The Language of Menu....

I looked at the language used in a menu from Blitzburger (Blitzburger Menu). Their speciality is burgers, which the name gives away but there is a large variety of other types of food available. It isn't a fancy restaurant, in fact, just the opposite. It is a family oriented restaurant and the menu is pretty plain in the language used.
The first thing I noticed was the headings for the different sections of the menu. Instead of using the standard "Appetizers" it starts with "Getting Things Started". They also have "Homestyle Soups" and "Spectacular Salads". Having had one of those "Spectacular ( I assume they are using the meaning of large and obvious) Salads", I can attest that they are large but I am not sure how one can judge it to be spectacular. Most of the other headings are just what they say ie; burgers, paninis, wraps, shakes and stuff, and desserts. 
They use the terms 'Homestyle' and 'Homemade' a lot through the menu. It makes one think that they are trying to create solidarity with the community they serve. The intended meaning most likely to lead the community to feel that eating here is just like eating at home. 
With the exception of these terms, they use very little to describe the food outside of listing the ingredients of each entree. They do not have terms like succulent or hearty that I have seen in other restaurant menus. I feel that this also lends to the down to earth, we are also regular joes,  feel that  this menu exudes. Although they clearly state that they have 'lip-smacking pickles' and their "Signature coleslaw', there is little else language wise to help sell the items on the menu.

Term Paper revisited

What:

I have decided to write my term project about the use of terms such as 'organic' and 'all natural' used on labels for many different foods. These terms, which have even spread to the cereal aisle (Kellogg's does offer Organic Rice Krispies), have certain restrictions for use by the government and require that the language not be used if certain requirements are not met. But what does it mean when it says 100% organic vs all natural? Or organic vs contains organic ingredients? I would also like to look at how the consumer reacts to these various terms to determine if they know the difference between them and find out if they would be more likely to purchase an organic product over a non organic product.

Why:

Most people do not understand the differences between the various terms. In doing a bit of research I have discovered that the various terms do not have the same meanings.Curiosity makes me wonder if people would buy a product because it is organic over a non organic or all natural one.

How:

Most of my research will be computer based. I will look at terms such as "100 percent organic, organic, made with organic ingredients and all natural and determine the differences between all these terms based on the dictionary definition and the government standards. I will talk to friends and family and see what they really understand of these terms and how they feel about purchasing organic vs non-organic products.

Community Cookbook

 "The New York Times Passover Cookbook" -  This a collection of recipes that have appeared in the NY Times over fifty years. Obviously it contains recipes connected to the Jewish holiday, Passover. 


Looking at the contents, the recipes are organized based on the order they appear during the seder, Passover meal. It begins with the Haroseth, a mixture made of apples and nuts or sometimes dates and figs. The book ends with a chapter called Before the Afikomen, which is the hidden piece of matzoh the kids search for while dessert is served which is what this section contains, desserts and sweets. The in between chapters include everything from soups and tsimmes to brisket and roasted chicken. All the fixings for a seder!!!!


There is an introduction about observing Passover. In the introduction the writer talks about what Passover means to them and shares some of her personal memories to the mix. The author gives the history of the holiday. She talks about the meaning of the Hebrew words that are used such as 'Seder' (order) and how this "refers to the rules that govern every aspect of the meal" (pp XVi: Introduction by Joan Nathan). Each section also gives background or traditional history of the foods in that section.


Several of the recipes give a little blurb about the person who submitted the recipe and any history of how the recipe came into their possession. Although some just tell from which collection they have come from or why the the person feels the recipe is suited to the holiday.  Every recipe has a clear list of ingredients required and the directions are all in a numbered list. Here is an example:

Andre Balog's Chicken with Fresh Herbs and 40 Cloves of Garlic Recipe from: The New York Times Passover Cookbook - Makes: 6 servings
Andre Balog, who taught kosher cooking in New York City, adds a mixture of fresh green herbs this traditional French recipe. He considers this a symbolic Passover dish, since the Jews wandered for forty years in the desert before reaching the Promised Land. The garlic flavor is mild because the cloves are cooked whole. Be careful not to slice or otherwise damage the cloves; that releases an enzyme that produces the intense garlic flavor.
Ingredients:  4 heads garlic, yielding 40 cloves 2 tablespoons plus 1/2 cup olive oil Salt and freshly ground pepper 1/2 teaspoon sugar One 4-pound chicken 2 tablespoons chopped parsley 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro 1 tablespoon chopped fresh chervil 1/2 bay leaf	New York Time Passover Cookbook
1. Separate but do not peel the cloves of garlic. 2.Combine the 2 tablespoons olive oil, salt, pepper and sugar. Roll the garlic cloves in this mixture and set aside. 3.Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. 4.Place the remaining 1/2 cup olive oil in a Dutch oven, reserving a little to sprinkle over the chicken. Place the chicken in the Dutch oven, then sprinkle olive oil, salt and pepper over the top. Place the garlic around the chicken. 5.Mix the parsley, chives, basil, thyme, cilantro, chervil and bay leaf Sprinkle over the chicken. 6.Cover and bake for 1 hour. Remove the bay leaf and serve I noticed that a majority of the recipes look fairly easy to follow, making it more accessible to people of different skill levels. Also, most of the recipes give clear instructions for the preparation of the food. Even myself, an unskilled cook, might be able to successfully make one of the many recipes in this cookbook.

