The book he’s talking about is “Jacques Pepin’s Complete Techniques” or the French original ASIN: B000HF7740

Well, they don’t tell you nothing. If you’re a professional chef like him, he’s probably right. If you’re a dope like me who can never remember how much sugar is supposed to go into French toast, well, then recipes have considerable value.

Mike Hickerson is exactly right. If you’re just trying to get by - which is fine in a subject you don’t intend to master - recipes are fine.

Even if you ARE a professional chef like him you use recipes. Sure, you may have memorized or internalized them a long time ago, but you still need them. You know roughly how many eggs to use to make one loaf of french toast. You aren’t going to change that up by changing your technique.

Your technique sets you apart from every other chef, but it doesn’t mean you can ignore recipes.

Recipes can also help one hone the ability to understand flavor/ingredient combinations, proportions, cooking styles, etc. that would allow them to adapt or develop their own recipes. My wife and I will often do this based on personal preferences, availability of ingredients, just to experiment…

Yeah, overgeneralized quotes like this are as irrelevant as they are accurate. I get the point he’s trying to make, but he didn’t make it well. Learning techniques is the key to all things. But saying recipes tell you nothing is just cocky or not very thoughtful. A recipe tells you a lot, in cooking and in our industry, whether that means you’re reading one in a cookbook or watching the chef in the same room. You can learn a lot from another chef’s recipe. But you still need the basic techniques to pull it off or synthesize it with your own.

I see his point. I often wander into the kitchen and cook without a recipe. Find what’s available and rely on technique and tasting the food as you go and make something wonderful.

Of course his quote is hyperbole; that’s why it reaches you.

As to methods there may be a million and then some, but principles are few. The man who grasps principles can successfully select his own methods. The man who tries methods, ignoring principles, is sure to have trouble. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

It’s all a matter of taste.

It’s a false dichotomy. Recipes — and here I’m thinking of Rails recipes — can be the ideal vehicle for illustrating and teaching techniques.

I am currently reading and putting into practice Michael Ruhlman’s book “Ratio”. Its premises is that it won’t just help you make dinner but understand it. It is quite astounding.

I am going to try the book you recommended here as well.

Recipes are food tutorials. We all started out by following tutorials. Then you learn how to do something, and don’t need to follow step-by-step instructions anymore.

What Colicchio’s quote doesn’t acknowledge is that for most people, following recipes serves as the path to learn technique…

What Colicchio’s quote doesn’t acknowledge is that for most people, following recipes serves as the path to learn technique…

That’s funny, because I think what he’s saying (which I agree with, and have oft been heard repeating) is precisely the opposite. I take your point, but I think you’re being a little too literal.

Recipes are NOT the path.

To be fair, the rather vague question Mr. Colicchio was responding to was “Most used-cookbook.” So in a sense he making a comment if he had one cookbook what it would be.

Its like asking “Most used-programming book” and responding “The Pragmatic Programmer.”

Learning techniques is the key.

I suggest Tom learn about ethics and not cheat people.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2008/12/12/2008-12-12_top_chef_or_top_scrooge_craftbars_tom_co.html

I reckon recipes tell you what ingredients to put in a dish. The most general recipe would be “make me some food” which could result in any number of results. A more specific recipe might be “make me a steak”.

If you’re a skilled chef and I tell you to make me a steak, I’ll probably be pretty happy with the results. If your a shitty chef and I tell you to make me a steak I’ll probably end up ordering a pizza.

What is this quote? It’s meaningless. This guy’s a chef. Who quotes chefs?!

Well, I heart Tom Colicchio (it’s a teddy bear thing) and I wish there was always time to learn technique and theory instead of scraping javascript off of the web forum and pasting it into your site and hoping it works—um, I mean following the recipe to the letter. But there isn’t. Yeah, I’m definitely going to try to get more technique into my life …

I agree with Sean and Steven. Saying it’s all about technique rather than recipes is like saying that playing music is all about scales and not about compositions. The French love pithy provocative quotes like this, but I don’t think it’s very responsible or honest.