Substitutes

[baconburner]

Many times when I look at a recipe I am lacking an ingredient. I did a search and didn't find this topic but I think it is buried somewhere. What did you lack and what did you substitute?

Cheers

Malcolm

[Pacific Rim Grille]

Many times when I look at a recipe I am lacking an ingredient. I did a search and didn't find this topic but I think it is buried somewhere. What did you lack and what did you substitute?

Cheers

Malcolm

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As someone said - "recipes are not written in stone" - who said that? Plato? maybe not

I think that substitute must follow the recipe intended result. In the past, for example, an ingredient known as galagal was un-heard of but ginger did a quite nice job.

In order to find right substitute you need to know the end product and then find what will work best. I am sure it is a bit hard to read the recipe of an exotic dish that you have not tasted before and then try to substitute .... that's another story.

Do not be afraid to experiment.

[petite tête de chou]

I found lots of threads concerning specific ingredient substitutions but not much else.

Ingredient Substitutions Mega-List

That said, I've substituted various acids in recipes. Lemon juice for vinegar and vice versa. Tomato products can be juggled successfully. Such as tomato paste for ketchup or canned tomatoes for fresh (using my common sense on this one). Actually, I'm out of tomato sauce right now but have tons of canned, diced tomatoes. A quick whirl in the blender and voila, tomato sauce, albeit a bit thinner.

Sometimes an ingredient substitution leads to a new, improved, highly personalized dish. Yay for imagination and taking risks!

[djyee100]

I like to follow this rule of thumb: Substitute for the same flavor or substitute within the same family. For same flavor, for example, I'll substitute capers for pickle relish. For same family, I'll substitute butter for cream.

[Naftal]

I found lots of threads concerning specific ingredient substitutions but not much else.

Ingredient Substitutions Mega-List

That said, I've substituted various acids in recipes. Lemon juice for vinegar and vice versa. Tomato products can be juggled successfully. Such as tomato paste for ketchup or canned tomatoes for fresh (using my common sense on this one). Actually, I'm out of tomato sauce right now but have tons of canned, diced tomatoes. A quick whirl in the blender and voila, tomato sauce, albeit a bit thinner. 

 

Sometimes an ingredient substitution leads to a new, improved, highly personalized dish. Yay for imagination and taking risks!

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I use canned tomatoes for tomato sauce, too. I add tomato paste to thicken it

I like to follow this rule of thumb: Substitute for the same flavor or substitute within the same family. For same flavor, for example, I'll substitute capers for pickle relish. For same family, I'll substitute butter for cream.

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That is a really good rule, I use yogurt (in various forms) as a substitue for other dairy products.

[Lilija]

In cooking (not baking) I often sub in some white sugar + molasses for brown sugar.