Term Project

I have decided to write my term project about the use of terms such as 'organic' and 'all natural' used on labels for many different foods. These terms, which have even spread to the cereal aisle (Kellogg's does offer Organic Rice Krispies), have certain restrictions for use by the government and require that the language not be used if certain requirements are not met. I will look at how the different companies use these terms to sell their product to consumers who are trying to eat healthier and take a closer look at the many ingredients ( some items most can't pronounce) to determine how natural is 'all natural'...I will also compare the different uses of the words by companies on different types of foods. Maybe only certain types of food get labelled 'organic' as opposed to 'all natural'. I am planning to focus on mostly prepackaged goods like rices, pastas, and cereals but I may also take a look at some of the dairy products.
The best way to collect data is to go to the supermarkets and take a closer look at the wording on many labels and uses of the varying terms. I will also have to research what some of the ingredients actually are to determine if they really are natural. 

Recipe in Tweet?

Looking at recipes on Twitter, I thought my head might spin around and off. I would never be able to cook from one of these recipes. Here's and example:

Ris a L’amande: Denmark. Boil2c milk; +c arborio. Cvr@low45m. Cool; +2T sug/c chopd almond+1 for luck. Whip1⅔c crm; fold. Srv w CherrySauce.

Okay, so the first thing is the name of the dish. Easy enough. I assume the next word tells the reader the country of origin.  Then I am to boil milk and a cup of an item I would have to look up to know what it is. Then the author writes something that doesn't give me a clue as to what I am supposed to do next, although I know I am to do this action for 45 minutes. And the recipe goes on using a shorthand, some of which I understand and some of which makes me go HUH??? 

So I am to make an attempt to write one of recipes only using 140 characters. How does one do that? How do you get across to your audience what they need to do in order to create this great dish? Well I am about to try and discover these answers.

MacnChez: 8ozmac; mix 3tbflour,2cmilk,1/2tslt/pep,3tbbut. 4 sauc; ad2/3chez & melt; pour over mac; ad bredcrums/ex chez; bake@350/30min

Well now I am curious to see if anyone can follow this recipe? :)

Recipe Schmecipe!!

         Since we are to compare two versions of a recipe, I began the arduous search of trying to locate a couple of cookbooks in my parent’s house. I was surprised to discover that they actually had quite a few cookbooks unfortunately none of them are from this century. So I picked two books from the collection and started to look through them.

         Besides these cookbooks being almost as old as Methuselah, I found what I was looking for and I decided to compare two recipes for pot roast. The first one comes from ‘My New Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book, which has no front or back cover, and the second comes from ‘The New Settlement Cook Book’, which has both covers ;).

Beef Pot Roast - from ‘My New Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book’

Select a 3-4 pound chunk or rump pot roast. Wipe with a damp cloth, dredge with flour, sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste, and brown on all sides in 2 tablespoons of fat. Add ½ cup water. Cover and simmer 2 ½ - 3 hours or until tender, adding more water as needed. If desired, add whole onions and carrots the last 45 minutes; 15 minutes before serving, pour ½ cup chili sauce and 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce over meat. Or 2 cups unsweetened cranberry sauce may be poured over the meat immediately after browning. (Serves 6-8)

Pot Roast (No. 1)– ‘The New Settlement Cook Book’

2 ½ lbs of beef (chuck,      1 sliced celery root

  rump or flank steak)  2 tablespoons drippings                                      
½ cup boiling water      1-tablespoon flour

1 or 2 bay leaves         1 onion, chopped fine

1 medium carrot          Salt and Pepper

Season meat as desired. Heat the fat and fry the onion in it until light brown; add the meat, brown on all sides to keep in juices. Pour on the boiling water, add bay leaves and carrot, cover tightly, simmer slowly about 2 ½ hours or until tender. Add a little boiling water to prevent burning. One-half hour before serving add 1 cup canned tomatoes. Thicken gravy with 1-tablespoon flour mixed with a little cold water. Serve with Franconia Potatoes.

         
     The first thing I noticed about first recipe is that it does not give a list of ingredients. The recipe just starts right into the selecting of meat and then what to do with it and suggests ingredients that you, as the cook, might think would taste good with the meat. I found it interesting that it starts off with the type of meat you should use but then never again actually uses the words rump roast or chuck. Almost at the end, the recipe states that ‘a cranberry sauce may be poured over the meat’. It uses the generic term ‘meat’ instead of beef, chuck, or rump. The use of pronouns is also non-existent in this recipe.  It never makes a direct reference to who is being addressed.

         The second recipe at least lists the items that will be used in cooking the roast. The first sentence is more a fragment of a sentence than a whole sentence. The sentence structure would not probably be considered grammatically correct. Are these parts of sentence structure purposely left out to shorten the length of the recipe? Or maybe it’s the way recipes are structured, just different from other types of discourse.

         So I decided to look at a third cookbook to try and compare the style and structure of the sentences used. I looked at the ‘Time Life International Cookbook’. In this cookbook, they used full sentences in the instructions. This recipe seems to be for the less experienced cook. It contains explicit information on what the cook needs to do in order for the recipe to come out as expected. It even describes the pan or bowl that should be used in making the pot roast.

         There is a different use of language in each of the cookbooks but all seem to have close patterns. All three of them do not use pronouns and each seems to have it’s own intended audience. As I said I am not a cook. Trying to follow a recipe is not easy even though I understand the words being used. They seem disjointed and lacking order. I find that when reading the recipes I feel frustrated and annoyed. I wonder if the structure of the recipe affects my ability to understand the joy of cooking?????