Live data from Hacker News

How much is a smidgen?

laphamsquarterly.org

11–20 of 62 posts

Re: How much is a smidgen?

#11
A smidgen is precisely defined ... just not in relation to another physical quantity. (And any one smidgen is not necessarily the same as another.)

The smidgen is defined by its effect. A smidgen of X is the precise amount of X that produces the desired taste. Obvious really.

Re: How much is a smidgen?

#13

I’ve decided to entirely disregard the suggested measurements provided in recipes, which means that I guess I’ve decided not to follow recipes at all anymore. Except for bread, but as soon as I can commit a recipe for bread to memory, I’m through!

> I’ve decided to entirely disregard the suggested measurements provided in recipes, which means that I guess I’ve decided not to follow recipes at all anymore.

When I want to cook something new I'll grab several recipes and compare the ingredients and relative measures to get a meta-concept of what constitutes the fundamental essence of that dish. I use that as a base reference but actually cook by intuition/taste.

For me a recipe is mainly a list of ingredients, with the execution being a matter of personal preference.

Re: How much is a smidgen?

#14
In rural 1990s Ireland... Stones were used for weighing people. Kiligrams for livestock, feed and such. Pounds, pints and such for food and groceries.

Iirc, mph was used for speed limits. KMs for distance.

Re: How much is a smidgen?

#15

In rural 1990s Ireland... Stones were used for weighing people. Kiligrams for livestock, feed and such. Pounds, pints and such for food and groceries. Iirc, mph was used for speed limits. KMs for distance.

It wasn't really limited to rural Ireland. MPH was on all speed limit signs and was because all vehicles were imported from the UK where MPH were and still are standard and the entire Irish fleet didn't yet have dual speed markings on the speedometer. Once they did then the signage was exchange countrywide within weeks, if I remember correctly. Distance signs were changed slowly over a longer period as it wasn't so critical to the safety of driving.

Stones and feet for people's weight it still used in common parlance, again not limited to rural Ireland. This is just the inertia of tradition. Doctors and such professionals would always use metric now of course.

With the exception of pints of beer which is still the standard today, food and groceries were already metric in the 90s. Source: I grew up in rural Ireland ;)

Re: How much is a smidgen?

#16

In rural 1990s Ireland... Stones were used for weighing people. Kiligrams for livestock, feed and such. Pounds, pints and such for food and groceries. Iirc, mph was used for speed limits. KMs for distance.

We still buy milk and draught beer by the pint in the UK and mph/yards are used on the road. Height is almost always in feet and inches whereas body weight might be stone or kilos depending on personal taste. Most other things are metric and have been for a while but there's a few random exceptions, bridges use both feet/inches and metres!

Re: How much is a smidgen?

#17
A smidgen is the single, slightly oversized bite of food you have after finishing your first serving and are basically full but it tastes too good to stop eating.

OK, just a smidgen more...

Followed in our family by "a stopper" if it is exceptionally good.

Re: How much is a smidgen?

#18

I’ve decided to entirely disregard the suggested measurements provided in recipes, which means that I guess I’ve decided not to follow recipes at all anymore. Except for bread, but as soon as I can commit a recipe for bread to memory, I’m through!

Baking is chemistry so amounts matter. In most cooking though, they aren’t critical.

I like some family recipes from India: if you get a list of ingredients up front at all, no amounts will be specified. And in the middle you’ll see “add the milk” when no milk had appeared in the recipe up to that point.

Re: How much is a smidgen?

#20
post #18

I’ve decided to entirely disregard the suggested measurements provided in recipes, which means that I guess I’ve decided not to follow recipes at all anymore. Except for bread, but as soon as I can commit a recipe for bread to memory, I’m through!

Baking is chemistry so amounts matter. In most cooking though, they aren’t critical. I like some family recipes from India: if you get a list of ingredients up front at all, no amounts will be specified. And in the middle you’ll see “add the milk” when no milk had appeared in the recipe up to that point.

One of my friends wanted to make Lemon Rice as good as his mother's. He always followed the recipe religiously, but it never tasted the same.

Eventually, he insisted on watching his mother make the dish.

Only for her to use limes. "Aha!" he said. "Indian Lemons" she replied. :-)

Post reply on HN