You don't need software to soft boil an egg, despite what gourmand geeks might say.
But there is a growing stack of CD-ROM computer cooking programs out there that can pictorially, precisely and professionally guide a cybercook through everything from squid cleaning to poultry pounding.A couple of seasons ago, a mini-computer-CD player-VCR-kitchen appliance was introduced as a "must have" for upscale home cooks. It was designed as an "under the counter" invention. With an extensive (and expensive) recipe repertoire, the culinary student could watch step-by-step video cooking techniques.
Critics weren't thrilled with the high-tech tool. Opinions ranged from "the price ISN'T right" (several hundreds of dollars) to "just what I need . . . a greasy keyboard!"
The menu machine bombed.
Which brings us to a new era with new possibilities. Technology and time have delivered us to a mindset of acceptance: The computer is an extremely useful kitchen appliance.
CD-ROM cooking programs are becoming a dandy way to organize recipes, make shopping lists, and plan menus.
Jeff Siegel, writing for Fine Cooking magazine, describes cooking software as a high-tech leap from the tradition of grease-stained recipe cards.
"Cooking software programs let your recipe collection migrate from the material world -- where it can be the victim of stains, decay, and general forgetfulness -- to the accessible, organized world of your computer," he says.
Plus: You can input years of cherished, yellowed scraps of paper and know where they'll forevermore be "filed." That is, unless you misplace your computer. Difficult, but . . .
It takes some doing, but after cataloging all those favorite recipes from Aunt Winnifred, you'll feel like you've written your own cookbook.
Each program offers recipes of their own -- the CD is actually a "cookbook" with varied themes.
In looking for a software cooking program, Siegel suggests looking for certain features.
Ease of inputing your own recipes:
The leading software packages include a template for recipe entry. A helpful (although initially surprising) time-saver is the "quick-fill" function. If the computer recognizes an ingredient or a measurement after you begin to type, it completes the word. Example: if you enter "cucum," the "ber" automatically follows.
Easy printing:
Siegel thinks the "niftiest" function is the software's ability to print a recipe on one sheet of paper. This alleviates annoying cookbook juggling. Plus, if your printer is the high resolution type, some software allows you to print pictures of the recipe.
Checking nutritional content:
Programs that are worth their "sodium" will list nutritional data for every recipe you enter. Better programs compute information based on the USDA's recommended daily allowances. Most allow you to plan meals based on specific nutritional guides.
Menu planning:
The better programs let the user "drag and drop" a recipe across the screen to a shopping list. A "pantry" list keeps track of the recipe ingredients.
Scaling recipes:
This feature keeps the user from cooking for a regiment -- like when you turn a recipe for 12 into one that serves four. With menu scaling, 1/2 cup in a recipe for 12 becomes 2 tablespoons in a recipe for four -- all with just a flick of the mouse.
Until we tapped into the Internet, cooking software was difficult to locate. Supplying our demand, we were sent "The Joy of Cooking" CD-ROM, the electronic version of the classic Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker and Ethan Becker, and "America's Greatest Chili Cookbook," both by CompuWorks.
We selected this week's recipes from both programs.
Here are a few of the more popular cooking CD-ROM programs we found on the Web; like cookbooks, each has its own target audience:
Better Homes and Gardens Great American Cooking
Features best-loved community recipes. With narrated video showing advanced cooking techniques.
Retail $28.95
The Complete Master Cook Suite
Includes flagship title containing 3,000 recipes divided into three cookbooks; MasterCook Deluxe 4.0, MasterCook Light and Graham Kerr's Swiftly Seasoned.
Retail $48.95
Weight Watchers Light and Tasty
Whatever you choose -- Italian, chicken, barbecue -- you'll find the best from 10 Weight Watchers cookbooks.
Retail $34.95
Cooking with Dom DeLuise
Can't have Dom DeLuise over for dinner? Get him in the kitchen instead -- for some hilarious help with your next meal. Two-set disc of Dom's favorite (mostly Italian) recipes.
Retail $14.95
Vegetarian Delights
The popularity of vegetarian and nutritious eating is mirrored in this CD-ROM. Includes 200 recipes, 160 videos with sound, and recipes for children to prepare.
$17.95