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Re:Show HN: Parsnip – Duolingo for Cooking by munk-a on Thursday July 28, 2022 @03:48PM (#32269279)
Endurance cuisine spreading via social media is quite silly but I did want to provide a brief counter example. My SO and I are lactose intolerant so we make occasional big batches of cheese at home - given that we're doing this if we're making lasagna or calzones we'll often set aside a portion of the cheese to tune it to the right moist/dryness level and that makes a big difference in the final product.

Knowing how to make homemade cheese and applying that skill economically when it'll make a significant difference in the final product is useful... that ends up going with a home made puttanesca sauce instead of some canned pasta sauce... but those two end up covering some store bought noodles because I have priorities about my time.

Much like a lot of we programming folks learned the basics in university (assembly programming, building basic data structures in C++) comprehending the basics can let you make a judgement call on when it's appropriate to put in the extra effort. Someone who has never cooked a load of break may find that task daunting and insurmountable... but someone who regularly cooks fresh rolls for their daily grain and just keeps a weeks worth of dough in a tin in the fridge can whip up fresh rolls for dinner in a matter of minutes.

Re:Show HN: Parsnip – Duolingo for Cooking by mizzao on Friday July 29, 2022 @12:13AM (#32273070)
Awesome comparison to learning programming.

Parsnip 5 years from now may have a recipes with a slider you can drag with "completely from scratch" on one end and "as fast as possible" on the other, which helps even beginners manage the trade-off between time and simplicity the same way that a much more experienced cook can do in their head.

This kind of magic is how we think we can help make cooking the easiest way to eat.

Re:Show HN: Parsnip – Duolingo for Cooking by munk-a on Friday July 29, 2022 @03:00PM (#32280572)
As a fan of programming and Star Trek analogies are sort of a required art form. And I really think it's true about cooking that a lot of cooking is insanely easy - but you need to overcome your fear of the unknown. The first time I cooked prawns I was deathly afraid I would poison people, but now that I know what I'm doing it's pretty trivial (even if I don't exercise that skill often).