It has been said that the Culinary Arts are an art form because they have many similar attributes to other artistic endeavors, and we definitely agree! In Culinary Arts there is subjectivity, beauty and skill involved with flavour, appearance, and the variety of techniques used. The term Culinary Arts also covers a whole host of things related to cooking and baking such as preparation, cooking, presentation and even the serving of the food. We love the culinary arts because of their artistic ways but also because of the way food brings people together and encourages connection, story-telling, and feeds our hearts as well as our bodies.
So why “A Dash of This, A Smidge of That”?
There are a whole host of ‘approximate measure’ terms that have come in and out of fashion in the lexicon of cooking and baking through-out history. It has been helped along by the sharing of recipes with friends and family – even sometimes even popular and widely enough understood to be used in published cookbooks! We wanted to honour the idea that recipes have personality lent to them by those that create them and those that follow them. Check out the next column for a description of some of the terms.
Got your own term and definition? We’d love to add it! Use the Contact Us button to share and we will be sure to add it to the list.
Click the graphics below to visit different portions of our Culinary Arts Offerings; Recipes and Things My Family Taught me. Coming soon is a new addition Food Memories.
Dash –
Approximately 1/8th of a teaspoon for liquids
Smidge (or Smidgen) –
Approximately 1/32 of a teaspoon
Pinch –
The amount you can pinch between your thumb and forefinger
Dollop –
Approximately a tablespoon of a ‘soft’ food such as sour cream
Tad –
Approximately ¼ of a teaspoon
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