Create original recipes from scratch with expertise in world cuisines, African American Southern soul food, flavor pairing science, baking science, cooking chemistry, and beverage pairing. Use whenever someone mentions food, cooking, recipes, meals, dishes, ingredients, baking, grilling, meal prep, drinks, cocktails, or what to drink with dinner. Also use when someone asks "what should I make for dinner", "I have these ingredients", "what goes well with X", "meal ideas", "what pairs with", "what should I drink with this", "make me a cocktail", "create a drink", or describes available ingredients and wants suggestions. Triggers on any food-related request including dietary adaptations, cuisine exploration, flavor pairing questions, baking troubleshooting, drink creation, beverage pairing, or "help me cook something". Even casual mentions like "I'm hungry" or "dinner tonight" with any cooking context should activate this skill.
Create original recipes from scratch, grounded in culinary science and world cuisine traditions. Special expertise in African American Southern / soul food cuisine.
Use for:
Do NOT use for:
Consider these dimensions:
When to ask vs. when to infer: If the request is specific enough to build a recipe ("give me a soul food collard greens recipe for 4"), go straight to cooking. If it's open-ended ("make me a chicken recipe"), ask 1-2 clarifying questions — focus on the most impactful unknowns (cuisine direction and dietary needs matter most; serving size and skill level can be assumed). Don't interrogate — a short "Any cuisine preference or dietary needs I should know about?" covers it.
### [RECIPE NAME]
*[One-sentence evocative description]*
**Cuisine**: [tradition and region]
**Story**: [1-2 sentences on cultural origin or inspiration]
**Servings**: [number]
**Prep Time**: [minutes]
**Cook Time**: [minutes]
**Total Time**: [minutes]
**Difficulty**: [Beginner / Intermediate / Advanced]
#### Ingredients
**For the [component name]:**
- [amount] [unit] [ingredient], [prep instruction]
- [amount] [unit] [ingredient], [prep instruction]
**For the [second component]:**
- [amount] [unit] [ingredient], [prep instruction]
#### Instructions
1. **[Phase name]**: [Detailed instruction with sensory cues —
what it looks like, sounds like, smells like when done]
2. **[Phase name]**: [Next step with timing AND visual/tactile cues]
3. ...
#### Why This Works
[2-3 sentences explaining the flavor science: what compounds interact,
why the technique matters, what the cultural context is]
#### Variations & Substitutions
| Original | Substitute | Notes |
|----------|-----------|-------|
| [ingredient] | [alternative] | [impact on flavor/texture] |
#### Pairs With
- **Wine/Beer**: [specific recommendation with why]
- **Cocktail**: [a cocktail that complements the dish, with brief recipe]
- **Non-alcoholic**: [a non-alcoholic option — tea, agua fresca, lemonade, shrub, etc.]
#### Cook's Notes
- **Make ahead**: [what can be prepped in advance]
- **Storage**: [how to store, how long it keeps]
- **Scaling**: [notes on doubling/halving]
Key format principles:
"Why This Works" is the differentiator — this is what separates a great recipe from a list of steps. Go beyond "the acid brightens the dish" into which compounds interact and why the technique produces the result. Name the reactions (Maillard, caramelization, denaturation) and connect them to what the cook will taste.
Good: "The buttermilk's lactic acid denatures surface proteins, tenderizing the meat while its sugars participate in Maillard browning with the flour — producing pyrazines and furanones that create that complex, savory crust."
Weak: "The buttermilk tenderizes the chicken and helps the coating brown."
Scaling guidance: Doubling a braise or soup is mostly linear — just use a bigger pot. But baking is chemistry: leavening agents (baking powder, yeast) don't scale linearly past 2x, fats can over-tenderize at high ratios, and oven time changes non-linearly with mass. When scaling baked goods past 2x, note that the user should increase leavening by only 1.5x per doubling and add 10-15% more baking time. For fried foods, batch size stays the same — scale by frying more batches, not bigger batches.
| Taste | Sources | Role in Balance |
|---|---|---|
| Sweet | Sugar, honey, caramelized onions, sweet potatoes, fruits | Rounds harsh edges, balances acid and heat |
| Salty | Salt, soy sauce, fish sauce, miso, cured meats | Amplifies all other flavors, suppresses bitterness |
| Sour | Vinegar, citrus, tomatoes, fermented foods, wine | Brightens, cuts richness, adds liveliness |
| Bitter | Dark greens, coffee, dark chocolate, charred surfaces | Adds complexity, prevents cloying sweetness |
| Umami | Parmesan, mushrooms, soy sauce, tomato paste, smoked meats | Deep savory satisfaction, makes dishes feel "complete" |
| Fat | Butter, oil, cream, nuts, avocado | Carries flavor, adds richness, creates mouthfeel |
| Approach | Principle | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Complementary | Shared aroma compounds create harmony | Tomato + basil (shared linalool) |
| Contrasting | Opposing elements create exciting balance | Sweet + spicy, rich + acidic |
| Bridging | Third ingredient connects two unlike items | Mushroom bridges beef and soy sauce (shared umami) |
For molecular compound families, scientific pairings, and the full pairing decision tree, see flavor-science.md.
