What should we write about?

ChefSteps Community Members,

As managing editor at ChefSteps, I'm constantly wondering what's worth writing about. ChefSteps has so many great outlets for writing, and the more we develop them, the more we realize that each one is unique: classes, recipes, techniques, science lectures, and more. As ChefSteps members, we thought you'd have some valuable insight into what we should be writing about, and where.

So, tell us: What do you like to read from ChefSteps? In recipe introductions and classes, do you take time to read information about science? History? Technique? Or do you just want to start making the damn thing? Do you like writing that's funny? Or do you prefer something that's informative and to-the-point? Or both?

And, further: What about ChefSteps writing do you like and dislike? What works for you, and what turns you off?

Thanks in advance for your feedback. Any small insight helps!

Karen

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Ryan_Stonecipher_15370

Karen,

I think there are a couple of things that are pretty important to me:

Science. As someone interested in modernist cuisine, it's really interesting to me to understand *why* a particular step is happening. This science background gives me the ability to apply the same ideas to different foods.
It's very rarely about a single recipe. It's about the techniques and background so that I can build a repertoire and get away from recipes. Recipes are boring. I'm after creativity.
Yes, humor makes things better. (Bourdain's Le Halles Cookbook is one of my faves and is simply a riot.)
Videos. The videos you guys are producing are amazing. While I'd absolutely love to be able to drive over 520 (when it's open) and get a personal demonstration, I don't think that's an option. I learn by watching, and seeing the technique helps me far more than simply reading.

My $0.02,

--Ryan

Brandon_34695

Right now I am getting a lot out of the pastry / baking stuff coming out in the video section. To second Ryan, I've read a lot of good books and attempted things at home. I'm on my fourth try working on a baguette. When the technique is demonstrated in video and then explained in text and photos, it is universally easier than following a good book.

DiggingDogFarm_65362

I'm not much for superfluous rhetoric.

I'd like to see more scientific explanation and specifics in the recipes.

Jack_Mayer_85396

@Karen - I think, for me, that @Ryan_S said it very well. I'd also like to see some more explanation/discussion devoted to the "fails" in producing the various recipes or techniques. Such as, "if your (insert recipe or step here) didn't turn out the way it did in our video, this could be the problem" ... This community is simply amazing, there isn't a day that goes by that I don't urge like minded people to check it out!

Manfred_18311

Hi Karen,

Can’t say anything

about what would turn me off about the writings of the chefstep crew, it’s always

is highly informative and written with passion for the best results and quality.

Being informative and on the point,

which is certainly a preferable format, won’t

close out humor, as humor always is connective and bridge building in

communication.

In my

cooking philosophy I view Products horizontal not vertical. “Steak is king anything

else is side dish” comes to be foreign to me. Even though I highly savor a nice cut of meat I

sure would love to read more on the vegetables, local as exotic and the benefit

to a meals taste by the variation possible with SV or classic cooking.

Certainly

more on Sauces, as a sauce is the foundation of a dish and must go well with

all components of a recipe. Making a good and balanced sauce is master class.

Confectionary,

pastry is another theme I would like to read and see more of and could imagine

I stand not alone with it. I found it to be neglected right now, why I don’t

know. I see somehow the archaic picture “man working steak, woman working cake”.

Personally

I would like to add the history of recipes and cooking methods. Revitalizing Re-interpreting

old recipes would, so I hope not only meets my personal interest. Heston Blumenthal,

a British food patriot par excellence, recreates old recipes by filtering them through

the modernist cuisine techniques. A mission on leveling up original British

food recipes he will be highly lauded for one day.

So yes,

history is a mine, set in context with today’s kitchen techniques, to extract valuable

culinary specimen.

-Manfred

Samuel_68313

"...highly lauded for one day?" - I think he already is!

A few guides on what to look for when buying kitchen equipment could be really useful and interesting, I found the sieve thread we have extremely helpful.

riiupw_1250042

Have you ever wondered about the story behind a song? This question appears to me after I saw the title of the thread. How could we write about it? Could we choose a song that intrigues us, listen to it, and dig into the lyrics? What was the idea to write it? I guess, people who work at WritingMetier know the answer for that question, right?