Rant: We Don't Need Cookbook Photos!

"Having a recipe published with an accompanying photo is a pretty modern invention. We have been following recipes without photos for centuries." 

--Buttermilk Graffiti by Edward Lee

When I examine my old cookbooks, I find this to be true, as they rarely have any photos. Plus, old newspapers rarely provided photos of any of the recipes they printed. No one seemed to complain then that they didn't have a photo to use as a guide. 

Nowadays, most cookbooks are filled with gorgeous, full-color photos of food, illustrating the results of their recipes. On social media, many people show off their preparations of various dishes, emphasizing the beauty of their final results. Despite the physical allure of the look of these dishes, it doesn't promise that the dishes taste good. In addition, many home cooks are later unable to replicate the beauty of these dishes when they try to prepare them at home.  

"When we don’t know what the end result is supposed to look like, the imagination is allowed to roam free and we come up with our own conclusions. Pictures are excellent guides, and can give you a goal to aspire to, but they can also have a negative effect. If you make a dish and it doesn’t look exactly like the photo, you might feel a sense of failure."

--Buttermilk Graffiti by Edward Lee

Have you felt this way? Have you tried to prepare a recipe and felt bad that it didn't look like the photo or video you had seen? I know I have felt this way, and I suspect many others have felt this way too at some point. You shouldn't feel this way at all. 

"I want you to pay attention to the aromas, flavors, textures, to the feel of the food in your mouth. Don’t worry if what you make doesn’t look good enough to be on the cover of a magazine. If it tastes good, you’ve succeeded."

--Buttermilk Graffiti by Edward Lee 

Lee couldn't be more correct. In the end, it's the taste that matters the most. Ugly food can be delicious and beautiful food can taste terrible. We need to go beyond the shallow view that only beautiful food should be promoted and make taste the most important objective of any recipe. Photos and videos can present a high standard that many home cooks can't meet, but that shouldn't stop home cooks from preparing and enjoying these recipes, relying more on taste than looks. Don't worry if your dish doesn't look like a beautiful photo. 

I'll also add that Buttermilk Graffiti by Edward Lee is a superb book and I highly recommend it. Lee travels across the country, telling fascinating culinary stories about restaurants, bakeries, and other places. He presents a number of recipes as well, none of which have photos (although you can go to his website and see photos if you must). In a local connection, Lee even writes about a compelling Cambodian restaurant in Lowell, Massachusetts. The book is an enjoyable read, filled with plenty of intriguing information about food, restaurants, and more.