Secret Recipes

[Cehrabehra]

So what do you guys think about secret recipes?

Do you have any recipes you don''t like to or will not share?
Recipes with a secret ingredient that you leave out when you share it?
How do you feel when you ask for a recipe and the person doesn''t want to share?

(written kenny style lol)

 

[lyra]

I don''t have any, but my husband refuses to share his family shortbread recipe. This leads to him spending every weekend for 2 months leading up to Christmas baking Scottish style shortbread for all his friends, colleagues and even his own family. He could give out the recipe, it''s such a difficult one to execute (and requires a shortbread mold), no one would bother and they wouldn''t ever get the same results. But he refuses. I don''t know why and think it''s funny.

I would never leave out an ingredient in sharing a recipe, I think that''s worse than simply saying "Oh it''s a family secret, sorry.". Having said that, I''m quite sure other people have done that to us! We asked for a spaghetti sauce recipe from an Italian colleague and she balked but then gave it after consulting her mom who makes the sauce. Somehow, it''s just not "right". Whatever, silliness!

 

[dragonfly411]

I''m still experimenting with cooking, so I can''t formally say that I have any secret recipes. I actually don''t mind them though, or mind people who aren''t willing to share. Perhaps they''d like to patent it later. Perhaps they want to keep it so no one can copy it and nab it! Some people compete in cooking contests, so of course they don''t want to give away their secrets.

I find them fun hehe

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

We have a few in our family, one is for BBQ sauce and another is for Baked Beans.

 

[dragonfly411]

I so want to learn to make barbecue sauce. I tried once and it was a wreck.

 

[LadyBlue]

My husband does

 

[sctsbride09]

I have a few, but the only reason I dont share them is because I have dreams of writing a cookbook someday. Another is the family banana bread recipe, my grandma and my DH would not be pleased. Dh''s own mother wanted my banana bread recipe and he told HER no

 

[princesss]

I''ve got one I won''t share, but it''s really because it''s another family''s secret recipe that was given to me for my 18th birthday/college graduation since I loved it so much (and for so long!). I still call them by the same name ("*Their family name* cookies"). I just don''t feel like the recipe is mine to give away willy nilly. I bake them about twice a year and it''s always really exciting when I do. They''re so good! My friends are hooked and constantly beg me to make them (and one spent hours online trying to look up the recipe and couldn''t find it, lol).

 

[Liane]

If anyone wants a recipe for something I''m happy to give it to them, but usually people don''t even ask because they assume it''s going to be super difficult or complicated or whatever.

I think the entire concept of "secret recipes" is pretty silly. Unless it''s a corporate secret and you need to protect your livelihood, who cares? (And even then, still, who cares? Plenty of professional chefs and high-end restaurants are more than happy to share their recipes, because it raises their profile and gets their name out worldwide.)

Share and make people a little bit happier, that''s my view.

 

[elrohwen]

I love sharing recipes! A lot of my recipes are handed down from my mom, but she just pulled them out of cookbooks and newspaper articles anyway.

We do have a bread recipe that is fantastic and it''s kind of a family recipe (my grandma used to make it, but my mom couldn''t find her recipe so she found a new one that tastes the same). But I''m always happy to give that out too. I enjoy food and I want others to be able to enjoy it too.

 

[luv2sparkle]

I love sharing recipes and when I get them from other people they are always called by the persons name: Like Ron Hinoki''s Sesame Chicken wings. I never take the credit for the recipe. I also love Todd Wilbur''s secret
recipe cookbooks. I have made many of his recipes for famous dishes and they are pretty darn close. Love that.

 

[MissMina]

I was taught to cook without using conventional measurements
or cook books.
So if I want to share a recipe I have to create one.
Sometimes I tell people they can have the recipe if they want to
watch what I do and write it down.

 

[LaurenThePartier]

Ummmm, I''m so far away from keeping recipes to myself that I keep a cooking blog.

If I haven''t posted it yet, it''s only because I was too lazy to drag out the light box and big camera for the photo shoot.

 

[TooPatient]

I love sharing recipes. If I find them on a website or in a book, I try to provide that information with the recipe as well unless I''ve made big enough changes that it really is a new recipe (even then I usually let them know where it started from).

I do understand why some people prefer to keep certain recipes secret, but I am not one of them. Well... not intentionally. (I have many things I make that are really "add ____ gradually until it looks right", "cook until it smells done", "knead until the texture is right"...)



LTP -- A food blog?!! I thought I remembered a mention of that awhile ago. It is so great that you share your recipes and tips. I''ve found some of my favorite recipes that way.

