Cookbook talk:Recipes

en:User:Angela and I are Transwiking wikipedia recipes into the Transwiki psudonamespace. If someone wants to go through the transwiki log and work on those articles and bring them to Wikibooks standards, feel free. It'll add more content to the cookbook faster, as right now I'm going to concentrate on moving the pages out of wikipedia. Thanks, Gentgeen 09:49, 23 Jan 2004 (UTC)

OK, we need to come to a naming convention for recipes. I've been using Cookbook:, others are using Cookbook:Recipes/ or Cookbook:Recipes/. It'll be easier to pick a standard now and just name things as we move them from wikipedia than it will be to decide later. Anyone else want to weigh in? Gentgeen 09:11, 29 Jan 2004 (UTC)


 * OK, I'm going to give this a week and if no one replies, I'll assume I'm the only one here and just pick my standard and start moving recipes to Cookbook:Recipe Name . Time starts .... NOW Gentgeen 08:44, 3 Feb 2004 (UTC)


 * Personally I like your system. It's simpler. Also I can see a situation where we need subpages for recipes cookbook:recipe Name /european verion that soer of thing. Theresa knott 09:03, 3 Feb 2004 (UTC)


 * Yes, I started the Cookbook:recipies/* standard just to be descriptive and it the Cookbook:* standard does seem like a better idea. Grimm

kinds of sugar
Query: Does anyone know what "Castor sugar" is? Is it a brand name or a type of sugar? As long as I'm at it I may as well make a list on this page of questionable ingrediants. Grimm
 * I guess it's a British thing? Castor sugar is a very fine sugar.  You can make it by putting regular granulated sugar in a blender for a few seconds to make the grains finer. Solitaire
 * That is somewhat correct. Probaly you'll wear out your blender if you abuse it for this purpose! Castor sugar is called superfine sugar in the USA. Unfortunately, castor sugar is the default sugar in the UK. Many recipes specify it needlessly. As each such recipe is examined, "castor sugar" should be replaced with either "superfine suger" (to indicate a true need for superfine sugar) or just "sugar" (to indicate that any old normal sugar will do). AlbertCahalan 19:38, 5 Apr 2005 (UTC)


 * Castor sugar is not the default sugar in the U.K. but it is used more frequently than in the United States because it is much more commonplace there. It is called "castor sugar" because it is fine enough to be used in a "caster" which is a "shaker". Mike Hayes (talk) 03:02, 19 August 2008 (UTC)


 * 'golden syrup' - Cane Syrup


 * I'm sorry - I have to jump up and down and scream loudly at this comparison. Golden syrup is NOT corn syrup or anything remotely like it. It's a product used mainly in Australia (I don't know if it's available anywhere else...) It is a bit like molasses or treacle only lighter in flavour and consistency. Corn syrup is NOT a suitable substitute for it.KJ 06:46, 19 Mar 2004 (UTC)


 * we have stuff here in the US called Cane Syrup, made from sugar cane, kinda like a light molasses. Would that be a better compairason to golden syrup? Gentgeen


 * Oh lord this is going to be a nightmare. I asked an american once what corn syrup was and was told it was golden syrup, I didn't check to see it was correct. On wikipedia there is an article on flapjacks, which redirects to pancakes. In the UK flapjacks are oatcakes made with rolled oats, butter amd golden syrup :-( why can't we all speak the same laguage :-( Anyway, I digress. In the UK golden syrup is made by Tate and Lyle. Since this company also label their granulated sugar as cane sugar I assume cane syrup is correct. Sorry about not checking my facts properly. Theresa knott 11:18, 19 Mar 2004 (UTC)


 * "Tate and Lyle's Golden Syrup" has a pronounced flavour unlike anything generally available in the United States but maple syrup or imitation maple syrup would work well as a substitute. However, it tends to be thinner than golden syrup so one would have to reduce it by boiling to get a similar viscosity. Mike Hayes (talk) 03:02, 19 August 2008 (UTC)


