Arecipe is a set of instructions that describes how to prepare or make something, especially adish of prepared food. Asub-recipe or subrecipe is a recipe for aningredient that will be called for in the instructions for the main recipe. Cookbooks, which are a collection of recipes, help reflect cultural identities and social changes as well as serve as educational tools.[1]
The earliest known written recipes date to 1730 BC and were recorded oncuneiform tablets found in Mesopotamia.[2]
Other early written recipes date from approximately 1600 BC and come from anAkkadian tablet from southernBabylonia.[3] There are also works inancient Egyptianhieroglyphs depicting the preparation of food.[4]
Many ancient Greek recipes are known.Mithaecus's cookbook was an early one, but most of it has been lost;Athenaeus quotes one short recipe in hisDeipnosophistae.Athenaeus mentions many other cookbooks, all of them lost.[5]
Roman recipes are known starting in the 2nd century BCE withCato the Elder'sDe Agri Cultura. Many authors of this period described eastern Mediterranean cooking in Greek and in Latin.[5] SomePunic recipes are known in Greek and Latin translation.[5]
The large collection of recipesDe re coquinaria, conventionally titledApicius, appeared in the 4th or 5th century and is the only complete surviving cookbook from the classical world.[5] It lists the courses served in a meal as Gustatio (appetizer), Primae Mensae (main course) and Secundae Mensae (dessert).[6] Each recipe begins with the Latin command "Take...," "Recipe...."[7]
Arabic recipes are documented starting in the 10th century; seeal-Warraq andal-Baghdadi.
The earliest recipe inPersian dates from the 14th century. Several recipes have survived from the time ofSafavids, includingKarnameh (1521) by Mohammad Ali Bavarchi, which includes the cooking instruction of more than 130 different dishes and pastries, andMadat-ol-Hayat (1597) by Nurollah Ashpaz.[8] Recipe books from theQajar era are numerous, the most notable beingKhorak-ha-ye Irani by prince Nader Mirza.[9]
In older English works, a recipe was called a "receipt". Both words "receipt" and "recipe" were originally used to mean instructions on how to administer medicine.[10]
King Richard II of England commissioned a recipe book calledForme of Cury in 1390,[11] and around the same time, another book was published entitledCurye on Inglish, "cury" meaning cooking.[12] Both books give an impression of how food for the noble classes was prepared and servedin England at that time. The luxurious taste of thearistocracy in theEarly Modern Period brought with it the start of what can be called the modern recipe book. By the 15th century, numerous manuscripts were appearing detailing the recipes of the day. Many of these manuscripts give very good information and record the re-discovery of many herbs and spices includingcoriander, parsley, basil androsemary, many of which had been brought back from theCrusades.[13]
With the advent of theprinting press in the 16th and 17th centuries, numerous books were written on managing households and preparing food. In Holland[14] and England[15] competition grew between the noble families as to who could prepare the most lavish banquet. By the 1660s, cookery had progressed to an art form, and good cooks were in demand. Many of them published their own books, detailing their recipes in competition with their rivals.[16] Many of these books have been translated and are available online.[17]
By the 19th century, the Victorian preoccupation for domestic respectability brought about the emergence of cookery writing in its modern form. Although eclipsed in fame and regard byIsabella Beeton, the first modern cookery writer and compiler of recipes for the home wasEliza Acton. Her pioneering cookbook,Modern Cookery for Private Families published in 1845, was aimed at the domestic reader rather than the professional cook or chef. This was immensely influential, establishing the format for modern writing about cookery. It introduced the now-universal practice of listing the ingredients and suggested cooking times with each recipe. It included the first recipe forBrussels sprouts.[18] Contemporary chefDelia Smith called Acton "the best writer of recipes in the English language."[19]Modern Cookery long survived Acton, remaining in print until 1914 and available more recently in facsimile.
