Comments on: Adjusting a Recipe Doesn’t Make it Yours

By: diannejacob

diannejacob — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 00:25:03 +0000

I hope that, as a result of this post, you no longer copy recipes verbatim, Pam, even if it is a rare occurrence.

I don’t think this discussion is about who created the first original recipe for something. There is no way to ever discover that, and only food historians care. It is about putting your own work out there instead of copying the work of other people.

By: Pam Rauber

Pam Rauber — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 23:57:41 +0000

I know I am late in coming into this discussion but I couldn’t help but give input. Thank you Allison for pointing this out. ” ‘ideas’ cannot be copyrighted, but only the expression of them”. I too was becoming paranoid. If I copy verbatim, I tell the author and duly note it. That is an extraordinary rare occasion. I don’t copy recipes because I don’t like many of the ingredients used.
Like the burrito…who can take credit for shrimp and grits? Virginia Willis, or Paul Prudhomme, Emeril Lagasse Or..Me? It’s an idea. I’ve been making shrimp and grits or scallops and grits forever. I think I heard someone mention a meal of shrimp and grits years ago and I jumped on it. I didn’t look up a recipe, I just made it on the fly. The recipe I use is mine and it changes every time I make it. I will never lend credit to anyone yet, when I walk into a restaurant in the south, there it is shrimp and grits. I covered Chefs demonstrating at Taste of Atlanta and two well known chefs made shrimp and grits. Who owns it? So, I’m glad this was clarified. I feel better.

By: diannejacob

diannejacob — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 18:37:46 +0000

Yes, there are recipes for everything, including how to boil an egg. Someone who has never done it before needs to know. Obviously you don’t, so more power to you!

There is more to recipe writing than acknowledging your influences, especially if you have not rewritten the information, but you can never go wrong with that.

By: K

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 02:33:26 +0000

I’m not trying to be a jerk but, since when is making a burrito something you need a recipe for? Or a sandwich, for that matter? I will never understand those kinds of recipes. Following a homemade thai chili paste recipe? Makes sense. I wouldn’t take credit for it even if I tweaked it a million times. I make a meatless lasagna that I invented by putting a couple of recipes out of the same cookbook together and basing the sauce on how my mother would make – still not mine. But all you have to do, since it’s non-fiction, right? is acknowledge your influences. And that is done. And why about a burrito? If you don’t have enough imagination…
Great site and thanks!

By: diannejacob

diannejacob — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 23:41:24 +0000

Hi Michelle. It’s best to not use the same ingredients and amounts that are in a pre-existing recipe. Instead, experiment with the recipe to make it your own. Write your own title and headnote, and write your own directions. Yes, say that you adapted the recipe and give a link whenever possible. You don’t have to ask for permission if you do all this.

By: Michelle

Michelle — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 04:42:33 +0000

Hi Dianne,
I really don’t know much about blogging etiquette, but I just wanted your opinion on this: If I use the same ingredients and ingredient amounts that another recipe uses, but write my own directions according to my experiences, should I write that I adapted the recipe from the source or simply ask permission of the blogger and give full creds to them without writing about adaptations? I’m a bit confused, as I’ve seen quite a few notable bloggers that have simply re- posted the recipe in its entirety and written their opinons in parentheses or footnotes. I had always assumed this was okay, although many of the articles I’ve been reading up on have said differently. Maybe it was because the bloggers were simply referring to cookbook recipes that they had already asked the writer’s permission to use? I’m a bit of a newbie, as you may have assumed by now. It would be SO much appreciated if you helped me get these concepts straight!

By: A recipe for apple cake. | well fed, flat broke

A recipe for apple cake. | well fed, flat broke — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 05:20:12 +0000

[...] ownership has been a topic of discussion on Twitter and at Dianne Jacob’s website (here, here, and here) about this, and I don’t know what’s right. There are only so many recipes [...]

By: diannejacob

diannejacob — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 23:20:20 +0000

That sounds very reasonable.

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 21:48:50 +0000

That is true, original sources aren’t always listed. It’s complicated and controversial figuring where a recipe originates in most cases. Some come from friends that are written on recipe cards and who knows if they had been copied down elsewhere from a place unknown to us. So, I’m assuming, all you can do there is mention where the recipe came from. If you are using a recipe from a blog that doesn’t have an original source, pretty much all you can do is mention where you found the recipe you are posting. Something I have come across food bloggers doing is adding a note where they found the recipe and noting that they are unsure of where it originated, but offer the link where they found what they are using in their post. It’s tough to decipher the best course of action.

By: diannejacob

diannejacob — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 20:14:44 +0000

Okay. I agree in theory. But how do you know that the recipe you adapted had not also been adapted from elsewhere? Then you are giving credit to a copy. Authors don’t always say, as you know.

I’m just playing devil’s advocate here.