[mod.recipes] Converting recipes between U.S. and metric

recipes@decwrl.UUCP (05/29/86)

Most countries in the world use metric measurements for
their recipes. The U.S. defiantly uses the ``English'' measure-
ment system of teaspoons and cups, and every attempt to con-
vert U.S. cooks to the metric system has failed.  Most Amer-
icans have never even seen a metric recipe, and virtually no
American cook owns any kind of metric kitchen measures.

But mod.recipes is international in scope, and we want the
recipes to be accessible to everyone. Therefore the recipes
that are posted all have a dual measurement system in them,
both U.S. and metric. When a cookbook page is printed, a
troff/nroff option determines whether or not it will be
printed with U.S. units or metric units.

The dual-system measurement scheme is accomplished by having
both sets of values stored in the body of the recipe, and
having the software select one or the other when the recipe
is printed. This means that somebody has converted the
recipe to both sets of units, and has edited in both sets of
measurements.

There are four places in a recipe where the system of meas-
urement matters: the ingredient list, commentary about
ingredients, references to ingredients in the text, and
references to temperature in the text. There is a
troff/nroff command for each one of those situations.
Because mod.recipes originated in the U.S., the U.S.
measurement system is always given first in all of these commands.

     Ingredient header.  The ``.IH'' command takes two argu-
     ments. The first is the U.S.-unit specification of
     how much the recipe produces, and the second (if
     present) is the metric specification of the same thing.

     Ingredient list.  The ``.IG'' command takes an optional
     third argument, which is the metric description of the
     quantity of the ingredient.  For counts--3 onions, 2
     eggs--the metric description will be the same and you
     can leave it off.

     References to ingredients.  In the text you might want
     to say something like ``set aside 1/2 Tbsp of the
     ginger'' or ``reserve 100 ml of the sauce''. For that
     purpose there is a macro ``.AB'', that takes two argu-
     ments and prints one or the other, but never both.

     References to temperature.  The U.S. uses Fahrenheit
     degrees; nearly everyone else uses Celsius or Cen-
     tigrade. Troff can print a ``degree'' sign, but nroff
     cannot. To solve these two problems simultaneously,
     there is a ``.TE'' macro, for indicating temperature.
     It takes two numeric arguments, the first a Fahrenheit
     temperature and the second a Celsius temperature.

In case the .AB or .TE expression needs to be the end of a
sentence, the macro can take a third argument, which is the
punctuation character at the end of the sentence. For exam-
ple, you would type
    Then add butter
    .AB "1 Tbsp" "30 g"
    at a time. Lick the spoon to use the last
    .AB "tablespoon" "few grams" .

    Here is the example of the previous article, updated to
    include international multi-unit arguments to all of the
    macro calls:
	.RH MOD.RECIPES-SOURCE RECIPE-ID ? "22 Dec 83"
	.RZ "RECIPE TITLE IN CAPITALS" "One-line description of it"
	Introductory comments; use .PP between paragraphs.
	.IH "Makes 4 cups" "Makes 1 liter"<- Ingredients Header
	.IG "1/2 cup" "butter" "100 g"<- Ingredient (please use quotes)
	(or use a mixture of
	.AB "1/4 cup" "50 g"          <- In-text reference to two systems
	of margarine and
	.AB "1/4 cup" "50 g"
	of butter.
	.IG "1" "onion"               <- No need for 2 systems here

	(medium to large, chopped fine. Don't try to use instant onion
	in this recipe)
	.PH                           <- Procedure header
	.SK 1                         <- Procedure step
	Preheat the oven to           <- Text for that step
	.TE 350 175                   <- Dual-system temperature
	before soaking the rice.
	Boil the water.
	.SK 2                         <- and so forth.
	.NX                           <- Notes header
	Notes (commentary) goes here; use .PP to separate paragraphs.
	.WR                           <- Wrapup
	Signature information goes here. As a minimum you should list your name,
	network address, organization (company, university, etc.), and the city
	and country you live or work in.

CONVERTING RECIPES TO/FROM METRIC

Don't try to convert a recipe to metric units unless you
have some experience cooking with metric, and don't try to
convert a recipe to U.S. units unless you have some
experience cooking with them. Submit your recipe in the
units that you are comfortable with, and let the mod.recipes
editor do the conversion for you. It's not just a simple
matter of unit conversion, because most most ingredients are
specified by weight in metric recipes and by volume in
U.S. recipes.

reid@decwrl (Brian Reid) (11/28/86)

METRIC OR ENGLISH MEASUREMENT?
     Most countries in the world use metric measurements for
     their recipes. The U.S. defiantly uses the English measure-
     ment system of teaspoons and cups, and every attempt to con-
     vert U.S. cooks to the metric system has failed.  Most Amer-
     icans have never even seen a metric recipe, and virtually no
     American cook owns any kind of metric kitchen measures.