Acton's work was an important influence on Isabella Beeton,[20] who publishedMrs Beeton's Book of Household Management in 24 monthly parts between 1857 and 1861. This was a guide to running aVictorian household, with advice on fashion,child care,animal husbandry,poisons, the management ofservants, science, religion, and industrialism.[21][22] Of the 1,112 pages, over 900 contained recipes. Most were illustrated with coloured engravings. It is said that many of the recipes were plagiarised from earlier writers such as Acton, but the Beetons never claimed that the book's contents were original. It was intended as a reliable guide for the aspirant middle classes.
The American cookFannie Farmer (1857–1915) published in 1896 her famous workThe Boston Cooking School Cookbook which contained some 1,849 recipes.[23]
Formatting a recipe can be done in many different ways but two formats are typical. One typical format displays information in two columns, one for instructions and one for ingredients. The other typical format displays information in a solid block paragraph alternating between the ingredients and instructions.[24]
Modern culinary recipes normally consist of several components
Recipe writers sometimes also list variations of a traditional dish, to give different tastes of the same recipes.
Recipe writers may include a narrative before or after the recipe to add to the significance of the recipe. These consist of cultural values or personal stories relating to the dish.[25]
A sub-recipe or subrecipe is a recipe for aningredient that will be called for in the instructions for the main recipe.[26]
Sub-recipes are often for spice blends, sauces,confits,pickles,preserves, jams,chutneys, orcondiments.[26] Sometimes the sub-recipe calls for the ingredient to be held for several hours, overnight, or longer, which home cooks sometimes find frustrating as it means the main recipe cannot be made in a single session or day.[26][27][28] Sub-recipes discovered late and calling for an ingredient the cook does not have on hand means a special shopping trip or trying to find a substitute.[29][27]
Sub-recipes, and the cookbooks that contain them, are often described as not being targeted at casual cooks.[26][29][30] Reviewers have mentioned finding alternate uses for leftover sub-recipes.[26][29]
Cookbooks including subrecipes includeChristina Tosi'sMomofuku Milk Bar (2011)[31][32] and Terry Bryant'sVegetable Kingdom (2020).[33]
By the mid-20th century, there were thousands of cookery and recipe books available. The next revolution came with the introduction of the TV cooks. The first TV cook in the world wasPhilip Harben with a show on the BBC calledCookery which premiered in June 1946.[34] A few months laterI Love to Eat presented byJames Beard became the first such program in theUS.[34] TV cookery programs brought recipes to a new audience. In the early days, recipes were available by post from the BBC; later with the introduction ofCEEFAX text on screen, they became available on television.
The first InternetUsenet newsgroup dedicated to cooking wasnet.cooks created in 1982, later becomingrec.food.cooking.[35] It served as a forum to share recipes text files and cooking techniques.
In the U.S. in 2008, there was a renewed focus on cooking at home due to thelate-2000s recession.[36] Home cooking in the U.S. was similarly inspired in the early 2020s during thecoronavirus pandemic.[37]
The abundance of multimedia in modern food recipes allows for recipes to be more accessible to home amateur chefs.[38] The accessibility of cookbooks online further helps home cooks improve their skills and understand the cultural identities cookbooks have.[39]
Television networks such as theFood Network and magazines are still a major source of recipe information, with international cooks and chefs such asJamie Oliver,Gordon Ramsay,Nigella Lawson andRachael Ray having prime-time shows and backing them up with Internet websites giving the details of all their recipes. These were joined by reality TV shows such asTop Chef orIron Chef, and many Internet sites offering free recipes, but cookery books remain as popular as ever.[40]
Under U.S. copyright law, recipes are in thepublic domain. However, a collection of recipes, as in a cookbook, is able to be copyrighted. Additionally, information accompanying the recipe, such as photographs of the food or a headnote describing its cultural context, can be copyrighted.[41][42][43]
Listings of ingredients, as in recipes, labels, or formulas. When a recipe or formula is accompanied by an explanation or directions, the text directions may be copyrightable, but the recipe or formula itself remains uncopyrightable.