 

[upgrade]

I really don''t get the secret recipe concept, unless you have plans to commercially produce the item in question...

If someone asks me for a recipe, I''m flattered to be asked and I''m more than happy to share. With the exception of baking, most of my meals are in my head, so I''ve actually gone to the effort of figuring out quantities and typing the recipe out for people. My mother in law''s sister is a recipe hoarder... in fact she refused to give my mother in law their mother''s recipe for pepper sauce (my mil had it originally and lost it). She told my mother in law to drop the peppers off and she would would make the sauce and they could split it. My mother in law was able to get the recipe from their brother instead, and we''ve photocopied it about a thousand times now and we give it out freely, just to p*ss her sister off! I don''t understand refusing to share recipes at the best of times, but to refuse a family recipe to a family member?? Makes no sense to me!

I once worked with a fantastic chef who was more than happy to give his recipes out. He said the same recipe cooked by 3 different people would come out 3 different ways, so he wasn''t worried!

 

[TooPatient]

Date: 6/4/2010 1:23:56 PM
Author: upgrade
I really don''t get the secret recipe concept, unless you have plans to commercially produce the item in question...

If someone asks me for a recipe, I''m flattered to be asked and I''m more than happy to share. With the exception of baking, most of my meals are in my head, so I''ve actually gone to the effort of figuring out quantities and typing the recipe out for people. My mother in law''s sister is a recipe hoarder... in fact she refused to give my mother in law their mother''s recipe for pepper sauce (my mil had it originally and lost it). She told my mother in law to drop the peppers off and she would would make the sauce and they could split it. My mother in law was able to get the recipe from their brother instead, and we''ve photocopied it about a thousand times now and we give it out freely, just to p*ss her sister off! I don''t understand refusing to share recipes at the best of times, but to refuse a family recipe to a family member?? Makes no sense to me!

I once worked with a fantastic chef who was more than happy to give his recipes out. He said the same recipe cooked by 3 different people would come out 3 different ways, so he wasn''t worried!

Very true!

It is actually kind of fun to see the different variations that people come up with.

 

[Liane]

Is there a recipe share thread on this board? I kind of want this pepper sauce recipe myself now.

 

[jaysonsmom]

I offer to demonstrate how I make my "famous" recipes, but usually people can''t replicate them because the recipes are all in my head and the measurements are all guestimates, and are the product of my acute sense of taste. So I guess it''s not holding back on information, it''s just that I don''t have the "secret" to give.

 

[Lynn B]

I love sharing recipes and am delighted when someone liked something I made enough to want to make it themselves.

Food is for sharing!

 

[LaurenThePartier]

TooPatient; it actually started because of my Mom. We live in different states, and when they would come to visit for various holidays, weeks later my Mom would always ask for the recipe of some dish or another. When my sister and I first bought our houses, she gave us both recipe books in which she had handwritten our favourite recipes. So, I decided to start my blog as a virtual recipe box, simply to chronicle dishes that I attempted, and to share them with my friends and family.

There is one side effect of a cooking blog that I didn''t think about beforehand - anyone can read it. If you add anything personal, you better be prepared to hear about it.

Date: 6/4/2010 1:23:56 PM
Author: upgrade
I really don''t get the secret recipe concept, unless you have plans to commercially produce the item in question...

If someone asks me for a recipe, I''m flattered to be asked and I''m more than happy to share. With the exception of baking, most of my meals are in my head, so I''ve actually gone to the effort of figuring out quantities and typing the recipe out for people. My mother in law''s sister is a recipe hoarder... in fact she refused to give my mother in law their mother''s recipe for pepper sauce (my mil had it originally and lost it). She told my mother in law to drop the peppers off and she would would make the sauce and they could split it. My mother in law was able to get the recipe from their brother instead, and we''ve photocopied it about a thousand times now and we give it out freely, just to p*ss her sister off! I don''t understand refusing to share recipes at the best of times, but to refuse a family recipe to a family member?? Makes no sense to me!

I once worked with a fantastic chef who was more than happy to give his recipes out. He said the same recipe cooked by 3 different people would come out 3 different ways, so he wasn''t worried!

Upgrade - it really serves her right. I just don''t understand the concept of hoarding recipes, especially from family. My thought is that someone has shared their inspiration with me, so I''m always happy to pass it on.

