Sight-testing recipes

[rissole]

More often than not, I'm usually able to tell just by looking at a recipe whether I'll like it or not. How about everybody else?

[JanetJ]

I voted "sometimes." I can usually tell by sight if it's a dish I know I will like, but I don't let it go at that. If I relied on sight alone I would miss MANY dishes that are delicious. I look at the ingredient list and the preperation method and take a chance.

[wallycat]

I voted most of the time....
I'm pretty good at being able to tell....but I have been fooled and found recipes I'd swear I'd hate that turned out quite good; while I've also had a few that I'd bet would turn out great and I didn't care for.
I've learned to experiment----making things that I'm comfortable with is fine and safe....but trying things I didn't think would work and it turns out marvelous is a nice experience.
Most everything I've tried from the BB is so good, that I'm usually willing to take the plunge and try. Nothing I've made from CL or the BB has been so bad that I'd have to dump it....I may not make it again, but I've never had to throw it out
:D :D

[Gail]

Goddesses aren't completely infallible (though we don't generally admit it.) Being one of the more modest ones, I'll say "most of the time."

[boisewinesnob]

I also voted most of the time.
I can usually tell by the ingredients if I will like something or not....but not ALWAYS!!! Does anybody remember my post about the cilantro-banana recipe? I would've never made this because I hate cilantro, but one of the girls in my supper club made it to go with grilled salmon and it was so good, I made some about a week later!!!

[Sami]

I, too, voted most of the time. If I have picked out a recipe myself, it is rare that I haven't liked it. But there are many I would not have tried without this BB. Here, there are dishes that I probably would never have tried except for the reviews.

Sami

[cherylopal]

i also voted most of the time- i've gotten so much better the more i cook and the more i watch food tv:D i have a cousin who can taste a dish in a restaurant and reproduce it at home. she is ssooo fluent in the language of food! that would be like expressive language. reading a recipe is a bit like receptive or translating and i'm becoming more fluent.
cheryl

[AD]

I usually have some idea how a recipe will taste. The most difficult thing to determine ALWAYS is how sweet something will be. Looking at the proportion of sugar or other sweeteners to other ingredients doesn't really determine it. It's even harder and more difficult when sweeteners other than sugar are used. If I make something that doesn't need a sweetener or is not supposed to be sweet, I can almost always guess how it will taste, as long as I know what the ingredients taste like.

In general, I would say that I can almost always guess "halfway" or part of the taste of the recipe.

[Varaile]

I voted "most of the time"; usually I can tell just by what the ingredients are.

I know what I like and I'm familiar enough with how various foods blend that I can generally tell if I'm going to like it or not. Though the Chicken Curry from July through me for a loop. :rolleyes: :mad: :rolleyes:

It's a visual taste thing I figure. :D

[LaraW]

I voted most of the time too.

I have been thrown for an occasional loop, though, there was a mushroom soup recipe from a few years ago that sounded good, but in reality was not. DH described it as "cardboard". :rolleyes:

But, I figure, most of the time is good enough! :D

[rissole]

Originally posted by Varaile
I can generally tell if I'm going to like it or not. Though the Chicken Curry from July through me for a loop. :rolleyes: :mad: :rolleyes:
:D

About the Indian Chicken Curry, the first time I saw that recipe, I didn't think it sounded that good. Then when it appeared in this month's issue, I *still* didn't think it sounded that good, but I was going to give it a try, since it was picked as one of the staff favorites. However, I was glad to get feedback from everybody that it's not so great after all, so I've scratched it off my list. OTOH, in the cookbook Better Homes and Gardens 75 Years of All-Time Favorites, there's a recipe called India Chicken Curry that I might try, because it looks much more tasty.

[lindrusso]

Another "most of the time" here. Once in a while there is a recipe that sounds wonderful and just falls flat, but it's become a rarer occurence these days.

[Kahlico]

Most of the time. I can usually taste a lot of recipes just by reading them. I'm trying to broaden my horizons so I can keep my taste buddies alive :D

~emilie

[Wendy w]

Most of the time but I am not going to vote on this until Friday. Right now, I am on a break from baking for the county fair and am entering 8 items (thankfully, not all baked goods) - the deadline is between noon and 7 pm today. Five of these items are things that I have never made before. :o So I am really gambling. But, the challenge is fun.

I usually have good luck for the most part but I did have to resort to my "plan b" bread recipe for the handmade bread category because recipe "a" didn't work for me. They eliminated the bread machine category so I am gambling on my limited experience with dough.

Bread a is a good recipe and its failure was because of my skill level - (dough challenged) not the recipe. The bread machine and the KA are my crutches. I am really nervous and am at the mercy of my hormones today :( Wish me luck. Thanks!

[Shirley Panek]

I'd say most of the time. Although there have been surprises when I thought, "Oh, I couldn't eat that" and it turns out really good. Or there are those when the flavor just doesn't come through, even though I thought it would.

[lorilei]

I would also be a "most of the time" in this area. I do nearly all of my ethnic dinners on a "read only" basis -- so I've had some interesting practice in trying to visualize (by taste) what some of the recipes are like... and that can be challenging. African food was probably THE hardest -- and I had one dish that just didn't make the cut, but everything else was great.

[Leslie Ferguson]

Most of the time I have a good idea what something will taste like. Makes it hard to cook sometimes because I can get so hung up on a flavor in my mouth (from a recipe) that I can't decide what to cook.
But I have found that lots of folks can't taste something based on a recipe - most of the people in my family for instance.
Les