Hutajulu 1

PuspitaHutajulu
RobertaWolfson
Writing2
14March,2016
HowRecipesandFoodReviewsareDifferentWhenDiscussingFood
Foodisoneofthethingsinlifethatwereallyneed.Therearesomanywaystotalkabout
food.Youcantweetit,writeaFacebookpost,orevenwritesongsforit.Foodcanalsobetalked
aboutthrougharecipeandthroughafoodreview.Recipesareasetofinstructionsonhowto
makethefoodandfoodreviewsarecritiquesofthefooditself.Recipescontainapattern
structurethatincludesthelistofingredients,asetofinstructions,andabriefcommentary.They
targetthosewhowanttomakefoodathome.Ontheotherhand,foodreviewsarecritiquesofthe
fooditselfandthetargetaudienceforfoodreviewsarerestaurantgoers.Thesetwotypesof
genrescontaindifferentconventionsthatapproachthesametopic.Anexampleofarecipeisa
recipefromSpoonUniversitybyJuliaMurphycalledArugula,BrieandMushroomPasta.An
exampleofafoodreviewisonepublishedontheLosAngelestimeswrittenbyJonathanGold
titled,AtLeona,theroastdumplingsquashmakesastatement.Eventhoughthesetwogenres
approachthesametopic,theyeachhaveadifferentpurposeandtargetdifferentaudiences.The
audienceofarecipearethosethatwanttocookathomewhereasafoodreviewsaudienceare
thosethatareinterestedinthefoodacertainrestaurantproved.Recipesuseacertainstructure
andcontaindirectionsthathelpsfulfilstheirpurposeasarecipe.Eachofthesegenresuse

Hutajulu 2
differentconventionstofulfilltheirpurposeandtoappealtotheiraudience.Thedifferent
conventionsdistinguishthesetwogenresfromeachother.
Oneofthemaindifferencesbetweenarecipeandafoodreviewistheirpurpose.The
purposeofarecipeistotalkabouthowtomakethefood.Forexample,intherecipefromSpoon
University,JuliaMurphyincludedalistofingredientsandnumbereddirectionsontheprocessof
makingthefood.Sheincludedthisbecausewhenyouaredescribinghowtomakesomething,
youwouldincludewhatyouneed,anapproximatetimeofhowlongitwilltaketomakeit,and
thentheprocess.Specificallyforrecipes,theitemsyouneedwouldfallundertheingredientslist
becauseingredientsisprettymuchthetermforfoodrelatedthingsyouwillneedwhencooking.
Sobyincludingthethingsyouneedandthestepsyouneedtomakethefood,theauthorfulfills
thepurposeofarecipe.
Ontheotherhand,thepurposeofafoodreviewistotalkaboutthequalityofthefood
andtherestaurant.Forexample,inthisreviewfromtheLosAngelestimes,thefoodcritic,
JonathanGold,said,whileroastedvegetableshavebecomealmostaseasytofindinLos
Angelesasavocadotoast,I'mnotsureIhaveevercomeacrossapresentationasstrikingasthe
roastdumplingsquashNyeshaArringtonserves(Gold).Unlikearecipe,thisreviewdidnot
mentionhowtomakethedish,butinsteadittalkedaboutthedish.Sinceafoodcriticonlyeats
thefood,itwouldmakesensethathedidnotmentiondirectionsonhowtomakethefood.The
foodcriticgaveanopiniononthedish,whichfulfillsthepurposeofthisgenre.Bytalkingonly
aboutthedishandnothowtomakeit,thisshowshowafoodreviewisdifferentfromarecipe.

Hutajulu 3

Anotherthingthatdistinguishesarecipefromafoodreviewisthetargetedaudience.The

targetofarecipeisthosewhowanttocookfood.Theconventionthatshowsthatthetargeted
audienceisthosewhowanttomakefoodisdirectionsandtips.Inthisrecipe,Murphywrotein
hercommentary,Ifyourenotdownfortheveggiemeal,youcanalwaysaddinsausageor
bacontogetalittleproteinboost(Murphy).Thiscommentisatypeoftipyouwouldgivewhen
youaretryingtogivesomeonealternativestomakingthedish.Tipsthatgivealternativesare
helpfulfortheaudiencebecausealternativesareotheroptions.Sointhiscase,iftheydonot
wantjustvegetables,theycanaddmeattoo.Bysayingthattheycanaddsomething,itshowsthat
thepersonreadingthisisgoingtobethecreatorofthedish.Havingdirectionsshowsthatthe
targetedaudienceissomeonethatisinterestedinmakingthefood.

