[ncarroll]

I always thought the hackable angle on cooking is patterns. A whole lot of stuff that you might cook for everyday eating is, in fact, a pattern and once you know that, you can riff off whatever is in your fridge.

Take soup, for instance. You need a certain amount of liquid, veggies and meat are optional in their type and amounts and you need to apply the correct methods and tools.

I've had a domain and plans to write about this for years but never gotten around to it. Maybe 2015 is the year - even casual interest around here would hitch it up on my priority list.

[wanderingstan]

I second this. For years I thought recipes were secret inalterable incantations. Once I realized that there were basic patterns (soup, casserole, curry, etc) I found joy in "hacking" food. It then became a challenge to use the contents of my fridge in the tastiest way.

[TarpitCarnivore]

> I always thought the hackable angle on cooking is patterns. A whole lot of stuff that you might cook for everyday eating is, in fact, a pattern and once you know that, you can riff off whatever is in your fridge.

This isn't "hacking" (loathe this word when used this way) cooking, you've just learned the basic ratios of recipes.

[VLM]

Ah but the hacking is the "messing with ratios" part, not just knowing them.

I slow cooked homemade bbq chicken with a dry rub last weekend. You can play games for your whole life with the ratio of paprika to cayenne. A lot of people are really happy with 1:1:1 ratios of onion garlic chilli but I prefer weaker heat and stronger onion and garlic flavor. Another ratio is brown sugar to salt, I prefer no/low sugar and higher salt, but tastes do vary. I suppose "no sugar" is such extreme hacking, that some might not consider my bbq chicken to be bbq chicken anymore. Oh well.

Another analogy is its like modding a game. (and edited to add, its like design patterns)

[TarpitCarnivore]

Maybe it's just because I cook often, but to me this is the foundations of cooking. You're always changing and tweaking what you're making to suit your needs. What a more smokey taste in the chili add some chipotle and smoked paprika. Want to make that rub sweeter add some more brown sugar.