How to Actually Read a Recipe

A recipe is a sketch, not a contract. Reading it well is a skill worth practicing.

Read the whole thing before you start. Picture each step, note where things happen at once, and get your prep done first. The French call it mise en place, and it is the difference between calm and chaos.

Trust the sensory cues over the numbers. "Cook until golden" matters more than "cook for eight minutes," because your pan, your stove and your ingredients are never quite the same as the writer's.

Taste as you go and adjust. Salt, acid and heat are levers you pull throughout, not just at the end. A recipe is a starting point; you are the one standing at the stove.