When people change your recipe. . .

[dockhl]

I have no idea why someone would take the class when they think they know more than me, but it happens all the time. And they don't know more.  Heh.

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ummmm...culinary school anyone?! i just loved how many classmates (and current students, and recent grads, etc.) thought they knew more than the chef instructors...isn't there a reason why you're paying $15K+ to the school?!

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Yeah. I won't tell you how much my school cost, but it was a hell of a lot more than $15k, and we still had the same issues. There was a guy who started out in my class, and ended up being suspended because he was constantly arguing with the chef instructors over various idiotically nit picky things. He made a HUGE point of informing us all that he worked at The Slanted Door in San Francisco, to the point that we doubted the veracity of this claim. In Protein class, every other time chef said anything he would pipe up, "Well, Chef, at the Slanted Door we did it differently." or even worse, "That's not the way I was taught. I think you're wrong." Then on smoke breaks, my fellow students and I would be regaled with tall tales of what a bad ass he was, how he should be teaching the class, etc etc.

Chef (bless his little heart) finally lost it one day, kicked him out of class, and had his butt suspended. I don't think that guy ever came back, but I'm sure when asked about why he never finished culinary school, he makes up some sort of nonsense about knowing more than the chef instructors did, so what was the point of finishing.

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Let me guess.......it was KEN from Top Chef ! Right?

[racheld]

I've also been known to give lavish praise and beaucoup compliments to a cook who prepared one or two dishes to go with an entire dinner/party/brunch I was catering. (Especially the ones in the foil disposables, leaking their juices onto the Battenburg, or the Rubbermaids with any number of abominations molded into lime Jello).

I always try, in my most ladylike manner, to give credit where credit is due for the barley/peanutbutter/arugula/tripe casserole recipe passed down through the cook's family. Especially if the other guests are grimacing and looking at ME.

"Oh, Verbena's Dear Mother made that!!! Isn't she just the sweetest thing?"

And there was that time the neighbor substituted GrapeNuts for the crushed cornflakes in another friend's baked chicken breading. . .

[Lan4Dawg]

the Rev has used this same topic in several sermons (God gives the receipts and the ingredients to us. Both are ideal and what we do w/ them after we have been given them is our own doing.....) and uses the story of his grand mother (my great-grand mother) as an example. Known through out Stone Mountain and DeKalb County for her baking she made a pound cake that was phenomenal and we cherish her receipt to this day. When any one asked she was delighted to share the receipt and certainly enough a woman once asked how to make her pound cake. She responded w/: take a cup of cream and a cup of whole milk, six large eggs, &c. &c. &c......and gave the receipt to the woman.

A couple of weeks later the woman was heard in church complaining that "Miss Lola" had not given the right receipt to her as the cake she made came out wrong. Word got back to my great grand-mother who queried the woman about the cake. The woman admitted that she did not have cream and whole milk so she substituted half & half and two per cent and not having large eggs she used medium. She did not take the time to make her own vanilla extract so substituted some store bought fake substance. Instead of cake flour she used A/P and got tired of beating every thing together by hand so used a mixer and so on and so on.

After a while my great grand mother just looked at her, patted the woman on the hand and said, "Well honey, then you did not make MY cake."

edited to add: when she passed the church--as is usual in the South--had dinner for the family. The Rev was at the dessert table and turned to one of the woman who had organized the dinner and mentioned that he was surprised that there was no pound cake. She looked at him and got some what teary-eyed (note it was not the same woman as mentioned before) and said, "Tom, no one had the courage to make it as we knew we could not have done it right by Miss Lola."

Edited June 21, 2006 by Lan4Dawg (log)

[Jaymes]

After a while my great grand mother just looked at her, patted the woman on the hand and said, "Well honey, then you did not make MY cake."

I love this. Thanks.

[Kim Shook]

Even good/experienced cooks do this sometimes. My dad loves my Sponge Monkey Candy and my mom called the other day to say that he had made it and it hadn't worked. Upon questioning her, I discovered that they don't have a candy thermometer, so they tried to use the drop in cold water technique (I know serious candy makers who couldn't judge by this method) and they poured it into a 1/2 sheet pan rather than the (specified) 13x9 inch pan. When you finish cooking this stuff, you get this big oozy cloud that falls/pours into the cooling pan. It's like 'The Blob' and will spread out until it is either stopped (by the 'walls' of the pan) or it cools. So they ended up with a really thin, chewy sponge. God love 'em. I told her to do it right and THEN call me.

