Lois, One of the wonderful things about cooking is the ability to
change it all and adapt it to what you think you would like!! :) I
think of a recipe as house frame, the method of cooking as the
foundation and the herbs and spices as the paint, shutters and flowers
in the yard. The frame and the foundation have to stay, but you can
always change the color of the paint, buy new shutters, take them down,
paint them and goodness know what you can do with the garden!!!
Certainly, recipes are recipes by virtue of their ingredients which
gives them their "titles" or their "histories" and many people stand
firm in their choice of preparation and adherence to the posted
ingredents. But if you find that you like the way the basics of the
recipe sound, twingle with it and try to make it appealing to you, so
that you can enjoy it. Personally, I don't think many of the recipes
sound or taste alike, partly because they come from so many sources. It
is true that as access to a wider variety of what were once considered
exotic ingredents has become much easier in our daily shopping routine
and more restaurants, cookbooks, TV shows and magazines show and tell us
how to use these items. Make it you own and enjoy.
felicia
Durham, NC
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