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The Dirty Secret of ‘Secret Family Recipes’

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Re: The Dirty Secret of ‘Secret Family Recipes’

#31

Post by SideburnsOfDoom »

Tade0 wrote: post #21

Here's an opposite example: I have a friend who has amazing grit[0]. One time he figured that the cheesecake he's making would use some improvement so he experimented with a sort of an evolutionary algorithm where he would change one or two things, note the results and combine some of the changes on another try(or that's how I understood his process). After over forty instances he has perfected the cheesecake. It's n…

> he experimented with a sort of an evolutionary algorithm where he would change one or two things, note the results

I do that when baking. A little more water, a little less, note the results. Bake it a bit longer, a bit hotter, or cooler, etc.

I think of it as "experiments" and "science" rather than "evolutionary algorithm" but whatever model helps.

Re: The Dirty Secret of ‘Secret Family Recipes’

#33

Post by AstralStorm »

goodcanadian wrote: post #6
zerocrates wrote: post #2

On the "fudge guy" who was using the recipe from the marshmallow container, or the Toll House cookies winning 2 of the top spots: there's a lot more to good results than just the recipe. Equipment, skill, the idiosyncratic ways you don't follow the recipe or fill in where it's underspecified... Don't necessarily give in to the temptation to ascribe the phenomenon merely to irrationality or sentiment. Plus, it must be…

Indeed, my mother (unsurprisingly) uses exactly the same recipe as my grandmother did for chocolate chip cookies (I suspect it also came from the side of a chocolate chip bag). The cookies turned out very differently, however, depending on who made them.

Even the way you stir has an effect on the result in confectionery...

Making emulsions consistently is hard process science. Sometimes even dispersion is not what you want. Picking right cake form or cookie size is critical too as it changes water evaporation.

Re: The Dirty Secret of ‘Secret Family Recipes’

#34

Post by proverbialbunny »

white-flame wrote: post #3

My mom made the best pie crust anybody who ate it ever tasted. Her recipe came from a Crisco label. One of the steps specifically said to slowly stir a liquid into the mix with a fork. Everybody else who attempted the recipe used a spoon and didn't get anywhere near the proper texture. So her difference was simply that others wouldn't follow the directions exactly.

My great grandmother had the best pie crust I've ever had, and she got it from Crisco as well.

She did something odd though, like running the dough under a stream of cold water in the sink while making it, or something like that. After all, it's not the ingredients but how you go about it.

I, on the other hand, have my own personal not-secret sauce recipe for ravioli I created from scratch. It's made to my personal tastes, so I'm biased. Not all secret recipes are from the label.

Re: The Dirty Secret of ‘Secret Family Recipes’

#35

Post by white-flame »

proverbialbunny wrote: post #34
white-flame wrote: post #3

My mom made the best pie crust anybody who ate it ever tasted. Her recipe came from a Crisco label. One of the steps specifically said to slowly stir a liquid into the mix with a fork. Everybody else who attempted the recipe used a spoon and didn't get anywhere near the proper texture. So her difference was simply that others wouldn't follow the directions exactly.

My great grandmother had the best pie crust I've ever had, and she got it from Crisco as well. She did something odd though, like running the dough under a stream of cold water in the sink while making it, or something like that. After all, it's not the ingredients but how you go about it. I, on the other hand, have my own personal not-secret sauce recipe for ravioli I created from scratch. It's made to my personal t…

I'm pretty sure that specifically "cold" water is listed in that Crisco recipe as well.

These little tricks & tips are actually part of the recorded recipes, as people knew they were differentiating factors that made it turn out really well, and made sure they were noted.

Edit: https://www.crisco.com/recipes/classic-crisco-pie-crust-1242 Fork, ice cold water, lots of very specific tips, etc.

