Recipe Books and the Structure of Recipes

Learning to cook is no easy task. It takes time and patience, hard work and plenty of passion. Sometimes it can take years and a certain predisposition is necessary. As a result, many give up and few are truly successful. But teaching to cook is equally difficult. In the kitchen, when the teacher and their apprentices are in direct contact working together, things are relatively simple. The teacher carefully demonstrates the various steps to follow when preparing a particular dish or stock or sauce. The appren tices listen and, most importantly, play close attention. Then, slowly, tasting as they go, and - most importantly - imitating the teacher’s movements and gesture, they are able to attain the same results. A similar process happens in families and do mestic settings where the mother, grandmother or the old aunt prepare the lunch and dinner every day; and where the children, especially the daughters, observe their actions and learn, by reproducing the steps, to cook too.