When Is A Recipe Really Yours?
When is a recipe really yours? Standard guidelines say that if you've made at least three ingredient changes, you own it. (Technically, lists of ingredients can't be copyrighted anyway, though directions arguably can.)
That's the letter of the law, but I thought Amanda Hesser added a lot of spirit back to the debate in this Q&A with food-writing coach Dianne Jacob. Despite that three-ingredient rule, she says "Personal voice, experience, and conviction are what come through. If you’re just tweaking to legally call something your own, that lack of genuineness will surface."
I've been thinking about the question after playing around with the quick scone recipe my best friend wrote out for me back in high school. I've made her raisin scones for brunches or surprise weekend visitors ever since, but decided this week to change it up. Instead of using all-purpose flour, I used a mix of all-purpose and buckwheat. I've been enamoured of buckwheat flour since making Jess Thomson's shortbread cookies, and both Jess and Kim Boyce have been inspiring me to use more whole grains when I cook. I liked the taste when the scones came out of the oven, but thought the texture was a bit too soft, with none of the crisp crunchy bits I prefer on the edges of my scones. For the next batch, instead of using softened butter, I froze a bar and grated it into the mixture a la pie crust. I got the crispy crunch back, plus a flakier bite.
Truthfully, these taste pretty far from my friend's scones now. They're more of a savory treat that calls out for butter, rather than a sweet. But if I passed the recipe on, I would still credit my friend with the original. It's part of the story of the scones, for one thing. But it also just seems like the right thing to do. When in doubt, why not err on the side of giving credit where credit is due?
Here's the recipe I got from Courtney all these years ago. (Another question, as we've discussed before, is where she got it from before that. I have no idea.) If you make changes to it, why not blog about it and let us know?
Scones
Ingredients:
3 2/3 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
3/4 cup milk
a few tablespoons honey (optional)
a few handfuls of raisins, to taste
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl.
3. Cut in butter until mixture is the consistency of cornmeal.
4. Mix eggs and milk together in a small bowl.
5. Add egg-milk mixture and raisins to the flour-butter mixture. Mix until dough holds together in a ball.
6. Form scones (I just take a hand-size clump of dough) and place on baking sheet.
7. Brush with honey (if desired).
8. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until lightly browned.
Makes about 8 scones
-- Rebekah Denn
Scott on March 20, 2011 at 06:22 AM
If you like buckwheat, try making pizzocheri (I think that's right), the buchwheat pasta from northern Italy. With a bitter vegetable, like radicchio, or a spicy one like arugula, it makes a great meal.
Dianne Jacob on March 21, 2011 at 12:40 PM
Hi Rebekah,
You've done a great job of adapting the recipe into your own. I love the technique of freezing the butter and grating it. I've never heard of that. Crediting the original author is a nice touch, as is explaining how you changed it.
Maybe next time you'll add dried cherries or change something else. That's what makes what we do such a fun, creative adventure.