The Problem with “Adaptable” Recipes
It’s curious how some things that you think are simple and mundane, can turn into complex and time consuming problems. They go on to haunt you for years to come. In many ways such a scenario is a variation of the old idiom that “no good deed goes unpunished. So let me begin this story back in 2001 around Easter. A chance conversation arose about how people tend to buy cakes from the supermarket as opposed to making their own. This was just before baking shows became popular on TV. I subsequently referenced how my Mother used to make Bread Pudding back in the seventies. Needless to say, no sooner had I uttered those words, then I immediately desired the aforementioned dessert and it has been an albatross around my neck ever since. The problem isn’t that Bread Pudding is as rare as Tanzanite or rocking horse droppings. There are plenty of recipes available. Therein lies the rub. There are numerous regional and international variations. Too many in fact.
So for those who are not familiar with the aforementioned “delicacy”, Wikipedia describes it thus. “Bread Pudding is a bread-based dessert popular in many countries' cuisines, made with stale bread and milk or cream, generally containing eggs, a form of fat such as oil, butter or suet, and depending on whether the pudding is sweet or savory, a variety of other ingredients. Sweet bread puddings may use sugar, syrup, honey, dried fruit, nuts, as well as spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, mace, or vanilla. The bread is soaked in the liquids, mixed with the other ingredients, and baked”. They go on to mention a savoury version but that’s just crazy talk and the spawn of Beelzebub. So now that everyone’s au fait with bread pudding, I have spent the last twenty years trying to find a recipe that is close to how my Mother used to make it. Obviously, I asked her back in 2001 but she had mislaid the recipe. Subsequently interrogations have yielded less data as she is now in her nineties.
Now you may well be asking yourself, what exactly is the point I am trying to make here. Am I advocating that all family recipes should be committed to text and filed away for future reference. Well yes, but that is not my primary concern. I find that the sort of recipes that lend themselves to be “adapted” can be both a boon and a bane. Being able to easily expunge an ingredient that you don’t like and replace it with one that you do, without radically altering the dish, is a godsend. But some recipes have a tendency to be too flexible. Even nebulous. For example, Spaghetti Bolognese has many permutations. Chicken Tikka Masala is another. You could theoretically dine at a different Indian restaurant every day of the year, ordering the aforementioned dish and potentially have 365 meals of incredible diversity. Some may vary greatly from your expectations rendering them unpalatable. Conversely, a dish such as Beef Wellington is quite specific and doesn’t lend itself to radical augmentations.
Often one gains a liking for a particular meal either through dining together as a family or via a specific restaurant. Thus your perception and preferences for that meal are determined by the unique recipe of a family member or local chef. It can be confusing and sometimes even awkward, when you encounter somebody else’s version, especially if you don’t like their culinary interpretation. They might have removed the mushrooms or used shallots instead of regular onions. People can’t even agree as to the best way to make an omelette or even poach an egg. This is one of the reasons why fast food chains are so popular because they offer a homogeneous experience. A quarter pounder with cheese is virtually identical irrespective of whether you buy it from a McDonald’s in Kent or Aberdeenshire. It is comforting to know that you are going to have the same experience as last time, free from any “surprises”.
And so we return to the subject of Bread Pudding. I am finally reconciled to the fact that I shall never be able to recreate this dessert exactly as I experienced it in my youth. My Mother’s recipe has gone and so is my Mother in-law’s which came a very close second. I have however, discovered several variations that I do find quite palatable and the local Baker’s does one that is quite passable. I have even gone so far as to experiment myself and feel that using brown sugar and nutmeg are essential. As for the wider issues regarding “adaptable” recipes, I do tend to ask a lot more questions before ordering a meal in a restaurant. Most of the time, staff are happy to discuss what makes their version of a classic dish “different”. This often proves invaluable. Like many other things in life it’s best not to assume anything. Certainly don’t think, “I’ll order the Shepherd’s Pie. They can’t get that wrong”, because you’ll be surprised how they can.