 * 'Castor sugar' - Like granulated sugar only smaller crystals so it dissolves better - so it's like the US baking sugar or bar sugar? gent
 * Castor Sugar is a very finely ground sugar. You can use plain ordinary sugar in a recipe without a problem except the texture will be coarser.KJ 06:46, 19 Mar 2004 (UTC)
 * I'm in the US, and sometimes I use "powdered sugar" -- like granulated sugar, but ground into a fine powder. http://sugarindia.com/ has some descriptions of various kinds of sugars. --DavidCary 18:05, 29 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Tate & Lyle's Golden Syrup is, I quote from the tin, "partially inverted refiners syrup", (that is, some of the sucrose is laevo-rotated, for the chemists out there) & is commonly called treacle in the UK. Black treacle is the dark stuff like mollasses. Granulated sugar is your bog-standard sugar, castor sugar is finer, (for using in a caster?) & icing sugar is (very fine, floury), I think, powderd sugar in US. We use it to make icing, (frosting) by mixing with water (& eggwhite for Royal Icing). Hope this is useful, & please correct me where im wrong--Archolman 02:46, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

other ingredients

 * "375g of packet fresh ready rolled Puff pastry" (see Cookbook:Mille_Cr%C3%AApe) - Any ideas on a universal equivilant? why not just link to a recipe for puff pastry? - whenever I use puff pastry, I go to the store and buy a box. Actually, I normally have a box or two in the freezer.  Making puff pastry is hard, time consuming, work, and I'd rather pay Pillsbury to do it. gent
 * Frozen puff pastry is available just about everywhere... I don't see that direction as unreasonable wherever you are. But for perfectionists, link it to 'puff pastry' too so they can see how difficult it is to make from scratch! lol KJ 06:46, 19 Mar 2004 (UTC)


 * "2 small cans dry Mustard" (see Cookbook:Senf) well, what's a small can? 1 oz, 4 oz? ( I've seen some cookbooks list *both* Imperial *and* SI units on each and every recipe. Should we encourage this ? Something like  "50 g (1.7 oz.) dry ground Mustard". At least in one cookbook, the primary units were the ones used by the cook who submitted it. Usually ounces for U.S. chefs, grams for French chefs. The secondary units (in parenthesis) were converted. --DavidCary 18:05, 29 Oct 2004 (UTC) )


 * I'd say we should definitely encourage the use of both imperical and SI units. I've even gone through a few recipies that only have one set of units listed and done the conversions myself when I have too much free time. Grimm
 * Be very careful! Tablespoons can be 15 mL (Queen Anne), 18 mL (Imperial), or 20 mL (Australian). If you are unsure, let someone else do the conversion. AlbertCahalan 19:38, 5 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Looks like some redirects are in order, once we've got the basic foodstuff articles written. For the life of me I couldn't figure out what golden syrup or Castor sugar were, thanks Theresa. Gentgeen 00:46, 19 Mar 2004 (UTC)

I did suggest that we need a 'glossary' page giving comparisons and equivelants like this. It's easy to get confused, because cooking is universal but ingredients are NOT... KJ 06:46, 19 Mar 2004 (UTC)


 * I started a list of International food terms. I listed US/UK terms, as that is what I'm familiar with.  I'm not sure if the UK terms are pretty much always the same as the Australian terms, and I could lump them together, or if there should be a separate column for Australian terms.


 * I added it to the Ingredients section on the Cookbook, along with the Substitutions list I started, although perhaps there's a better place for them. -- loum 04:19, 24 May 2004 (UTC)

The UK standard spoons are; Tspoon=5ml, Tablespoon=15ml. i think cup sizes are a bit different to US & Aus. as well:)--Dick 23:13, 16 March 2007 (UTC)

Featured recipes
So far, I've just picked a recipe from this list about once a week to be our featured recipe on the cookbook page. Anyone else want to get in on choosing the recipe? (and ingredient, but that discussion should go somewhere else) Gentgeen 00:46, 19 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Recipe cleanup?
A few of the recipes need some work. For example, look at Goulash, Jamaican Jerk Chicken, and How to cook oysters. Should we have a central page for these types of cleanup items for the entire wikibooks project, one just for the cookbook, or just use, for example, this talk page to hold this list. Gentgeen 08:57, 4 May 2004 (UTC)
 * I would say create a link on the cookbook main page that refers to the "Needs Work" recipes. liblamb 16:48, 12 Jul 2004 (UTC)

links to GFDL and public domain recipes
Should I copy-and-paste these recipes to wiki, even though I've never cooked them before ?


