“One Thing” is a column that introduces tips on how to live your life.
We’re told to never read comments. At least, that’s what those of us who write online to make a living and want to stay sane are told. I generally follow this adage, with one big exception: recipes. Any recipe site with a robust comments section has no choice but to dive in. For me, it’s a must. In fact, the recipe I’m about to cook isn’t complete until I’ve read and understood the comments.
Of course, the obvious value of this is to avoid bad recipes. If everyone is saying, “Hey, watch out, this doesn’t work,” you can save yourself a lot of heartache by listening. (It’s depressing to see how many sites don’t respond to such cries at all.) That’s one function of recipe comments. But I’m talking about something else: sifting through the collective wisdom of a noisy crowd to identify a finished version of a recipe, or at least a sincerely improved version. Here, I’m looking at recipes that home cooks generally like, but that show small flaws and room for improvement, like substituting one ingredient for another or tweaking oven times or temperatures.
How do you know which suggestions are worthwhile? I’ll admit that this technique requires some culinary sense when it comes to substitutions, portions, and so on. Of course, you can’t trust everything strangers on the internet say. But the great thing about the comments is that you’re usually looking for edits suggested by multiple people. In fact, it’s always best when someone tries someone else’s tweak and reports back with their approval.
My habit is to print out the “best” recipes, skim through the comments, filter and summarize the moments of consensus, and handwrite them on the page. So in this recipe for potato gratin (by the famously simple Mark Bittman), I noticed that blandness was a common concern, and everyone added way too much salt and tucked onions, garlic, leeks, or other alliums between the potato layers. There’s disagreement about cheese, but that seems to be a matter of taste, so I’ll go with my own preference. We seem to want more creaminess than the half-and-half listed, but it seems like we have too much liquid or the cooking time is wrong.
Luke Winkie
I tried the viral sardine fast and did not anticipate the effects it would have on my body.
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I tried the sardine fast. I had no idea what it would do to my body. Brad Pitt showed us who he is. Why aren’t we watching it? This wild Hulu show is infuriating Mormons, but it gets to the point. The tiny, feisty hippopotamus that’s stealing the internet’s hearts isn’t just cute. She’s doing big things.
Now, I want to point out the occasional gem here, a sparkling comment that isn’t always repeated but clearly gets to the heart of things. “Susieqday” writes: “I like to heat up some cream on the stove and add a pinch of fresh garlic, thyme and nutmeg. I pour the cream over the potatoes and then bake them.” Ah! Susi eliminates the blandness by pre-soaking them with dairy, and reduces some of the dairy before adding the potatoes, and perhaps gets the bake time more appropriate. So, I’m going to follow in Susieq’s footsteps.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t warn you about the unpleasant types you’re sure to encounter on your explorations of cooking comments: the dark alchemists trying to turn your dish into something completely different, the extortionists trying to lead you into a Martha Stewart (always!), and the health fanatics who detest human sensuality. Be brave and ignore them, and you’ll be rewarded with the full-on operatic drama that sometimes breaks out over an anchovy or two. And you’ll get a great recipe! The reward for this great result is small: your comment brightened up your kitchen. Now it’s time to post a comment. Kind.
