Stuck in the middle

Good Food Blog

What is RSS?

Posted at 3:00PM, 02 March 2009 by Gregor Shepherd - Chief sub-editor, olive magazine

The most delicious meal I have ever eaten was at Tom Aikens (sorry Mum). So, when I was given Tom Aikens' recipe book to try for the 'Do try this at home' story in the latest issue of olive, I was chuffed. The idea is to take a Michelin-starred chef's book and to try to cook a meal worthy of their restaurant.

But there was a problem (some cynics might even say it was entirely of my own making), in that I hadn't really read the recipes in any great detail before I started cooking. This caused particular difficulty when it came to my attempt at grapefruit parfait . First, I was dissolving sugar in grapefruit juice, and it said to get it to the 'soft ball stage'. I had, on skim-reading it earlier, thought it said to bring it to a soft boil. Now I was in trouble. My girlfriend hadn't brought her laptop home (selfish) so I couldn't find out on the internet, and I was too flustered to go through the whole dessert section of the book until I found out what it meant. I tried looking it up in my own, idiot-level cookery books to no avail. This was followed by a similar impasse over the term 'sabayon'. I've been told since what this means, but I've already forgotten.

The none-too-pink meat was the result of the kind of mental arithmetic that always ensured teachers saw the funny side of my homework

The meal was good though, despite my far from perfect parfait, the batter-retardant beignets and the none-too-pink meat that was the result of the kind of mental arithmetic that always ensured teachers saw the funny side of my homework. But I think I'll stick to olive recipes from now on, and keep saving up for a return visit to Tom Aikens.

I think this may be a fairly common problem with such high-level books - they assume a level of knowledge in the reader that can leave said reader (if you're a bit of a tardy one like me, that is) somewhat stranded. Either that or they expect you to revere their cooking so much that you'll read the book from cover to cover like a novel before you try to tackle any recipes - thereby obviating any chance of soft-ball style mishaps. Not me Mr Aikens, I'm hungry.

Have you ever been marooned in the middle of a recipe by terms you don't know?

Comments

James

2 March 2009, 4:07PM
James

I did have to read the bagel recipe on Thekneadforbread.com about 10 times before I could get exactly what to do, but that may have been because it was 2am. It's difficult to remember when you're doing recipes that not everyone spends 18 hours a day cooking. I find visualizing helps - I read through recipes a few times imagining a movie of myself doing it, looking up the odd thing I don't know and making notes on the side. Then when you actually come to make whatever it is, you just use the recipe for the ingredients, and replay your 'film' acting out your part. Maybe I'm just a fustrated film director...... On the other hand, if you're just cooking at home when thing's don't turn out the way they should, it can lend an air of comedy to the meal.

Flag as inappropriate

Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

Your name: Reason:
Aedara

2 March 2009, 4:47PM
Aedara

I usually find myself stranded by the lack of an important ingredient missed from the list, always make sure you've checked that one first is my advice. I'm wondering whats going to happen when and if my boyfriend attempts to make something from the fat duck cookbook and finds he's no idea what to do with the liquid nitrogen to make the sorbet (thats if he could ever actually 'borrow' any from his chemistry department). Sometimes recipes seem to make perfect sense when you read them then ten minutes later you're half way in, have to pans in your hand and just can't make head nor tale of what on earth you're meant to do to them despite it seeming so simple to begin with.

Flag as inappropriate

Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

Your name: Reason:
Nicola

3 March 2009, 8:09AM
Nicola

I occasionally get half way through a recipe without having read it properly to find that something needs to marinade, chill, freeze or cook for several hours before you can actually make the thing! That's a proper pain when you don't have several hours before you need to serve! Luckily I got a sugar thermometer recently, so I haven't had the soft ball problem.

Flag as inappropriate

Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

Your name: Reason:
ramsayspubfoodathome.com

4 March 2009, 2:02PM
ramsayspubfoodathome.com

Im just about to embark on an intersting recipe following challenge. www.ramsayspubfoodathome.com

Flag as inappropriate

Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

Your name: Reason:
ShelleyCT

5 March 2009, 8:59AM
ShelleyCT

I agree with Elaine - it's normally the equipment that lets me down.

Flag as inappropriate

Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

Your name: Reason:
Jossiemou

5 March 2009, 6:45PM
Jossiemou

I agree with everyone you need to read the recipe first but how often does one. Hubby keen to learn so he is getting all the right info from the start!!

Flag as inappropriate

Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

Your name: Reason:
Paulas

11 March 2009, 9:10PM
Paulas

Hmm, How simple is this then? Whilst making a traditional pork pie, for a competition here in Tenerife, just between three friends. The recipe says :- 2 level teaspoons salt and pepper mix. (3 salt to one pepper). Could I work it out??, and I wouldn't class myself as a 'total thicko,'Talk about "not seeing wood for trees." However, hubby helped me out and I actually won, without overdosing on the seasoning!!

Flag as inappropriate

Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

Your name: Reason:
Hungry Jenny

18 March 2009, 1:49AM
Hungry Jenny

I love reading recipes anyway but ALWAYS need to read them through before cooking! There's nothing worse than getting the timing wrong or finding you haven't got some of the ingredients etc. My sister and I tried Gordon Ramsay's Cookalong once and were completely unprepared - we didn't think to halve all the ingredients listed (only two of us eating, recipe was for 4) and didn't occur to us to prepare any of the ingredients either. Cue trying to mix cold butter to make a dressing, discovering we needed a blender to crush hazelnuts and having to resort to using an undersized pestle and mortar instead!

Flag as inappropriate

Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

Your name: Reason:
Nick Blanchard

27 June 2009, 7:38PM
Nick Blanchard

This was the problem I faced. The 'meanwhile, while your fish is poaching, make your bechamel' trap has caught me out more times than I care for. To try and overcome the problem, I (rather half-heartedly, it has to be said) started converting recipes into flow charts and stuck them on a blog. It may be the answer, or maybe not...who knows. http://blanchsfoodblast.blogspot.com/

Flag as inappropriate

Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

Your name: Reason:

Your binder

Here are three other great reasons to sign up:

You get an online binder, where you can store all your favourite recipes and create menus.
You can add your own recipes to this site for others to try; plus, rate and make comments on recipes, and share your views on our blog.
You can sign up for our weekly newsletter (sent out on Wednesdays) - it's packed with recipes, special offers and competitions.