Junk on the Web? Say What?!
A recent letter to the editor in Food and Wine magazine seriously made me do a double-take and reread it. In the March issue, editor Dana Cowin asked readers, “Do you go to the Web for cooking information?” Certainly a reasonable enough question, right? In the June issue, one of the replies was:
Here’s my view on going to the Web for cooking information: I don’t. Why? Because most of what’s online is, frankly, junk. You might find a great recipe, tip or technique, but is it really worth the time? Plus, when you work on a computer all day, the last thing you want to do is take one of life’s most fun diversions, cooking and eating, and sit at a computer thinking about it. The Web has its merits, but with all the great food magazines and cookbooks, why bother? JP Frenza, Brooklyn, NY
Is he kidding me? In a quick flash of my fingers, I can instantly find ingredient substitutions, answers to measurement questions, correct temperatures for various meats, party-planning ideas, decorating sources, a specific recipe I’ve misplaced, recipe ideas and more, saving myself all sorts of time sifting through my cookbooks. While I am a self-confessed cookbook addict and wholeheartedly admit they have their place and will never be replaced (trust me, with nearly 1000 in my collection, I know), I’m just a little surprised by the dismissiveness of the Web as a whole and it’s definition as “junk.” Methinks JP Frenza just doesn’t know where to look.
I concur with your opinion; admittedly googling for a recipe (or ingredient) by just its name can lead to long lists of (mostly) useless or hard to use results. Finding something on the web is as much about knowing where to start your search as it is being able to gauge your results. Then again, aren’t food magazines and food websites in direct competition with one another and serving (mostly) different market segments with only a small crossover? I wonder if JP’s opinion is common to most print-magazine readers.