[LEdlund]

i'm not going to say where on eGullet i read this...but it was interesting.  when asking about a particular recipe which was posted in a newspaper...the person was shocked that the cake didn't have leavening of any type and only called for egg whites (not whipped).  they immediately attempted the recipe with their "common sense" adjustments (before i could post that the recipe was for a particular type of cake and perfectly fine the way it was printed) and was disappointed that it didn't work out the way it should have...hmmmmm.  i almost pointed them to this thread, but thought that would be mean spirited no matter how nicely i worded it.

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Wow! I had no idea I had made such a negative impact with my orginal question! I had never come across this type of cake before, and was turning to my eG posse for help. Lucky for me someone else saw the post and sent me information on financier cakes. I now make them regularly with much success! I'm not a dolt, really - just embarrased now to admit my ignorance!

Lauren

[jgm]

I have no idea why someone would take the class when they think they know more than me, but it happens all the time. And they don't know more.  Heh.

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I take classes at the local Williams-Sonoma (and a couple of other places) from time to time, and almost every class presents some sort of issue, in which the chef's understanding differs from my own. Since I'm fairly widely read, I always have the urge to say something. Since I'm also not a highly accomplished cook, I always resist that urge.

The product: several interesting topics that I've researched later and learned much more about, including a couple that I've brought to eGullet, and learned much, much more about. There's a lot to be said for keeping one's mind open, and mouth shut.

[Kris]

...I kind of lost it when I took a bite. I was pretty damned rude, actually, and got into trouble with my aunt later. I think my comments went along the lines of, "This is Christmas Dinner, and what part of follow the recipe exactly was misunderstood? I can understand wanting to be healthy, but if you had a problem with this dish, you should have said something. And furthermore, until you take a class in baker's formula it's probably a really bad idea to jack around with baking recipes."

If it had been any other occassion but Christmas I probably wouldn't have reacted so badly, and I do agree that I was wrong. But for God's sake! I can understand doing these kinds of experiments on your own, for your own self to eat, but bringing them to dinner with other people, esspecially when the person who gave you the recipe is right there is just beyond the pale. God that's rude. I do not ask this person to bring food anymore to anything. If she asks to bring something, we just tell her "Bring wine."

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I would have reacted very similarly. As a matter of fact, I would be loathe to invite her to any more of my dinners.

Be careful about telling this woman to bring wine though. She might bring Wild Vines.

[Kris]

P.S. - I see that you've followed up on your original thread and said that she brings wines that are decent (if bland).

[FabulousFoodBabe]

I take classes at the local Williams-Sonoma (and a couple of other places) from time to time, and almost every class presents some sort of issue, in which the chef's understanding differs from my own.  Since I'm fairly widely read, I always have the urge to say something.  Since I'm also not a highly accomplished cook, I always resist that urge.

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I love it when people speak up, because half the time, they just need to know the whole story. However, I don't love it when they argue with me over stuff (my most recent favorite is that rice contains gluten -- it doesn't, but the arguer claimed it does), or when their information comes from a next door neighbor's brother in law who worked in a fish shop.

One of the local magazines here published a Father's Day recipe that was a great example of making a recipe "special" by changing the cut of meat, paying no attention to what else is going on. The writer instructs that, for six servings, one should marinate a four-pound filet of beef in a vinegar-heavy mixture (that was boiled and cooled to lukewarm before using) and then grilled -- basically, a time consuming way to waste $100.

[GourmetLight$]

i'm not going to say where on eGullet i read this...but it was interesting.  when asking about a particular recipe which was posted in a newspaper...the person was shocked that the cake didn't have leavening of any type and only called for egg whites (not whipped).  they immediately attempted the recipe with their "common sense" adjustments (before i could post that the recipe was for a particular type of cake and perfectly fine the way it was printed) and was disappointed that it didn't work out the way it should have...hmmmmm.  i almost pointed them to this thread, but thought that would be mean spirited no matter how nicely i worded it.

