A recipe is a set of instructions that describe how to prepare or make something, especially a culinary dish.
Modern culinary recipes normally consist of several components
* The name (and often the locale or provenance) of the dish
* How much time it will take to prepare the dish
* The required ingredients along with their quantities or proportions
* Equipment and environment needed to prepare the dish
* An ordered list of preparation steps
* The number of servings that the recipe will provide
* the texture and flavor
Some recipes will note how long the dish will keep and its suitability for freezing. Nutritional information, such as calories per serving and grams of protein, fat, and carbohydrates per serving, may also be given.
Earlier recipes often included much less information, serving more as a reminder of ingredients and proportions for someone who already knew how to prepare the dish.
Recipe writers sometimes also list variations of a traditional dish, to give different tastes of the same recipes.
Edible animal material, including muscle, offal, milk, eggs and egg whites, contains substantial amounts of protein. Almost all vegetable matter (in particular legumes and seeds) also includes proteins, although generally in smaller amounts. These may also be a source of essential amino acids. When proteins are heated they become denatured and change texture. In many cases, this causes the structure of the material to become softer or more friable - meat becomes cooked. In some cases, proteins can form more rigid structures, such as the coagulation of albumen in egg whites. The formation of a relatively rigid but flexible matrix from egg white provides an important component of much cake cookery, and also underpins many desserts based on meringue.
