MeritKeep

Cook from what you have, with no recipe

Photograph what is in your kitchen. Then cook a dish from it without looking up a recipe, and write down what you decided as you went. This is the project the whole pack builds towards, and the write-up matters as much as the food. Cooking without a recipe is a sequence of judgements, and the ones that did not work are the most interesting thing you can hand in.

Part of the Home Cooking course~90 minutesEvidence: a write-up and up to 2 photographsWe check the technical side. Whether it's any good is your call
01 · What counts as done

What you have to hand in

  • A photograph of the starting ingredients, and one of the finished dish.
  • What plays each role — base, main element, acid, seasoning — and any role you deliberately left out.
  • The order things went in, driven by cooking times, including anything cooked separately and recombined.
  • Each point you seasoned at with its reason, including a correction made after tasting.
  • At least one decision that went wrong, and what you did about it.
02 · How it will be marked

The checklist, published before you start

We score your work against each line below, and every score has to quote the part of your work it is based on. You read all of it first, so you can argue with any score on the specifics.
  • The dish has a structure30% of the grade

    A base, a main element, an acid and a seasoning — the submission can say what plays each role, rather than having combined what was there.

    1. AbsentIngredients combined with no stated structure.
    2. DevelopingA structure is visible but not articulated.
    3. Competent— this is the pass markEach role named and filled.
    4. StrongNamed, filled, and one role deliberately left out with a reason.
  • Things went in in the right order25% of the grade

    The method shows an order driven by cooking times rather than by the order they were found.

    1. AbsentEverything added at once.
    2. DevelopingRoughly ordered with an obvious misstep.
    3. Competent— this is the pass markOrder driven by cooking time.
    4. StrongOrder justified, including anything cooked separately and recombined.
  • Seasoning happened more than once25% of the grade

    The write-up names each point salt or acid went in, and why then.

    1. AbsentSeasoned once at the end, or not mentioned.
    2. DevelopingTwo points named, without reasons.
    3. Competent— this is the pass markEach point named with its reason.
    4. StrongNamed, reasoned, and includes a correction made after tasting.
  • The decisions are in the write-up20% of the grade

    Cooking without a recipe is a sequence of judgements. The submission records them, including the ones that did not work.

    1. AbsentReads as a recipe written afterwards.
    2. DevelopingOne decision mentioned.
    3. Competent— this is the pass markSeveral decisions recorded as they arose.
    4. StrongRecorded, including at least one that went wrong and what was done about it.
03 · What this proves

The skills a pass would prove

Pass, and these skills count as proven, with this piece of work attached as the evidence.

This brief is part of the Home Cooking course

Starting it starts the course: every skill above, in the order they depend on each other, with this brief at the end as the thing you hand in — marked against the checklist you have just read and nothing else.

About three minutes to set up: what you want to do with Home Cooking, where you are starting from, and how many hours a week you actually have. The subject we already have from this page.Start the Home Cooking course
See the whole Home Cooking course, or every graded brief we run.

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