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Wow! I had no idea I had made such a negative impact with my orginal question! I had never come across this type of cake before, and was turning to my eG posse for help. Lucky for me someone else saw the post and sent me information on financier cakes. I now make them regularly with much success! I'm not a dolt, really - just embarrased now to admit my ignorance!

Lauren

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Having been a lucky guest at the aforementioned dinner, I must say that her "common sense" adjustments resulted in a truly delicious cake! I can't imagine that the original financier cake could have turned out any better. Such a happy "mistake!"

Cheers,

[tino27]

I, too, have had to recently deal with the "Can I have the recipe for ... ?" syndrome when a friend of mine asked me for the recipe for my roasted chicken salad. She claimed it was the best chicken salad she's ever eaten and wanted to learn how to make it. I told her I would write it down for her, but decided to go through the basic steps with her ... roast a chicken with a compound butter underneath the skin, chill overnight, make a fresh mayo and then assemble everything together the next day. Immediately she began asking about using a rotisserie chicken from the store, opening up a jar of Hellmans, etc.

I quickly realized that she would never get it to taste like mine -- she doesn't have the patience to do it correctly -- I guess few people who don't really enjoy a passion for cooking do. I gently explained the problem and told her that I would be happy to make her some when she was in the mood.

I'm not sure she completely understood my reasoning.

[Smithy]

After a while my great grand mother just looked at her, patted the woman on the hand and said, "Well honey, then you did not make MY cake."

I love this. Thanks.

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So do I, but this, er, takes the cake for me:

when she passed the church--as is usual in the South--had dinner for the family.  The Rev was at the dessert table and turned to one of the woman who had organized the dinner and mentioned that he was surprised that there was no pound cake.  She looked at him and got some what teary-eyed (note it was not the same woman as mentioned before) and said, "Tom, no one had the courage to make it as we knew we could not have done it right by Miss Lola."

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What a terrific tribute!

Uhm, I don't suppose you'd be willing to post that recipe on RecipeGullet? With the caveat that nobody gets to complain unless they follow the directions exactly? Or maybe even, nobody gets to complain, period.

[GourmetLight$]

I've grappled several times with both the great recipe (that I've provided very nicely) turning into someone else's "signature" recipe, to also having attribution for a recipe that, after being presented, bore no resemblance to my own.

I used to get upset, but finally realized that my reputation as a "cook" is all my own. Those who really know me, know my conquests and my limitations. There you go, and there you have it!

Cheers,

[Nargi]

I don't honestly even use recipes, except for baking, in which case I rarely deviate. I'm much more a fan of cooking by feel than constantly having to read and reference (was that 1 1/4 tsp of salt or 1 1/2? oh dear!). Even when people ask me for recipes, I always tell then I don't have one on hand, but I'll write them "guidelines". My brother recently asked me for a recipe for a potluck and I told him the process I use to make the dish, not explicit instructions.

To be brutally honest, I don't even WANT people to follow my "recipes" exactly anyway. I'm a big fan of having people take what I may have inspired and have them run with it and make it their own. I don't even attempt to make some of my friends truly great recipes for fear of bastardizing it. I may make an inspired dish, but never try to recreate the original. I think that takes away from the experience when they prepare it for me. Maybe I'm weird in that respect.

[BekkiM]

Having just read through this extremely entertaining thread, I was tickled when I found this intro to a recipe on Leite's Culinaria:

Begin this recipe one or two days in advance. Besides making a vegetable stock, you'll need to have 2 1/2 cups of butternut squash juice on hand. If you don't own a "Juiceman" or an equivalent piece of heavy-duty juicing equipment, move on. You can't proceed without one. But for anyone looking to get some use out of that contraption gathering dust in the cupboard, this is the perfect opportunity. This is a characteristic Nischan dish; at Heartbeat, he is known for his use of intensely flavored vegetable reductions. — JBH

The emphasis is mine.

But of course, being an eGulleter, I'm already trying to figure out how I can get around the limitation.

There is a big difference, however, between substituting/modifying when you have some idea of what the consequences will be (and then acting like a grownup and accepting those consequences) and making uninformed, arbitrary changes, then blaming the source for your own mistakes.