How to Record Grandma's Recipes Before They Are Lost
A practical guide to recording recipes from grandparents: turning 'to taste' into real measurements, filming the steps and keeping the story behind each dish.
Recording a recipe from your grandmother or mother takes more than asking "what goes in it?". Someone who has cooked for decades often forgets to mention the small steps that make all the difference. The best way is to cook together and take notes as you watch.
Before you start
- Have a small kitchen scale, measuring spoons, a measuring jug and a notebook or phone ready.
- Choose just one dish per day. Do not rush.
- Ask them to cook as usual, with the tools they normally use.
1. Turn "to taste" into numbers
This is the most important part. Before an ingredient goes into the pan, ask them to put it in a bowl or spoon first. Weigh or measure it, write it down, then add it. For example, "a handful of chillies" turns out to be 60 g, "a thumb of turmeric" is 4 cm, and "salt to taste" is 1½ teaspoons. Pour liquids into a measuring jug first.
2. Note the order and the signs of doneness
Write down the order ingredients go in and how long each step takes. What often gets missed are the cues they use, such as "fry the paste until the oil separates", "keep stirring the coconut milk until it boils so it does not split", or "cook until the sauce is reduced by half". Cues like these are more useful than minutes.
3. Film it on your phone
Short videos help with movements that are hard to describe: how to grind with a mortar, how to fold a leaf wrapper, how to knead a dough. Photograph the colour of the spice paste and the finished dish too, so you know what it should look like.
4. Ask for the story
- What is the dish called in the local language, and what does the name mean?
- Who taught them? Which region does the recipe come from?
- When is it usually cooked: every day, for celebrations, ceremonies or holidays?
- Which ingredients were used in the past but have been replaced, and with what?
5. Cook it again yourself
A written recipe has to be tested. Cook it yourself from your notes, then ask them to taste it. If it is not the same, find what is missing and correct your notes. A recipe is only truly saved when someone else can cook it from the notes.
6. Keep it and share it
Type the recipe up neatly: dish name, region, number of servings, ingredients with measurements, steps and tips. Keep copies in more than one place and share them with the family. For examples of a complete recipe layout, see nasi liwet Sunda, gecok Sumbawa or jukut urab.
Would you like your family recipe to be known more widely? Send it to us through our Heritage page.
