Easy as Pie: The Complexities of Cookbook Indexing

Presented by Fred Leise

Chicago/Great Lakes Chapter, American Society for Indexing

November 7, 2009

Easy as Pie:The Complexities of Cookbook Indexing

What You Wanted to Know

Basic principles of cookbook indexing

Term selection

Differences from other subjects

Key term categories

Questions to ask the editor

What You Wanted to Know

What is essential in cookbook index

Look at bad and good indexes

Goals for This Workshop

Increase your understanding of how cookbook indexes are created

Improve your cookbook indexing skills

Enable you to recognize good and bad cookbook indexes

Workshop Overview

I. Theory

1. About cookbooks

2. Facets and classification

3. Types of cookbooks

4. Indexing recipe titles

Workshop Overview

I. Theory (cont.)

5. Indexing additional content

II. Reviews of Cookbook Indexes

III. Breaking in to cookbook indexing

I. Theory

Special Problems in Cookbook Indexing

Cookbooks are technical manuals

Specialized vocabulary

Obscure or confusing terminology: Boston Cream Pie doesn’t have cream in it, nor is it a pie

Implicit information

You said

Dealing with lengthy main entries

Choosing appropriate subheadings

Using terminology and structure that cooks with a range of experience can use

You said

Maximum access to each recipe in shortest possible format

You said

Choosing key ingredients for inclusion in the index

Problem of multiple entries: Shepherd's pie, savory pies, minced meat, meat, beef, ground beef, mashed potato crust

Qualities of Cookbook Indexers

Subject matter expertise (culinary knowledge)

Being a cook

Being a detective

Audience context

Why readers use a cookbook index

Do I want to buy this book?

Refinding specific recipe (searchers)

What can I cook with ingredient X?

It’s time for backyard grilling.

What’s for dessert? (browsers)

Cookbook Indexes

Cookbook indexes

use faceted classifications.

Facets

First introduced by S. J. Ranganathan in the early 1930s.

, Personality What is it?

; Matter What is it made of?

: Energy What action is it performing?

. Space Where is it?

‘ Time When is it?

Facets

research in the cure of tuberculosis of lungs by x-ray conducted in India in 1950

L,45;421:6;253:f.44'N5

Fundamental categories by which an object or concept may be described

Facets

Example: facets describing a ball:

size, weight, shape, color, texture, material

Other possible facets?

Facets

Book facets

Author

Publisher

Format

Facets in Cooking

Recipe titles Dish type

Ingredients Dietary type

Cuisines Holidays

Meal types

Cooking methods

Heading-Subheading Relationships

whole-part relationship

carsdrive shaft

desksdesk drawers

treesbranches

Entity-characteristics relationships

ironstrength of

washing machinesload size

bloodhoundstracking abilities

Heading-context relationship

Roosevelt, Franklinat Yalta conference

bridgesof Madison County

Tale of Genjifilm adaptations of

For cookbooks, most subheadings are examples or instances of heading (classifications)

Baked rice puddingsEnglishwith fruit and nutsItalianwith meringueSwiss

dumplingsgnocchigyozaknödelpfluttersspätzle

Cookbook indexes

use faceted classifications.

Cookbook Types

Provide context for indexing

Assist identification of metatopic

Aid in identification of possible facets

Cookbook Types

1. Ingredient-based

2. Technique-based

Cookbook Types

3. Cuisine-based

Cookbook Types

4. Type of meal

Cookbook Types

5. Type of dish

6. Equipment-based

Cookbook Types

7. General

Cookbook Types

8. Vanity

Cookbook Types

[anything spiral bound]

9. Historical

Cookbook Types

10. Personality-based

Cookbook Types

11. Textbook

Cookbook Types

Facets for Indexing

Recipe titles Dish type

Ingredients Dietary type

Cuisines Holidays

Meal types

Cooking methods

Indexing Recipe Titles

Alphabetization

Letter-by-letter

Format

Indented preferred over run-in

Creole Cookery

Persian Cooking

Index Format

Single-level index

The Escoffier Cook Book

If you do nothing else in a cookbook index, you should index recipe titles, both as main headings and as subheadings under appropriate facets.

Recipe Titles

Capitalization: Four Styles

1. Formal (extreme upper case)

All main headings capitalized

All subentries that are recipe titles or title fragments are capitalized

Capitalization

1. Formal (extreme upper case)

Black Beans about Frijoles Negros Oaxaca Tostada Bites and RiceBlack Cherry SoupBlack Currant Duck Breasts

Capitalization

2. Modified uppercase style

Exact recipe titles are capitalized

Headings are lowercase

Descriptive recipe names are lower case

Capitalization

2. Modified uppercase style

black beans about Frijoles Negros Oaxaca Tostada Bites and RiceBlack Cherry SoupBlack Currant Duck Breasts

Capitalization

3. Modified lower case

Main entries capitalized (initial cap)

All subentries are lower case

Capitalization

3. Modified lower case

Black beans about frijoles negros Oaxaca tostada bites and rice Black cherry soup Black currant duck breasts

Capitalization

4. Informal (extreme lower case)

All headings, subheadings and recipe titles are lower case

Only proper names are capitalized

Capitalization

4. Informal (extreme lower case)

black beans about frijoles negros Oaxaca tostada bites and rice black cherry soup black currant duck breasts

Recipe Titles

Levels of subheadings

Needed versus allowable

Recipe Titlesfour levels displayed as two

Culinary Arts Institute Encyclopedic Cookbook

Recipe Titles

Title as main entry in index

Recipe Titles

Title under each defining ingredient

Recipe Titles

Title under each additional appropriate facet

Recipe Titles

Title under each additional appropriate facet

Recipe Titles

Need for choices

Grandma Greta's Romaine and Red Cabbage Slaw with Mustard Blue Cheese Dressing

Single best index entry?