Re: The Dirty Secret of ‘Secret Family Recipes’

#36

Post by dagw »

zerocrates wrote: post #2

On the "fudge guy" who was using the recipe from the marshmallow container, or the Toll House cookies winning 2 of the top spots: there's a lot more to good results than just the recipe. Equipment, skill, the idiosyncratic ways you don't follow the recipe or fill in where it's underspecified... Don't necessarily give in to the temptation to ascribe the phenomenon merely to irrationality or sentiment. Plus, it must be…

there's a lot more to good results than just the recipe. Equipment, skill, the idiosyncratic ways you don't follow the recipe or fill in where it's underspecified

This is important. My mother-in-law apparently made the best bread, yet despite my wife having both the recipe and having watched/helped her mother bake that bread several times she has never been able to replicate it. Also, my sister and I were both given exactly the same 'family' cookie recipe from our grandmother (she got it from a newspaper) and our cookies turn out quite different.

Re: The Dirty Secret of ‘Secret Family Recipes’

#37

Post by cwyers »

draugadrotten wrote: post #29
elvinyung wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's actually more complicated than that. Here's the Serious Eats analysis about different types of canned tomatoes: https://www.seriouseats.com/2015/10/canned-tomato-types-and-... TL;DR: Pre-diced canned tomatoes are bad because calcium chloride (a firming agent), combined with a larger surface area, makes it not break down properly when cooking.

Different tomatoes taste quite different too. One brand which is great for pasta and pizza is Mutti. (I am unaffiliated, just a happy customer.) https://www.mutti-parma.com/us/#!/our-tomato-fields-and-your...

Pretty much every blind taste test you'll find done in America of grocery store canned tomatoes has brands grown in California vastly outperforming imports.

Re: The Dirty Secret of ‘Secret Family Recipes’

#38

Post by Beltiras »

I have a recipe that I know is original (since I developed it myself) and I do my best not to keep secret. Good recipes are way better when shared.

Date chicken:

Cut two pounds of chicken breast into thin strips and marinate in red pesto [0] (one jar) for at least an hour. Bring two cans of coconut milk to boil with a pound of dried stoneless dates. Reduce heat and let simmer for half an hour, beating with a whisk to break up the dates. You should end up with a sauce that you can easily pour on the chicken later. When you start the sauce, start heating an oven to 250°C. Put the chicken in an ovenproof container and grill the slices for about 15 minutes, turning the slices over at least once. Pour the sauce on top and top off with feta cheese cubes (use dry feta, not the olive-oil drenched salad cubes). Grill till golden brown.

Serve with brown rice.

[0]: https://www.ocado.com/webshop/product/Filippo-Berio-Red-Pest...

Re: The Dirty Secret of ‘Secret Family Recipes’

#39

Post by eesmith »

Tade0 wrote: post #21

Here's an opposite example: I have a friend who has amazing grit[0]. One time he figured that the cheesecake he's making would use some improvement so he experimented with a sort of an evolutionary algorithm where he would change one or two things, note the results and combine some of the changes on another try(or that's how I understood his process). After over forty instances he has perfected the cheesecake. It's n…

One of the classic applications of Design of Experiments (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Design_of_experiments ) is to improve a recipe.

For examples, https://www.minitab.com/en-us/News/Sugar,-Spice,-and-Everyth... , https://www.moresteam.com/toolbox/design-of-experiments.cfm , https://williamghunter.net/articles/101-ways-to-design-an-ex... and https://www.inc.com/magazine/20030901/rcringely.html .

Re: The Dirty Secret of ‘Secret Family Recipes’

#40

Post by [deleted] »

white-flame wrote: post #35
proverbialbunny wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My great grandmother had the best pie crust I've ever had, and she got it from Crisco as well. She did something odd though, like running the dough under a stream of cold water in the sink while making it, or something like that. After all, it's not the ingredients but how you go about it. I, on the other hand, have my own personal not-secret sauce recipe for ravioli I created from scratch. It's made to my personal t…

I'm pretty sure that specifically "cold" water is listed in that Crisco recipe as well. These little tricks & tips are actually part of the recorded recipes, as people knew they were differentiating factors that made it turn out really well, and made sure they were noted. Edit: https://www.crisco.com/recipes/classic-crisco-pie-crust-1242 Fork, ice cold water, lots of very specific tips, etc.

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