 

[April20]

I don''t have any "secret" recipes, but I know someone with a secret frosting recipe I''ve been trying to get for almost TEN YEARS. TEN! They got it from their sister, who got it from a baker who developed it and then had no family interested to pass it along to. It''s a light frosting that never gets thick or weird, even when it sits on the cake. I can''t describe it really, but once you''ve had it, you want it! I''ve gotten close after years of experimenting, but it''s still not perfect. I did get out of her that it''s more HOW you make it rather than what''s in it. Can you tell it''s still driving me nuts?

 

[LtlFirecracker]

I am happy to give out my successful recipes. Most of them I got from a published source so it is really not secret to begin with.

 

[packrat]

My bff wouldn''t even tell me her "secret" blend of sauces for when she eats at Hu Hot. I don''t get it!

Even if you had a business and you had a secret family recipe-if your talking dog Duke gave it away, do people seriously think they''d have to declare bankruptcy and fold up the business? That''s silly.

 

[HopeDream]

I love cooking and experimenting with recipes to adjust them to my taste.

I think secret recipes are mean-spirited. I think at this day in age individuals can accomplish more in their lives than only being known for their secret blue-ribbon brownies (It isn't 1893 anymore people). I share my recipes freely with anyone interested - we won't make it the same way anyway. Sometimes I'm a little embbarassed that there could be a store-bought sauce or seasoning blend involved - but at least I'm honest if it came from a jar. Sharing food and recipes leads to deeper understanding and it's definately on the path to world peace.

I just came across this kalbi recipe called "Sandy's Killer Korean Kalbi" - it's on a blog so i can't link to it , but google it - delish for barbecuing!

A local coffeshop has a top-secret hot chocolate recipe that is realy just nestle-quick powder in steamed milk (They put it in a fancy tin !) I wondered why it tasted so familiar, and then a relative ended up working there and told me.

Another relative worked at a place where a signature spicy sauce was actualy just a 50/50 mix of butter and hot sauce.

I'm on the look-out for a realy excellent cajun seasoning blend - so if you know of one......

As a sidenote on the subject of recipes: I am appalled at my SO's lax recipe adherance - when I measure something out it has to be exact every time - when he does it he eyeballs it or estimates with mixed results

- sometimes we have trouble being in the same kitchen

 

[Irishgrrrl]

My Mom''s recipe for devilled eggs. She would not give it to me until I turned 30. Upon that auspicious occasion, she presented it to me in a green velvet box. (No, I''m not joking.) She has sworn me to secrecy, under penalty of death!!!

 

[upgrade]

So here''s a question... if you do have a secret recipe, what on earth do you say to people when they ask for it? I would be embarrassed to say ''no, it''s a secret'' but maybe that''s just me.

 

[Arcadian]

I have recipies I've made so long that I don't remember exact measurements.

I've been cooking since I was 4, there's a lot of stuff I do that are strictly from memory. I don't exactly measure in the conventional way either.

Some recipies that were passed down through my family are extremely complicated and of those there's maybe a handful of family recipies my mother told me I'm not allowed to give out. I'm good with that. People tend to respect that when I tell them this.

My girlfriends are freaking lazy, they will ask for a recipe and if I give it to them whine that its 'too hard'

One of them was scared enough of messing it up after I gave her the recipe that she came over so I could help her.

I love my girls, but cooks they are not!!!

So now when they ask, I just tell them no, I'll make it for you sometime...lol

I also tend to just throw stuff together too. If you've cooked long enough you just kinda know what will work and what won't.



-A

 

[October2008bride]

A friend''s wife has a ''secret'' marinade for steak and REFUSES to share it. I personally think it is so weird. We are all so far from the restaurant industry it isn''t like I could sell it or something crazy. In all honesty, I thought she was kind of weird and rude for refusing to tell!

 

[princesss]

Date: 6/4/2010 11:26:54 PM
Author: upgrade
So here''s a question... if you do have a secret recipe, what on earth do you say to people when they ask for it? I would be embarrassed to say ''no, it''s a secret'' but maybe that''s just me.

I just kind of teasingly say, "I wish I could tell you, but I swore an oath under a blue moon many many years ago that I will be drawn and quartered if I ever give out the recipe," or something similarly silly. It usually gets the point across without getting people upset.

For a while people used the argument that the woman that gave it to me was half a world away, so how would she know? But now she lives and hour and a half from me, and I shudder in my boots to think what she''d do to me if I gave it out!

 

[sillyberry]

HopeDream, check out The Spice House (you can google it) for great cajun blends. Actually, all of their blends are rockstar awesome.

ETA: I don't have any secret recipes, although the closest thing is my mom's queso. She learned it by watching someone else, I learned it from watching her, and I suppose someone would have to learn it by watching me. But no one has asked!