     But mod.recipes is international in scope, and we want the
     recipes to be accessible to everyone. Therefore the recipes
     that are posted all have a dual measurement system in them,
     both English and metric. When a cookbook page is printed, a
     troff/nroff option determines whether or not it will be
     printed with English units or metric units.

     The dual-system measurement scheme is accomplished by having
     both sets of values stored in the body of the recipe, and
     having the software select one or the other when the recipe
     is printed. This means that somebody has converted the
     recipe to both sets of units, and has edited in both sets of
     measurements.

     There are four places in a recipe where the system of meas-
     urement matters: the ingredient list, commentary about
     ingredients, references to ingredients in the text, and

     references to temperature in the text. There is a
     troff/nroff command for each one of those situations.
     Because mod.recipes originated in the U.S., the U.S.
     (``English'') measurement system is always given first in
     all of these commands.
          Ingredient header.  The ``.IH'' command takes two argu-
          ments. The first is the English-unit specification of
          how much the recipe produces, and the second (if
          present) is the metric specification of the same thing.

          Ingredient list.  The ``.IG'' command takes an optional
          third argument, which is the metric description of the
          quantity of the ingredient.  For counts-3 onions, 2
          eggs-the metric description will be the same and you
          can leave it off.

          References to ingredients.  In the text you might want
          to say something like ``set aside 1/2 Tbsp of the
          ginger'' or ``reserve 100 ml of the sauce''. For that
          purpose there is a macro ``.AB'', that takes two argu-
          ments and prints one or the other, but never both.

          References to temperature.  The U.S. uses Fahrenheit
          degrees; nearly everyone else uses Celsius or Cen-
          tigrade. Troff can print a ``degree'' sign, but nroff
          cannot. To solve these two problems simultaneously,
          there is a ``.TE'' macro, for indicating temperature.
          It takes two numeric arguments, the first a Fahrenheit
          temperature and the second a Celsius temperature.
     In case the .AB or .TE expression needs to be the end of a
     sentence, the macro can take a third argument, which is the
     punctuation character at the end of the sentence. For exam-
     ple, you would type
         Then add butter
         .AB "1 Tbsp" "30 g"
         at a time. Lick the spoon to use the last
         .AB "tablespoon" "few grams" .

         Here is the example of the previous section, updated to
         include international multi-unit arguments to all of the
         macro calls:
             .RH MOD.RECIPES-SOURCE RECIPE-ID ? "22 Dec 83"
             .RZ "RECIPE TITLE IN CAPITALS" "One-line description of it"
             Introductory comments; use .PP between paragraphs.
             .IH "Makes 4 cups" "Makes 1 liter"<- Ingredients Header
             .IG "1/2 cup" "butter" "100 g"<- Ingredient (please use quotes)
             (or use a mixture of
             .AB "1/4 cup" "50 g"          <- In-text reference to two systems
             of margarine and
             .AB "1/4 cup" "50 g"
             of butter.
             .IG "1" "onion"               <- No need for 2 systems here

             (medium to large, chopped fine. Don't try to use instant onion
             in this recipe)
             .PH                           <- Procedure header
             .SK 1                         <- Procedure step
             Preheat the oven to           <- Text for that step
             .TE 350 175                   <- Dual-system temperature
             before soaking the rice.
             Boil the water.
             .SK 2                         <- and so forth.
             .NX                           <- Notes header
             Notes (commentary) goes here; use .PP to separate paragraphs.
             .WR                           <- Wrapup
             Signature information goes here. As a minimum you should list your name,
             network address, organization (company, university, etc.), and the city
             and country you live or work in.

CONVERTING RECIPES TO/FROM METRIC
     Don't try to convert a recipe to metric units unless you
     have some experience cooking with metric, and don't try to
     convert a recipe to English units unless you have some
     experience cooking with them. Submit your recipe in the
     units that you are comfortable with, and let the mod.recipes
     editor do the conversion for you. It's not just a simple
     matter of unit conversion, because most most ingredients are
     specified by weight in metric recipes and by volume in
     English recipes.

recipes@decwrl.UUCP (01/28/87)

METRIC OR INTUITIVE MEASUREMENT?
     Most countries in the world use metric measurements for
     their recipes. The U.S. defiantly uses a system that they
     call ``the English system of measurement,'' teaspoons and
     cups. The English never used that system, thoughxthey used a
     similar system, with spoons and cups of a different size,
     and they called it the Imperial system. Every attempt to
     convert U.S.  cooks to the metric system has failed. Most
     Americans have never even seen a metric recipe, and virtu-
     ally no American cook owns a kitchen scale or metric

     measuring spoons.

     But mod.recipes is international in scope, and we want the
     recipes to be accessible to everyone. Therefore the recipes
     that are posted all have a dual measurement system in them,
     both English and metric. When a cookbook page is printed, a
     troff/nroff option determines whether or not it will be
     printed with English units or metric units.

     The dual-system measurement scheme is accomplished by having
     both sets of values stored in the body of the recipe, and
     having the software select one or the other when the recipe
     is printed. This means that somebody has converted the
     recipe to both sets of units, and has edited in both sets of
     measurements.