Source: Rose Grant, “Cookbook Indexing: Not as Easy as ABC,” Culinary SIG website

Recipe Titles

Full title subheadings (exact quote)

Recipe Titles

Subhead title style

Exact quote title takes more space

Exact quote does not allow for inversions

Recipe Titles

Full title inversions

Bring significant word forward

Recipe Titles

Problems with not inverting

PiesApple-Cranberry PieAunt Jenny's Rhubarb PieChiffon Pumpkin PieDeep-Dish Apple PieRhubarb-Raspberry PieThanksgiving Pumpkin PieWarm Apple Pie with Cheddar Cheese

Recipe Titles

PiesApple-Cranberry PieApple Pie, Deep-Dish Apple Pie with Cheddar Cheese, Warm Pumpkin Pie, Chiffon Pumpkin Pie, Thanksgiving Rhubarb Pie, Aunt Jenny's Rhubarb-Raspberry Pie

Recipe Titles

Partial titles as subheadings

Recipe Titles

Partial titles as subheadings

Recipe Titles

Partial titles as subheadings under ingredients

Grandma Greta's Red Cabbage Slaw with Mustard Blue CheeseDressing

Recipe Titles

Step 1. Remove heading word

Grandma Greta's Red Cabbage Slaw with Mustard Blue CheeseDressing

Recipe Titles

Step 2. Insert comma

Grandma Greta's Red Cabbage, with Mustard Blue Cheese Dressing

Recipe Titles

Partial titles

Cracked Wheat Porridge with Almonds and Apricots

Partial titles

Cracked Wheat Porridge with Almonds and Apricots

Apricots

cracked wheat porridge with almonds and

Recipe Titles

Partial title inversions - compounds

Need to review wording

Almonds

cracked wheat porridge with, and apricots [awkward]

and apricots, cracked wheat porridge with

Multiple Languages

Italian only as main heading; English as main heading and subheadings for the various facets

Multiple Languages

19 recipes referenced

Source: Rick Bayless’s Mexican Kitchen

8 recipes referenced

Source: Rick Bayless’s Mexican Kitchen

Recipe Titles

Foreign articles

Ignored in alphabetization

Risottocol cavolo rosso e la pancettacoi fagiolini verdi e il peperone gialloalla friulana col rosmarino e vino biancocon salsicce e fagioli borlotti

Source: Cynthia Bertelson, “A Piece of Cake?,” Culinary SIG website

Recipe Titles

Foreign articles

"in the manner of" à la (French) au (French) aux (French)

Recipe Titles

Foreign articles

"with" avec (French) con (Spanish, Italian) mit (German)

Recipe Titles

Foreign articles

"and" e (Italian) et (French) und (German) y (Spanish)

Ingredients

Defining ingredients: from title

Salt-encrusted Cod

Chicken and Lemon Salad

Lentil Soup with Prunes and Pears

Sour Cream Cake

Italian Pine-Nut Macaroons

Ingredients

Major ingredients

Ingredients

Major ingredients

Ingredients

Unusual (exotic) Ingredients

Ingredients

Alternate names/synonyms

chanterelles/mushrooms

prawns/shrimp

Additional Facets

Cooking methods (techniques)

Stewing

Frying

Baking

Grilling

Sautéeing

Additional Facets

Dish type

Dietary type

Cuisines

Meal types

Holidays

Read the entire recipe. It often contains much more information than just the title and list of ingredients.

Variations

…[next page]

Subsidiary Recipes

Brownies with Milk Chocolate Icing

Apple-Cassis Compote in Meringue Shells

Subsidiary Recipes

Braised Turkey in Teloloapan Red Mole

Five-Tomato Salad with Gorgonzola and Chive Toasts

Subsidiary Recipes

Proper Names

Illustrations

Substantive content

Additional Material

Substantive Content

From explanatory material

From notes

Within recipe

Substantive Content

Background information

Social/cultural information

Biographical material

Source: Maida Heatter’s Book of Great Desserts

Source: Jewish Cooking in America

What to Ask the Editor

Size limits: minimum/maximum

Indexable material

PrelimsAppendicesIllustrationsNotes

Style for recipe titles

Levels of subheadings

Audience

What to Ask the Editor

Good Cookbook Indexes?

It's easy to find the recipe which you need. The headings and sub-headings are logical and have the terminology appropriate for the user.

The subentries are descriptive by ingredient, not just a fancy name; [it] helps me to locate a recipe even if I do not know the name…I do not feel overwhelmed with information or lost in the index structure.

(about The Joy of Cooking)

I can always find exactly what I want: recipe title, main ingredient, procedure.

Cookbook indexes need to be focused and concise.

Cookbook indexes are used over and over by the same reader to find the same entry. This means that it is important not to penalize the reader for knowing exactly what they're looking for.

I want to find Red Lentil Soup with Lime under "R" and Upside-Down cake under "U" when I look them up twice a month!

—Thérèse Shere

Resources

1. Reference list at end of article on Culinary SIG website:

http://www.culinaryindexing.org/bertelson_article.html

includes both online and print reference sources; out of date; a number of links don’t work

2. Cook’s Thesaurus (http://www.foodsubs.com/)

Resources

3. Practically Edible (http://www.practicallyedible.com/) “The Web’s Biggest Food Encyclopedia”

4. Larousse Gastronomique, revised and updated edition, Clarkson Potter, 2009 (1,216 pages, 7 pounds)

Contact Information

Fred Leise

www.contextualanalysis.com

fredleise@contextualanalysis.com

@ChicagoIndexer

Easy as Pie: The Complexities of Cookbook Indexing

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