The Section Of A Recipe You're Skipping That Can Make Or Break The Dish

We've all been there — it's 6:15, the hunger is coming on, and you have no idea what to make for dinner. You assess the contents of your fridge, plug some ingredients into Google, and find a tasty-looking, quick, and easy weeknight pasta dish. But wait — do you really have to read those paragraphs of text above the recipe? It's pretty clear why you must read the entire recipe before you start making it, but it can be all too tempting to skip the headnote, especially when you're in a rush to get dinner on the table. However, taking the time to read recipe headnotes almost always saves you far more time and trouble down the line, and makes the cooking and eating experience more satisfying.

Headnotes are there for a reason, and more often than not, they provide vital information and context for a recipe. For example, potential ingredient substitutions, explanations of techniques readers may not be familiar with, and possible accompaniments (it's useful to know that your one-pan baked salmon with burst tomatoes pairs beautifully with rice before you start cooking it). Reading the headnote is also a great way to suss out if a recipe is bad before making it – if the headnote is loaded with recipe red flags or simply unintelligible, it may be a good sign that you should skip it.

Recipe headnotes haven't always been so helpful. They have gotten longer (and better) in recent decades, at least in part due to consumer demand for a bit more information and narrative around recipes. Think about it — as much as you might be annoyed by a wordy headnote, a recipe with zero context and minimal instructions (something you'll find in every midcentury church cookbook) is far more frustrating. 

The advent of online recipes has also changed the game, leading to the type of rambling blog-style headnotes which sparked one of the internet's never-ending food debates: are recipe headnotes helpful or horrible? Many people (this author included) enjoy reading these personal, narrative-style headnotes, which provide valuable context and meaning for recipes and help readers connect with the recipe developer; others find them insufferable. At the end of the day, you're getting a free recipe, so if that means reading through a bit more food writing (the best kind), so be it.

While it's tempting to click "jump to recipe" or skim those paragraphs of text in a cookbook when you're in a hurry, reading recipe headnotes is well worth your time and can truly make or break a dish. Give it a try — you just might find that it's actually quite enjoyable. And while you're at it, avoid these all-too-common recipe reading mistakes.