Are there recipes you won't share?

I look at recipes as being guidelines. Many times I will do my own interpretations.

Last week I made a "rural" pealla as I called it, based on a recipe by Miguel Maestre, a spanish chef living in Australia. He called the dish "Mountain paella". That name he uses is most likey based upon the "mar y montanã" recipe concepts, which is spanish for "surf and turf" or, sea and mountain in spanish.

He uses rabbit, quail, chorizo and morcilla (blood sausage). I used rabbit, quail, chorizo and merguez. Although North-African from origin, merguez is appreciated in Spain too. It's made with lamb meat, certainly a "mountain" element. I added black olives while the original doesn't. I think it's almost a must in this rural paella. And I added a good squeeze of lemon juice at the very end. Perfect addition for lifting the taste of the used meat in that pealla to a much higher level. Maybe chef Miguel Maestre would have approved.

I have no problem at all in sharing my interpretations, and when appropriate, I will give credit to the original recipe and the chef who made it or the book or magazine it came from. This is the least you can do to pay respect to people who created it.

It's almost impossible to create a totally new dish that hasn't been "invented" yet. Many times I composed food experiments and discovered later on that they already existed in slightly other variations.

Sharing recipes can be totally redundant too, a waste of time and energy! Many people will ask for recipes, even though they will never ever make it. They're just being polite by showing interest, nothing more.

Chefross said:

I'm with eastshores on this, and anyway I found that even if you give someone a recipe, chances are when they go to make it, it will not turn out the way they had it when I made it for them.

And the notion that someone will take your recipe and twist it is not surprising. We Chefs do it all the time.

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For sure, I do it all the time too, but for recipes on the net, blogs or books. Why ask for a persons personal recipe when you're going to make it "yours" anyway? Just google it, and twist that. Don't ask me for mine, and then try to do your own thing with it. What gets me even more is when they change the recipe, and then complain it doesn't taste the same. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/laser.gif

Interesting question!, found it to be a matter of where your personal and professional time-line is. At first think we all strive for or were directed to duplicate a recipe, consistently. After you gain more experience that begets confidence and ability think "we" wanted to see if we could duplicate while improving the original, I did so while making a lot of mistakes! Then you get one or two or more right that people like, then you think, hey! this is good $hi+!, people like it, it sets me apart from the crowd, and it's Mine!

Be honest, who doesn't love, l-o-v-e, love to see guests smiling and really enjoying something you've just put your bs&t and basically your soul into making. It's a momentary but very gratifying feeling, no?

Plying the "dark arts" of "cooking" is IMO, an art form, therefore by definition subjective and open to interpretation. How a professional chef interprets a recipe can be the difference between financial success or failure but in either case will set them apart. If you are successful and your interpretation brings financial rewards, then business 101 demands you keep it to yourself.

EVERYONE I socialize with has their own "secret" marinara, gravy/spaghetti, BBQ sauce, chili, pickles (Hey D!), burger and rib recipes to name a few. Know restaurants that have handed down recipes to their successor chefs for decades, literally.

Have found the most inspiration and advice from retired or soon to be retired chefs that now cook when, where and how they want to. (homage to "clam bar Lou")

I'm compiling my originals and of course personal takes on some classics and new classics for a cookbook, so been pretty close to the vest except for friends and ask only if they use them to give credit when due. We make spice blends that use as many house made components as possible, e.g. smoke/flavor our own salts, pepper corns, cheese etc., in various flavors, have specific growers for our American Espelette and paprika (have not used commercial "red pepper flakes or commercial paprika for a LOT of years) dry and or smoke & grind, flavor sustainable hardwoods for our tasso, bacon, sausages, pastrami etc. among others.

Not shy at steering or giving out the basics but will keep the nuances and techniques "secret" until we finish the book!

"Ars Est Celare Artem"

Cheers!,

EDG

I would never ask a restaurant for a recipe! As I mentioned that is their intellectual property in a highly competitive world. To me that seems like common sense. I would never walk into the Ford factory and ask for documentation on how they assemble their vehicle. Both parties earn their income from that information. The farthest I have gone, in restaurants where I had a really good relationship with the owners is to playfully list ingredients I can detect. I love to see them squirm if I'm onto something! /img/vbsmilies/smilies/biggrin.gif

I remember having this conversation with someone here years ago and it was a good one.

Think about it. There are no new "foods" so most, if not all of the fundamental ingredients, procedures and recipes have been exhausted. Since the 60's and 70's, it's been variations of the original yet, it was the distinguishing difference between them that was worth protecting.

Recipes are such a personal thing for most Chefs, especially those of us that came up in the time before the current industry. A time when a restaurant specialized in things. Now, you go to a restaurant and they cater to almost every taste on the menu. Heck, I'm just as guilty at this as anyone else. None the less, recipes represent years of trial, error, effort and sacrifice that, when asked to give up the "fruit of our labors" it's like asking you to give up a child. Plus, so many of us had experienced employers that hired you with grand designs for the future only to keep you around long enough to get the business"established" and lock you out of the building. This is when they replace you with a lesser paid "Kitchen Manager or Sous and when they return your "property", the recipe book is conveniently missing.

Over the years, I developed copycat recipes for this specific reason but fine tuned them to give as a way of passing things on. My daughter will be the only one to get my true, original written recipes and she can do with them what she wishes. Anyhow, the recipes work one way when I cook and do continue to work without me but aspects, ingredients or procedures were omitted. It comes close but is not exact. That way, people enjoy the food and I don't feel like I have "given" anything away.

If recipes were not traded or given out to others, we would still be eating medieval food. Like one of the readers said, no two cooks will cook the same recipe the same anyway. Some of our known chefs give their recipes out knowing this and the fact that most of the ingredients are not easy to get by the average home cook and even some chefs.

I have eaten a lot of food that I would like to have the recipe from different restaurants but never asked. I figure if they wanted their recipes known they would have them on their webpage. Would they lose business because they give them out, I personally don't think so. Usually you can cook something yourself that is close anyway.

@helloitslucas here is a buttermilk recipe I think came from the Better Homes and Garden cookbook in the 50s. How much difference is it from yours? Basically the same probably, so I would see no reason not to share yours. You have always heard the saying "you can't take it with you". I'm not singling you out, just wanted to give a comparison.

buttermilk
egg
oil
yellow food coloring (this was added, could be considered a secret ingredient haha)
flour
baking soda
teaspoon baking powder
salt
sugar

Sure, Pepsi and companies like that are not going to share their recipes, but I see no reason not to share food recipes if asked. I am like some of the others, ask and you shall receive and feel like the 90 year old woman did above.