Mark Bittman's Recipe Charts: What Do You Think?

In between articles on soda taxes and sustainable farming in his new Opinion column, Mark Bittman has still been sneaking in a few recipes for us to clip and save. But a few of these recipes look a little...different. Less like recipes and more like...reference charts. Have you noticed this, and if so, what do you think of this recipe format?

Bittman actually refers to this as "matrix" cooking, referring to a four-square grid with one basic recipe, two variations, and pictures to illustrate. The idea is that you can get a hankering a certain kind of soup - say a creamy one or a very hearty one - and then simply refer to the chart to make it. You don't need a specific recipe, you just need the basic technique.

In a recent interview on Good Food, Bittman explained that he'd been trying to make this concept work for his Minimalist column, but just couldn't find a way to do it. With the move to The New York Times Magazine with his recipe columns, he was able to work with the design team to develop the visual matrix model.

Personally, we really like this method of recipe writing. It's flexible and easy to use, and it feels like a natural evolution of his recipe style in How to Cook Everything. Evan Kleiman of Good Food also points out during her interview with Bittman that this is the way that professional chefs think about cooking.

So far Bittman has done two of these types of columns, one on soups and one on white fish. Take a look!

• EAT: Creamy, Brothy, Earthy, Hearty by Mark Bittman
• EAT: Broiled, Sautéed, Roasted, Poached by Mark Bittman

Also, listen to the full interview with Mark Bittman on Good Food:

• Mark Bittman on Good Food

Do you like this recipe format? Have you tried cooking from either of these matrix charts?

(Image: The New York Times)

Comments (17)

I really like this. It's very much how I cook on a night to night basis. I also feel like it encourages people to think of recipes as evolving, encouraging them to make changes themselves rather than following one recipe strictly.

I think the matrix isn't as much for new cooks as it is for folks who need a pick-me-up to help with new ways to prepare things (I fall into that category some nights). Most of what's there is so minimal that I think a new cook would be intimidated; 'Roast until fish is done' would send a noob to a cookbook; 'Garnish: The pan juices' is a whole 'nother process in itself, again, not for the inexperienced cook.

This type of format is a nice extension for anyone who (like me) lives and dies by Bittman's definitive cookbook How to Cook Everything. That provides the basics; now we're doing variations on a theme.

I agree with tinyviolin; if you already have one of Bittman's cookbooks (in my case, How to Cook Everything Vegetarian), these matrices are just a natural extension of those books. I really like them, as they give me new ideas to work with. I think they're also an improvement over many of the lists Bittman used to write for the Times; I like how they are organized.

This presentation is useful. Hope he has time for more things like this. I have become tired of his new political, evangelical, food columns - hope he finds his voice in this new role at NYTimes soon. Will likely take some time - after all, the Minimalist was a 13 year 'work in progress.' [Truth is I miss the Minimalist.]

I just like everything Mark Bittman does.....this included.

I love his new column, and I love that he isn't afraid to share his opinions. We need more radical voices in food columns.

Bittman should talk to the folks at GOOD Magazine who are (were?) running a contest to redesign the traditional recipe layout.

I think this matrix method of cooking may actually encourage shy cooks -- those who stick closely to a recipe so as not to "screw up" .. It teaches the basics of a meal type and simplifies the idea of "experimentation" in the kitchen. Bittman's work is great (plus the creatives that helped develop the visual component!). I need a matrix like this for spices and seasonings :)

I was going to say I personally am not a fan, based on having read the soup one and found it a little too simplistic (okay, yes, you can put vegetables in a pot with water and make soup...known that one for a while). I kind of like the fish one though, it seems a little more creative with a little more technique. This is probably because I cook mostly vegetarian, so the soup one is old news but I haven't done so much with fish, so perhaps someone who hadn't made much soup would like that one.

Still, not sure how different this is from a regular recipe, which I would also look at as a useful template you could deviate from. I guess I'm happy with it as long as the actual products themselves are interesting, otherwise it's more of a dull how-to.

I really enjoy his simplistic approach to explaining recipe variations. FYI - I made the white fish in tomato fennel broth variation. Amazing.

Brandon

I love them. It encourages me to learn a concept and then experiment with variations. Heidi Swanson's first cookbook, Cook 1.0, is somewhat similar but with less of a visual format.

i like it!

sometimes i get nervous making a new or more difficult recipe, especially when there's a photo of the end product. it would be nice to have photos 'in the process' to make sure i'm doing it right.

kind of a 'cooking for dummies' thing, so obviously more useful for more difficult recipes than easy ones.

I don't like the new style AT ALL. He'll list a "variation" that will say: replace "x" with "y" and leave out "a, b and c." Then instead of baking, saute in "w", finishing with "q" instead of "s"
It seems like it would be much easier for me to read an entirely new recipe than to have to figure out what NOT to use with the new ingredients/method.

His recipes are wonderful! They're perfect for anyone with a little bit of cooking experience who doesn't need a full recipe with all the steps and amounts explained in perfect detail.

Mark Bittman is the best!

I love Mark Bittman, but I agree with subeth, it drives me a little nuts to look back and forth between the original recipe and the variation.

His 'Food Matters' books do this a lot, but even tho I find it awkward, I use those books all the time.

@phoxx- evangelical is the perfect word! I completely agree.