Monday, April 19, 2010

A Cookbook Should Stirve For Accuracy Above All

Penguin Australia Books has suffered some embarrassment due to a misprint in one of their recipe books, in a recipe for "spent tagliatelle with sardines and prosciutto" which called for "freshly ground black people" as an ingredient.

They've gone off the deep end over this minor misprint, and so evidently have some of their customers, to the point they have recalled all of the unsold books, to be replaced with the corrected version. They have further promised to replace the misprint version for any customer that might be offended by what the company refers to as a "silly mistake".

Well personally I can see why an unaware customer might take offense, and it is certainly good that the company has offered to make restitution.

After all, "Freshly Ground Black People" is a bit much isn't it? The recipe doesn't even specify HOW MANY freshly ground black people one is to use in the recipe. Some might defensively insist that one should obviously use this particular ingredient to suit ones taste. However, it seems quite obvious to me that, if that is the case the recipe should simply read "Freshly Ground Black Person (to taste)".

"Person" singular, not "People" plural.

An entire person would be a bit much at that, even if cooking for a banquet, so once you are finished preparing your meal, I would suggest you keep your Freshly Ground Black Person in a tightly sealed container in order to retain freshness for future use.