A recipe is a set of instructions or advice for preparing food. The English word comes from the Latin imperative recipe for “take,” because recipes typically used to start, “Take one pound of flour. . . .”
The modern recipe often follows this format: (1) a title or a brief announcement of what is to be achieved; (2) a list of necessary food ingredients and sometimes special equipment; (3) the method, which spells out the steps to achieve the finished dish or component; and (4) serving instructions. A recipe can also include explanatory notes, which might give advice about ingredients, including possible substitutions; tips on method; snippets of historical and cultural background; and an acknowledgment of the source of the recipe. Particularly in collections, a recipe might come with comparative data, such as difficulty rating, total time necessary, and likely cost of ingredients.