It's a hypocritical thing for a cookbook author to say. Worse, for someone who obsessively buys cookbooks and reads them in bed like novels. But the truth is, I seldom cook from cookbooks. Strict measures bore me. I feel like I have no control on the cooking process whatsoever. A strictly prescriptive recipe can often be intimidating to a novice cook and downright boring to a slightly accomplished one. As a novice, I am likely to think, "there seem to be very strict rules here, and I don't want to do anything wrong." On the other hand, if I am used to cooking, I'd think the recipe is dumbing things down, not allowing me to enjoy the process of creating something. I like to think of a recipe as something that grabs me by the hand and says, "Hey, let's take a walk to someplace new tonight!"; a departure from the everyday. There are exceptions, of course—baking or sugar craft, for instance, where the slightest change in temperature could result in absolute failure.

Broadly, however, I think the job of a cookbook writer is not to provide "one" recipe but instead, empower the reader-cook to make several versions of that recipe and make it their own. It's to reassure, and say, it's going to turn out great even if you are missing a few ingredients or your garnish isn't placed just so.