 * http://www.faqs.org/docs/consumer/recipes/ (public domain)
 * The Open Source Cookbook: Fuel For Geeks by Matthew Balmer (GFDL) http://www.faqs.org/docs/cookbook/
 * this cookbook is GFDL 1.1, and contains front cover, back cover, and invariant texts. All these things make importing sections from this book difficult under our use of this license.  I think discussion of this cookbook was brought up earlier at Talk:Cookbook. Gentgeen 21:13, 29 Oct 2004 (UTC)

"Copyright and Recipes" http://www.recipezaar.com/help/copyright.zsp


 * I have no objections to you doing this. If you do place them in Wikibooks, please make them conform to the template.  You might also want to be selective.  I have entered a number of recipes, one of which is Hominy, that I considered of interest but have not cooked. liblamb 20:00, 29 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Some recipes aren't linked here
I've been searching for curry chiekn, but I just found when i find it, that its not listed here, in the recipe index!! Can someone merge these "lost recipes" please?

Here's some:

Cookbook:Meat_Recipes
 * Done liblamb 17:39, 3 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Yeah, I've been finding lots of "lost" recipes the past few days. Grimm

Recipe Overviews
My wikisyntax is limited, but would it be easy to make a template out of the Overviews? Also, if I think someone should link to a recipe with what may be considered the ideal format so people adding them have a good template to start with.

Cheers, --bleh fu talk fu  15:49, 25 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Conversation from #wikibooks IRC Channel
I have bought this conversation and idea here, from #wikibooks, and also from Cookbook Talk, in the hope that I may be able to help. I am on multiple restricted diets, being intolerant of Gluten and Lactose, so I am on a Wheat/Gluten Free and Milk Free diet. One of WB's admins, Uncle G, has informed me that your recipes are marked for which diets they are suitable. However, I have noticed looking through the index of recipes that there is no immediate identification of suitability for particular diets there. I also feel that for meals which cross diets, ie, one which is both Gluten Free and Milk Free, having to match recipes from one category and see that they are in another is time consuming.

What I have proposed is that we look at a simple identification tag to attach to recipes in the index, to show immediately to the searcher that the meal is gonna be suitable for them to cook.

Something along these lines:

GF indicates Gluten Free recipe

MF = Milk Free

LF = Lactose Free

RS = Reduced Sodium (Salt)

which could be combined to show the suitability immediately, like:

Liver & Bacon Casserole (GF : MF)

or for meals which are suitable for diabetics, DS.

Your thoughts on this are welcome, and I have tagged some pages already pointing people here to discuss this proposal. I can be contacted here, or thru my Wikipedia talk page, Talk to Thor. Regards, Tmalmjursson 01:42, 1 February 2006 (UTC)

is this still maintained?
wouldn't the category system be a better option? Especially for indicating whether recipes have images or not... 203.214.115.130 14:32, 24 April 2006 (UTC)


 * Yes the category system is better. Category:Recipes will probably be better even at this stage of categorization. It will also be more maintainable over the long run. Kellen T 00:24, 1 May 2006 (UTC)

Sindhi cuisine
There were some recipes on the Wikipedia page Sindhi food. The article's AfD determined that the recipes should be transwikied here. I've put them on a subpage here, and anyone interested can copy them from there and place them appropriately at Wikibooks Cookbook. I'd appreciate help from someone who knows what they're doing here. Thanks! (I also posted this message at Cookbook talk:Cuisine of India.) --Fang Aili 23:29, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

Moving and Deleting
Hello! This page is becoming deprecated as Category:Recipes is more complete and automatically updated/sorted. Having a second, less complete index doesn't make much sense, and previous threads have acknowledged this. As a result, I am planning to make sure every recipe listed here is correctly categorized as a recipe before removing it and ultimately redirecting this page to Category:Recipes. Hopefully this will help clean up the cookbook. Cheers! —Kittycataclysm (discuss • contribs) 22:23, 5 January 2023 (UTC)