe could have different results even if he followed it with the same ingredients and procedures. Interpretation of a recipe, its language form, the tone of writing, gadgets/equipments used, specific or substituted ingredients are just a few factors .

Following recipes have indeed evolved over the years. A cook timer was not even in existence and I remember my aunt telling me how they innovated then. Their conversations would go something like this”

“Inday, lung-agi kuno ko ug itlog na malasado” (make me soft boiled egg)

“Unya nyorita, Unsa man nako pagkahibao nga malasado? (Senorita, how would I know when it's already soft boiled?)

Inig bukal sa tubig, ibutang ang itlog unya pangadyi ug amahan namo sa kinatsila,
inig human nimo pangadyi, malasado na na...haw-asi. (when the water boils,
drop the egg and pray the our father in spanish. When you're done, then it's soft boiled already.)

Or then, the standard of measurments were something like this:

duha ka latang asukar nga bear brand na lata ha, kanang evaporada dili condensada
(2 bear brand cans of sugar-- use the evaporated can not the condensed one)
tunga sa baretang purico (half a bar of lard- the lard came in bars on a carton box)
usa ka kusi asin (a pinch of salt)
usa ka latang harina katong chedar cheese nga dako (one big size chedar cheese can flour)

I'm sure you get what I mean when I talk about the measurements.
Then of course, there's the matter of substitutions...Can I use cornstarch instead of flour, or bouillon cubes instead of broth..etc..etc..etc..Before you know it, you have a new recipe all your own.
Rocco says that for every recipe he puts out on print, he has to test it about 15 times, and every same recipe comes out differently. And unanimous conclusion is for as long as it works, it doesn't really matter.

There are gazillions of recipe books in the market and each have their own uniqueness from ethnic, home cooking, specialty food, quick meals-- you name it, they have it. And I often encourage my friends to come up with their own even if for family consumption or for publishing.

Some apprehensions could be that a family secret recipe is best kept to yourself. I once had a friend who was so afraid to give out her recipe because she considered it to valuable to share, and I respected that. Until I met a well-renowned chef who was giving out all the tips and techniques. He was berated for revealing more than he was asked to the point of baring his own family's cooking secrets. To which he replied candidly, “those who know much, share much.” And that phrase struck home run with me.

A young bride asked her mom for the recipe of their family's yummy pork roast. The recipe called for a chunk of meat to be cut off from either sides. Anyway, the young bride asked her mom why they had to cut the sides to which her mom replied that it was how grandma used to make them, and so that's how she made them as well. She thought it was one of those secrets. Lucky enough, the grandma was still alive and they asked her why the meat ends were cut off. Grandma obliged with an answer saying, “Because ,dearie, during my time we did not have ovens big enough to fit a whole chunk of meat, so we cut them. ” Like they say, habits die hard.

Whether your following a recipe or making one, don't hesitate to make a masterpiece. Like what the panelist have been saying, 'take out the inner chef in you' and don't be afraid to innovate, create and be original. We all can if we just make the effort. Besides, it's almost Christmas; isn't it about time to make something special? Hmmmm...