New Recipes

Trying a new recipe is, ipso facto, doing something you haven’t done before. This may be a matter of degree, depending on your level of experience and how different the new recipe is from what you’re used to, but there’s something about it that is novel or unknown, which is where the uncertainty and the tension comes in.

It seems like “trying a new recipe” is a one-shot deal, but since most of us are fortunate enough to eat every day, it doesn’t have to be. We could try new recipes like artists begin a new piece of work, by doing a study—a series of sketches or rough outlines that approximate the intended work. We could plan on making a new dish two or three times to work out the mechanics, the timing or the seasonings. Doing everything right the first time, even when the instructions are correct (don’t get me started), seems unreasonable when you’re doing something new.

It might take some of the pressure off trying something new if we viewed it more like a new hobby than a single, high-stakes performance: do it a few times and see if it suits you.