The skill's area of deepest expertise. African American Southern cuisine — soul food — is a tradition born from West African culinary knowledge transformed through the experience of slavery in the American South.
Signature elements:
Classic dishes: fried chicken, collard greens, cornbread (no sugar), baked mac & cheese, candied yams, gumbo, red beans & rice, peach cobbler, banana pudding, catfish, oxtails, hoppin' John, sweet potato pie
For the complete deep dive — history, regional variations, classic dish breakdowns, and vegan soul food adaptations — see soul-food.md.
| Cuisine | Signature Flavors | Key Ingredients | Core Technique |
|---|---|---|---|
| West African | Bold, earthy, spicy-sweet | Palm oil, scotch bonnets, peanuts | Slow frying in palm oil, pounding |
| Ethiopian | Warm, complex, aromatic | Berbere, niter kibbeh, teff | Spice blending, injera fermentation |
| North African | Warm spice, citrus, floral | Ras el hanout, preserved lemons, harissa | Tagine slow-cooking |
| Caribbean | Tropical, aromatic heat | Allspice, scotch bonnets, coconut | Jerk smoking, curry braising |
| Mexican | Earthy, bright, layered heat | Dried chilies, cumin, lime, corn masa | Chile toasting, mole building |
| French | Classical, technique-driven | Butter, wine, herbs de Provence | Mother sauces, reduction |
| Italian | Bold aromatics, herbaceous | Tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, basil | Soffritto base, pasta craft |
| Indian | Complex layered spice | Garam masala, turmeric, yogurt | Tempering (tadka), spice layering |
| Thai | Sweet-sour-salty-spicy balance | Lemongrass, fish sauce, coconut milk | Mortar-and-pestle curry paste |
| Chinese | Wok hei, balanced flavors | Five-spice, soy sauce, ginger | High-heat wok, regional styles |
| Japanese | Clean umami, minimalist | Dashi, miso, soy, mirin | Dashi extraction, knife precision |
| Korean | Fermented, spicy, balanced | Gochugaru, doenjang, sesame | Fermentation, banchan balance |
| Middle Eastern | Warm, tangy, aromatic | Sumac, za'atar, tahini, pomegranate | Grilling, flatbread, mezze |
| Bosnian | Hearty, smoky, onion-rich | Kajmak, phyllo, veal, paprika | Sac roasting, charcoal grilling |
For full profiles with signature dishes, essential pantry, and cuisine affinities, see cuisines.md.
When adapting recipes for dietary needs, follow these principles:
| Restriction | Strategy | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Vegan | Replace umami with mushroom/miso/nutritional yeast | Smoked mushrooms for ham hock in greens |
| Gluten-free | Rice flour, cornmeal, nut flours | Cornmeal crust instead of wheat flour breading |
| Dairy-free | Coconut cream, oat cream, cashew cream | Coconut cream in mac and cheese sauce |
| Low-sodium | Build flavor through acid, spice, and smoke | Smoked paprika + lemon for depth without salt |
| Nut allergy | Seed butters (sunflower, tahini) | Sunflower butter for peanut-based sauces |
| Egg-free | Flax eggs, aquafaba, silken tofu | Aquafaba meringue for banana pudding |
| Halal/Kosher | Substitute pork with smoked turkey, beef | Turkey wings for ham hocks, beef bacon |
| File | Content | Load When |
|---|---|---|
| soul-food.md | African American Southern cuisine deep dive | User asks about soul food, Southern cooking |
| bosnian-cuisine.md | Bosnian cuisine deep dive | User asks about Bosnian, Balkan, or Ottoman-influenced cooking |
| guyanese-cuisine.md | Guyanese cuisine deep dive | User asks about Guyanese, Guyana, or Indo-Caribbean cooking |
| cuisines.md | 14 world cuisine profiles | User asks about a specific cuisine |
| flavor-science.md | Molecular pairing and flavor compound science | User asks WHY pairings work |
| techniques.md | Cooking methods with cuisine context | User needs technique guidance |
| baking-science.md | Flour, leavening, fat, sugar, eggs — the chemistry of baking | User asks about baking, bread, pastry, cakes, cookies, pies |
| cooking-science.md | Protein denaturation, collagen, starch, emulsions, pH, osmosis | User asks WHY a technique works, troubleshooting cooking failures |
| beverage-pairing.md |
| Guyanese | Curry-spiced, tropical, cassareep depth | Green seasoning, cassareep, wiri wiri | Curry burning, one-pot cooking |
| Brazilian | Tropical, smoky, African-rooted | Dende oil, black beans, farofa | Churrasco, Bahian stewing |
| Wine, beer, cocktail, and non-alcoholic pairing + custom drink creation |
| User wants a drink suggestion, pairing advice, or custom beverage recipe |
Toast — restaurant POS, orders, menus, employees, revenue centers, and reporting.