Unlikearecipe,afoodreviewsaudienceisrestaurantgoers.Theconventionfood

reviewshavethatshowswhotheyaretryingtotarget,isinformationontherestaurant.Inthis
foodreview,thecritiquegivesinformationontherestaurantitself.Anexampleofthe
informationhegaveisSmallplates,$11$18;largerplates$24$30;desserts$10$12.and
Dinner5:30to11p.m.TuesdaysthroughSundays;brunch10a.m.to2p.m.Saturdaysand
Sundays.Creditcardsaccepted.Beerandwine.Valetparking.(Gold).Detailslikefoodprice
andhoursaredetailsyouwouldnotfindinafoodrecipebecausewhenyoureadarecipe,you
aremakingthefood.Youdefinitelywouldfindthisinafoodreviewbecausethosewhoread
foodreviewsarethosethatareinterestedingoingtotherestaurantandeatingthefood.
Restaurantgoerswanttoknowinformationabouttherestaurantandnothowthemakethefood.
Itmakessensefortheauthortowriteinformationlikethepricesandhoursoftherestaurant.If
youwanttoknowhowtomakethefood,youdefinitelywouldnotreadafoodcritiquebecauseit

Hutajulu 4
willgiveyounothingonwhatyouneedtomakethefoodandstepstomakethefood.Byhaving
restaurantinformationandnotdirectionsonmakingthefood,foodreviewsshowsthatthe
targetedaudienceisrestaurantgoersandthisfulfillsthepurposeofafoodreview,whichis
informingtheirreadersabouttherestaurantandthefood.
Inaddition,recipesaredifferentfromafoodreviewsbecausetheycontainacertain
structure.Thestructureofarecipeis:briefcommentaryonthedish,thenthelistofingredients,
thenthepreppinginformation,timeduration,andlastlythestepbystepdirections.Thisstructure
isaconventionthatrecipesspecificallyhasbecauseifthepatternisoutoforder,itwould
confusethereader.Organizationiskeytohavinganeffectiverecipe.Arecipeneedstohave
ingredientsanddurationbeforetheactualdirectionsbecausethereaderneedstoknowwhatthey
needbeforehandandhowmuchtimetospare.Iftheyhaddirectionsfirst,itwouldmakeithard
forthereadertopreparebeforehand.Thereforethisconventionshowsthatthetargetedaudience
arethoseinterestedincookingthefoodandthisconventionfulfillsthepurposeofarecipewhich
isgivingdirectionsonhowtocookacertaindish.
Ontheotherhand,afoodreviewdoesnothaveaspecificstructure.Foodreviewsare
morefreewritebecausealltheauthorhavetodoisgivedescriptionsandtheiropiniononthe
foodtheyhavetasted.Forexample,inGoldsreview,hejustwroteouthisreview.Therewas
nothingthatshowedaspecificstructure.Hejustwroteandusedparagraphs.Foodreviewsdonot
needtomentionanythingincertainorder,whereasarecipeshouldmentioningredientspriorto
directions.Whatismeantthattheydonotneedtohavethingsinorderisiftheauthorwereto

Hutajulu 5
talkaboutonedishbeforeanother,itdoesnotaffecttheiropiniononthedish.Thisaddsonhow
recipesaredifferentfromfoodreviews.
Overall,differentaudiences,purpose,andconventionsdistinguishesonegenrefrom
another.Forexample,recipesandfoodreviewsaretwodifferentgenreswithdifferent
conventions.Thepurposeofarecipeistotalkabouthowtocookfoodwhereasthepurposeofa
foodreviewistotalkaboutqualityandtasteoffood.TherecipeArugula,BrieandMushroom
Pastacontainsacertainstructure,tips,andtargetsthosewhowanttocook.Ontheotherhand,
JonathanGoldsfoodreviewcontainedrestaurantdetailsandtargetedthoseinterestedingoing
totherestaurant.Evenwithdifferentconventions,audience,andpurpose,bothgenreswereable
toapproachthetopicoffood.

Hutajulu 6
WorksCited
Gold,Jonathan."AtLeona,theRoastDumplingSquashMakesaStatement."Rev.ofLeona.TheLos
AngelesTimes8Jan.2016:n.pag.TheLosAngelesTimes.8Jan.2016.Web.12Mar.2016.
Murphy,Julia."MeatlessMondays:Arugula,BrieandMushroomPasta."SpoonUniversity. Spoon
University,20Aug.2014.Web.13Jan.2016.