A Measurement Story
Wcsjohn
This actually happened to me a few years ago - I still worry about it.
I'd gone into town for the weekly shop and, having bought all the boring
things, washing up liquid, toilet roll,
freezer bags, you know the sort of stuff, necessary but dull, I decided to
treat myself to a little shopping pleasure
and went to our local Italian Deli to buy some INTERESTING things. I found
myself listening to the conversation
between the lady ahead of me and the owner (can you resist doing that in food
shops?).
The lady asked him for 125 grams of pancetta in 2 thick slices and a little
light went on in my head - Delia Smith
had called for that amount of cubed pancetta in one of the recipes on her
cookery program the previous night.
As a result the nationwide demand for pancetta went through the roof and
supermarket managers throughout
the UK gave thanks for the blessing of Saint Delia. All in 125 gram lots.
The owner of the Deli cut 2 slices, as requested, and they weighed 130 grams
which is not only close enough
for government work but pretty damned skillful slicing. Not skillful enough!
"Please take 5 grams off" the lady
said, without a trace of humour. The owner looked at me and I realised, by his
carefully immobile face, that this
scene, with slight variations, had played more than once that day and that he
was actually considering telling his
customer where to shove her 5 grams but he rallied, manfully, and cut off a
tiny piece, new weight 125 grams,
and the lady left happily KNOWING that Delia's recipe would work if she
followed instructions to the letter.
But what would she do if the recipe began to go wrong? Would she be able to
correct any ambiguities or see
any boobytraps?
I think I'm preaching to the converted but how do you break people's reliance
on overprecise measurement? It's
also a question that the list must have debated many times but did you come to
any consensus?
John
barry
1. The lady who refused the 130 grams and demanded the 125 grams was either
very literal or didn't realize that 5 grams of pancetta wouldn't break her
diet. I would bet she also didn't cook much.
2. There are several uses of amounts in bread recipes. The flour and water
should start out at the prescribed amounts, but the baker should realize he
probably will have to make some adjustments to the proportions due to
humidity, temperature, etc. The proportions of salt, yeast, and other
add-ins are pretty fixed, unless the baker knows from experience that a
recipe is lite or heavy on some factor. I think most people here view bread
recipes as pretty close starting points, but starting points nonetheless.
3. You shouldn't worry about this lady; she wouldn't understand why you
were worried.
Barry
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