Saturday, November 22, 2008

Beware of the Tablespoon




Warning
Some of the recipes in this blog may date back to 1940. Over the years I have collected recipes from various sources. My own recipe collection started in 1968.
I have inherited old collections from aunts and parents.
I have also lived on three continents during his time and never thought to record the source of my clippings. Perhaps I never considering sharing them with anyone.
Beginners should only trust recipes given in grams and millilitres because cup and tablespoon measures may vary too much from country to country and from different sources within the same region.

When I post a recipe from one of my collections, I normally also post a few web links to similar recipes so that methods, measures and ingredients can be compared.

Here are examples of discrepancies in TABLESPOON MEASURES

TABLESPOON MEASURES:
  • Margaret Powell (British) 1970 Tablespoon = 18 ml
  • Australian and New Zealand Complete cooking 1973 = Tablespoon = 25 ml
  • Best of Cooking (Hamlyn) - Tablespoon, (Australia) = 20 ml
  • Best of Cooking (Hamlyn) - Tablespoon, (British) = 17,7 ml
  • Best of Cooking (Hamlyn) - Tablespoon, (America) 14,2
  • Indian Cooking, Chowhary 1952 - = Tablespoon = 25 ml
  • Cook and Enjoy, De Villiers 1971 (South Africa) = Tablespoon = 12,5 ml
  • Complete South African Cookbook (South Africa) 1979 Tablespoon = 12,5
  • The Australian Women's weekly 1978 = 20 ml

I found the following Tablespoon references on the Internet
  • British Tablespoon = 17,7 ml, 18 ml, 15 ml
  • Australian Tablespoon = 20 ml or 25 ml
  • Canadian Tablespoon = 15 ml
  • American Tablespoon = 14,2, 14,79
  • South African Tablespoon = 12,5 or 15 ml

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