Recipes

A recipe is a set of instructions that show how to prepare or make something, especially a culinary dish. more...

Modern culinary recipes normally consist of several components:

• The name (and often the locale or provenance) of the dish,
• How much time it will take to prepare the dish
• The required ingredients along with their quantities or proportions
• Equipment and environment needed to prepare the dish
• An ordered list of preparation steps
• The number of servings that the recipe will provide

Some recipes will note how long the dish will keep and its suitability for freezing.

Earlier recipes often included much less information, serving more as a reminder of ingredients and proportions for someone who already knew how to prepare the dish.

Recipe writers sometimes also list variations of a traditional dish.

Etymology

"Recipe" comes from the Latin word recipe 'take (imperative)', that is, an instruction to have the ingredients ready, originally used in doctors' orders to pharmacists.

History of the recipe

The written history of recipes can be traced back to approximately 1400 BC, when ancient Egyptians painted hieroglyphics depicting the preparation of food. However it wasn’t until the Roman times that recipes were written down in a language form rather than pictures. Apicius (25BC) prepared several manuscripts detailing Roman cooking and listing how food was served in Roman times. He chronicles the courses served which are usually referred to as Gustatio (appetizer) , Primae Mensae (main course) and Secundae Mensae (dessert). The Romans introduced many herbs and spices into western cuisine, Renfrew states that thyme, bay, basil, fennel, rue, mint, parsley and dill were all common in Roman cooking.

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