Know what makes me crazy?
A lot of things do actually, but close to the top of the list is a recipe that reads, “Take the juice of one lemon…”
Can you imagine the difference in flavor between a salad dressing made with the lemon on the far left and the same salad dressing made with the one on the far right? My tonsils are seizing up even as I type these words!
Usually the difference in the size of lemons isn’t quite this extreme, but even a portion of an ounce can make a huge difference in the outcome of what you’re cooking.
This is especially true when it comes to baking, whether the ingredient in question is acid, salt (is that kosher or table salt?) or eggs. Some recipe writers don’t bother to specify egg size. This might not seem like a huge deal, but consider:
a dozen jumbo eggs weigh 30 ounces
a dozen extra-large eggs weigh 27 ounces
a dozen large eggs weigh 24 ounces
a dozen medium eggs weigh 21 ounces
a dozen small eggs weigh 18 ounces
That’s a 3/4-pound difference in weight between the largest and smallest eggs! Use the wrong size when you’re baking a cake, or neglect to account for the difference, and your results could be less than dazzling. Flavor, richness, texture and volume are all at stake. It would be like not having a handle on how much flour, fat or sugar you’re putting into your batter.
This is one reason I study a recipe carefully before deciding to use it, sort of like sizing someone up before agreeing to go out on a date.
I like to ask:
Are you a worthy recipe or will I be wasting my time, money and effort on you?
Will I be happy I selected you or will I be filled with regret?
Will I want to fall face down on you or will I wish you’d never caught my eye in the first place?
Maybe selecting recipes and sizing up potential dates don’t make the best analogy, but I’m sure you get my drift.
It’s easy for a pretty picture accompanying a recipe to catch my eye, but what really matters are how clearly the recipe is written and how precisely the ingredients are presented. Weight and volume are always going to be more accurate, unless every unit of a particular ingredient is of precisely the same size and quality.
Otherwise the picture of the dish may end up tasting better than the dish itself (kind of like on those dating websites).
