Improvisational Cooking

There’s irony in a trend toward improvisational or “recipe-less” cooking that relies on cookbooks to spread the word. I read this Wall Street Journal article on the topic with interest. As intended, it prompted me to check out the referenced books (here and here) and food blog, all of which appear to include some form of recipes.

The article explains that some cookbook authors “are moving away from the rigidity of recipes and advocating improvisational cooking, where measurements are approximations and ingredients are interchangeable.” That sounds like a recipe to me.

Rigidity in cooking is not in the recipe, it’s in the cook. Home cooks who can’t extrapolate from a well-written recipe surely won’t fare better with only their innate culinary wisdom to guide them. Recipes can be good or bad, just as improvisation can yield good or bad results. In cooking, the quality of the output results from the skill of the practitioner. To develop those skills, you need recipes.

Maybe it depends on your definition of recipe, or the level of detail in the recipe. Most recipes focus on the what – ingredients, measurements, cook times, temperatures. But it’s the recipes that tell you why that are most valuable. You can take that learning and apply it elsewhere.

The irony was lost on me 5 years ago when I bought a book titled “How to Cook without a Book,” by Pam Anderson. I recommended the book to a perceptive foodie friend who immediately pointed out the paradox. I bought a book to learn how to cook without a book. The recipes in the book are flexible by design with an emphasis on method.

I learned some great stuff from that book, like how to make a quick pan sauce. Even though I’ve internalized the basic rule – start with ½ cup liquid, reduce by half, enrich with fat – I still open the book to review the details. Learning the basic rules so I can become a better cook is the reason I plan to purchase Michael Ruhlman’s new book, which seems to downplay recipes in favor of ratios.

The onslaught of recipes – in cookbooks, magazines, newspapers, websites, and food blogs – only serves to inspire improvisational cooking. Just read the comments on a recipe at any food website and it’s clear many home cooks have no problem adjusting measurements and ingredients. Recipes are the springboard for creativity.

Improvisation in the kitchen can be powerful. I feel a smug thrill when I have to ad-lib a recipe (because I’ve run out of a key ingredient) and it turns out better than usual. I gain confidence when a recipe doesn’t seem to be working and I trust my instinct to correct it. But at the heart of every successful improvisation, there’s a recipe, call it what you like.