Easy as Pie: The Complexities of Cookbook Indexing

Easy as Pie:
The Complexities of
Cookbook Indexing
Presented by Fred Leise
Chicago/Great Lakes Chapter,
American Society for Indexing
November 7, 2009
© 2009 by ContextualAnalysis

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

Special Problems
You said
Dealing with lengthy main entries
Choosing appropriate subheadings
Using terminology and structure that cooks
with a range of experience can use


Special Problems
You said
Maximum access to each recipe in shortest
possible format


Special Problems
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


Facets
Fundamental categories by which an
object or concept may be described
Example: facets describing a ball:
size, weight, shape, color, texture,
material
Other possible facets?

Facets
Book facets
Author
Title
Publisher
Format
Cost

Facets in Cooking
Recipe titles

Dish type

Ingredients

Dietary type

Cuisines

Holidays

Meal types
Cooking methods


Heading-Subheading Relationships
whole-part relationship
cars
drive shaft
desks
desk drawers
trees
branches

Entity-characteristics relationships
iron
strength of
washing machines
load size
bloodhounds
tracking abilities

Heading-context relationship
Roosevelt, Franklin
at Yalta conference
bridges
of Madison County

Tale of Genji
film adaptations of

For cookbooks, most subheadings are
examples or instances of heading
(classifications)
Baked rice puddings
English
with fruit and nuts
Italian
with meringue
Swiss

dumplings
gnocchi
gyoza
knödel
pflutters
spätzle


Cookbook Types


Cookbook Types
Provide context for indexing
Assist identification of metatopic
Aid in identification of possible facets


Cookbook Types
1. Ingredient-based


Cookbook Types
2. Technique-based


Cookbook Types
3. Cuisine-based


Cookbook Types
4. Type of meal


Cookbook Types
5. Type of dish


Cookbook Types
6. Equipment-based


Cookbook Types
7. General


Cookbook Types
8. Vanity


[anything spiral bound]


Cookbook Types
9. Historical


Cookbook Types
10. Personality-based


Cookbook Types
11. Textbook


Facets for Indexing
Recipe titles

Dish type

Ingredients

Dietary type

Cuisines

Holidays

Meal types
Cooking methods


Indexing Recipe Titles


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 Rice
Black Cherry Soup
Black 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 Rice
Black Cherry Soup
Black 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 Titles
four levels displayed
as two

2

1

3

Culinary Arts Institute
Encyclopedic Cookbook

4

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

Recipe Titles
Problems with not inverting
Pies
Apple-Cranberry Pie
Apple 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 under
ingredients
Grandma Greta's Red Cabbage
Slaw with Mustard Blue Cheese
Dressing


Recipe Titles
ingredients
Step 1. Remove heading word
Grandma Greta's Red Cabbage
Slaw with Mustard Blue Cheese
Dressing

Recipe Titles
ingredients
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
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
Risotto
col cavolo rosso e la pancetta
coi fagiolini verdi e il peperone giallo
alla friulana col rosmarino e vino bianco
con 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
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


Additional Material
Proper Names
Illustrations
Substantive content


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
Prelims
Appendices
Illustrations
Notes


What to Ask the Editor
Style for recipe titles
Levels of subheadings
Audience


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

Easy as Pie: The Complexities of Cookbook Indexing

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