I have no argument with this nomenclature save that it should serve as an umbrella title for all forms of ‘metics, ‘matics, ‘metrys and ‘bras. The quantity of water displaced by two fat men in a bath would only be of interest to the people in the apartment below and questions entailing trains bursting out of tunnels are too much for an adolescent mind whose days, and particularly nights, are spent dreaming of the moment when the answer to this sticky problem will be revealed to them and, more importantly, by whom. Would it be x? or would it by y? and why would it be y rather than x …..why not x + y.. or x/y and mental puberty was born.
Cups and spoons are familiar objects in every kitchen and it was this familiarity that concerned me yesterday as I stared in vain and in anger at a recipe defining the precise measurements of ingredients that I would need in cups and spoons. The charm and, above all, practicality of both cups and spoons is that both cups and spoons vary enormously in shape and size. With that in mind it beggars belief that some Pilgrim Mother, bereft of her scales, had an ersatz Eureka moment in which she declared that recipe measurements should henceforth be measured in cups and spoons; more exactly, her personal cup and spoon. Behaviour such as that can, and should be, defined as mental arithmetic. Legend has it that her fellow Pilgrim Mothers hung a large, red letter A around her neck : AVOIRDUPOIDS……
Food, Photography & France 
Tablespoon is the worst one – in my house it’s the large one used for serving. I suppose that in the old days, before printing and coke by the gram, one used the same spoon for everything.
…I’ve seen strawberries for sale in Paris by the livre!
With regards the livre… it’s used in markets here for 500gms… good to see the French are reclaiming avoirdupoids😀
Ha ha – I only realised recently that the lira, still used in Turkey, is also a pound.
More confusion… I remember that a the son of a friend of ours was given a gram dealer’s spoon as a present on his birth😀
ROFL – they must have frequented the Zanzibar in the 80s.
Have a cup of tea with a spoonful of sugar, and relax!
Having several glasses of rosé, instead😀
I love working in cups and spoons, but maybe that’s ‘cos I had to learn all the conversions when I lived down under – so immediately convert in my head! And it’s actually quicker than getting my weighing scales out! Love the prose though as always Rog x
Hi Louise….I hadn’t thought that they worked in cups down under. I find the metric system so good to work with because I’m used to it, I guess. Never thought of the convenience of working without scales….not a word, please, as it rather fucks up my argument:)
I prefer the precision of weighing scales, except for those recipes which call for a dollop of this and a handful of that (most of my cooking, when I’m not writing it up for other people to follow). 🙂
“…for other people to follow” there lies the problem. Wouldn’t it be great if one could assume that readers knew how to cook and didn’t need every tiny detail spelled out to them…..it’s nearly as though they’re going to sue you if the cake doesn’t rise:)
I know people who aren’t experienced cooks who like to have the details explained and others who are experienced cooks who seethe when they see the words ‘a handful’ or ‘a dollop’. So although I see recipes as guidelines, I don’t think a bit of precision goes amiss. I suppose it depends what sort of blog you’re writing.
I think you’re right in that a little bit of precision never goes amiss….the quantities have to be clear…this is where I have my problem with cups,etc. My blog is about the food I cook but I’m definitely not a “food writer”. The proof of the pudding in my posts is the prose…I like that to work:)
I always enjoy your posts, both the writing and of course the photography. And I’m with you on cups. xxx
Cheers, LInda….we shall stick with dough, raie, me ( couldn’t think of one for me):)
Mee-goreng? 😀
…phal, soy, lard, tea, dough😀
Lol should be in there somewhere. 🙂
I shall add it as an extra note …..the woman who found the lost note ( I was singing that but it probably doesn’t come over in the typed word)
If I found the lost note it would be an epic fail. Tone deaf.
You and me…..at prep school, I had to empty the dustbins while the rest of my year had choir practice:)
Haha, my school tried to be inclusive. I was one of the growlers at the back.
Love it😀
As a European living in the US since 30 years, I still get confused with this measure of cups, I mean what is that? ….what size of cup?…. it’s much easier for me to be precise with my European scale I brought with me 30 years ago. Have a cup of Rose, please
I feel the same about cups…I even had some measuring cups and spoons at one time….the problem was that I always took out the scales first thing when I started to cook something. Cheers, cup of rosé went down very well:)
I try, when I know the conversions, to add them to my recipes but it’s a learning curve. It’s going to be quite the shift when we move back to the UK. I love reading very old cookery books and how vague the measurements are. Plus a warm oven vs a hot oven. That would be hard to figure out these days!
Are you thinking of moving back to the UK?…interesting timing! I can understand that when you’re used to cups and spoons it’s going to be a big change….but the amount of books that are printed with the US market in mind means that you should be OK:)
Yes we’re heading back once our son is done with school in a few years. Brexit is giving us heartburn. But it will be what it will be. Despite being subjects of the queen you and I weren’t allowed a say. It’s going to be interesting!
Interesting it surely will be.
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