In a time of lockdown I embarked on a project to sort out storage boxes full of recipe clippings. An entire room began filling up with enough recipes to cover the entire Himalayas. If I did not take action and become the Marie Kondo of recipe down sizing I would have had to be rescued before drowning in an avalanche of recipe clippings.

At different stages in my life I cooked or baked my way through those recipe clippings and learnt about cuisines, prep techniques, presentation and food trends from across the globe.

I have meet lots of people across the world who collect recipes with a plan to cook or bake something sooner or later. So if you collect recipes you are automatically a part of what I call The Random Recipe Society.

WHAT’S THE RANDOM RECIPE SOCIETY?

The Random Recipe Society is the global phenomenon made up of people who love to collect recipes beyond cookbooks.

Family and friends’ recipes handed down through the generations are the genesis of the Random Recipe Society.

In the 20^th century hard copy magazines and newspapers became a main source of random recipes which were then ‘clipped’ or cut out. This system is still in use today. It is known as the ‘clip and collect’ method.

WHY MAGAZINES AND NEWSPAPERS?

Lifestyle magazines (not to be confused with magazines totally devoted to food) and newspapers always have recipe sections. They are a great resource for an awesome range of recipes to clip and collect.

AWESOME FOOD FACT: Before tree conservation considerations, some magazines would offer entire recipe ‘cut-out’ sections as large as a small novel.  These were very exciting as you could get lots of random recipes at once normally based on a theme like: ‘Christmas Cakes from Around the World’ or one of my favourites: The Leggo Comic Book of recipes for kids.

THE ARRIVAL OF THE INTERNET

The arrival of online searching expanded the horizons of The Random Recipe Society to, literally, global proportions. Authentic recipes from multiple cultures can now be endlessly searched and saved. Old school magazines and newspapers are online as well so no-one misses out. Recipes sourced this way are sometimes printed out to avoid the phenomenon of food splattered iphones and computer screens.

 

RANDOM RECIPE SOCIETY FILING SYSTEMS

Those who utilise hard copy recipes keep them stashed in random places. Some examples are:

• In a heap on a table.
• In fancy filing systems.
• In storage boxes.
• Inside the covers of cookbooks full of similar recipes.
• Stuck on fridges with magnets until there are too many and they all fall off each time the fridge is opened.

Which brings me back to my random recipe clearing out project.

Did my recipe clippings downsize spark joy?  The end result was more like 3 chefs hats full of happiness.

I discovered a treasure trove of forgotten recipes spanning several decades.

A United Nations of Cuisines from across the globe were in my collection. I Random Recipe catalogued and sorted.

A lot were unreadable, falling apart or nibbled by pesky critters due to incorrect storage. I Random Recipe discarded.

There were a lot that were repeats of the same recipe. I Random Recipe recycled to other members of the Random Recipe Society.

The final result is an epic library of catalogued recipes and food memories ready to share.