     There are four places in a recipe where the system of meas-
     urement matters: the ingredient list, commentary about
     ingredients, references to ingredients in the text, and
     references to temperature in the text. There is a
     troff/nroff command for each one of those situations.
     Because mod.recipes originated in the U.S., the U.S.
     (``English'') measurement system is always given first in
     all of these commands.
          Ingredient header.  The ``.IH'' command takes two argu-
          ments. The first is the English-unit specification of
          how much the recipe produces, and the second (if
          present) is the metric specification of the same thing.

          Ingredient list.  The ``.IG'' command takes an optional
          third argument, which is the metric description of the
          quantity of the ingredient.  For counts-3 onions, 2
          eggs-the metric description will be the same and you
          can leave it off.

          References to ingredients.  In the text you might want
          to say something like ``set aside 1/2 Tbsp of the
          ginger'' or ``reserve 100 ml of the sauce''. For that
          purpose there is a macro ``.AB'', that takes two argu-
          ments and prints one or the other, but never both.

          References to temperature.  The U.S. uses Fahrenheit
          degrees; nearly everyone else uses Celsius or Cen-
          tigrade. Troff can print a ``degree'' sign, but nroff
          cannot. To solve these two problems simultaneously,
          there is a ``.TE'' macro, for indicating temperature.
          It takes two numeric arguments, the first a Fahrenheit
          temperature and the second a Celsius temperature.
     In case the .AB or .TE expression needs to be the end of a
     sentence, the macro can take a third argument, which is the
     punctuation character at the end of the sentence. For exam-
     ple, you would type

         Then add butter
         .AB "1 Tbsp" "30 g"
         at a time. Lick the spoon to use the last
         .AB "tablespoon" "few grams" .

         Here is the example of the previous section, updated to
         include international multi-unit arguments to all of the
         macro calls:
             .RH MOD.RECIPES-SOURCE RECIPE-ID ? "22 Dec 83"
             .RZ "RECIPE TITLE IN CAPITALS" "One-line description of it"
             Introductory comments; use .PP between paragraphs.
             .IH "4 cups" "1 liter"        <- Ingredients Header
             .IG "1/2 cup" "butter" "100 g"<- Ingredient (please use quotes)
             (or use a mixture of
             .AB "1/4 cup" "50 g"          <- In-text reference to two systems
             of margarine and
             .AB "1/4 cup" "50 g"
             of butter.
             .IG "1" "onion"               <- No need for 2 systems here
             (medium to large, chopped fine. Don't try to use instant onion
             in this recipe)
             .PH                           <- Procedure header
             .SK 1                         <- Procedure step
             Preheat the oven to           <- Text for that step
             .TE 350 175                   <- Dual-system temperature
             before soaking the rice.
             Boil the water.
             .SK 2                         <- and so forth.
             .NX                           <- Notes header
             Notes (commentary) goes here; use .PP to separate paragraphs.
             .WR                           <- Wrapup
             Signature information goes here. As a minimum you should list your name,
             network address, organization (company, university, etc.), and the city
             and country you live or work in.

CONVERTING RECIPES TO/FROM METRIC
     Don't try to convert a recipe to metric units unless you
     have some experience cooking with metric, and don't try to
     convert a recipe to English units unless you have some
     experience cooking with them. Submit your recipe in the
     units that you are comfortable with, and let the mod.recipes
     editor do the conversion for you. It's not just a simple
     matter of unit conversion, because most most ingredients are
     specified by weight in metric recipes and by volume in
     English recipes.

recipes@decwrl.UUCP (02/28/87)

METRIC OR INTUITIVE MEASUREMENT?
     Most countries in the world use metric measurements for
     their recipes. The U.S. defiantly uses a system that they
     call ``the English system of measurement,'' teaspoons and
     cups. The English never used that system, though they used a
     similar system, with spoons and cups of a different size,
     and they called it the Imperial system. Every attempt to
     convert U.S.  cooks to the metric system has failed. Most
     Americans have never even seen a metric recipe, and virtu-
     ally no American cook owns a kitchen scale or metric
     measuring spoons.

     But mod.recipes is international in scope, and we want the
     recipes to be accessible to everyone. Therefore the recipes
     that are posted all have a dual measurement system in them,
     both English and metric. When a cookbook page is printed, a
     troff/nroff option determines whether or not it will be
     printed with English units or metric units.

     The dual-system measurement scheme is accomplished by having
     both sets of values stored in the body of the recipe, and
     having the software select one or the other when the recipe
     is printed. This means that somebody has converted the
     recipe to both sets of units, and has edited in both sets of
     measurements.

     There are four places in a recipe where the system of meas-
     urement matters: the ingredient list, commentary about
     ingredients, references to ingredients in the text, and
     references to temperature in the text. There is a
     troff/nroff command for each one of those situations.
     Because mod.recipes originated in the U.S., the U.S.
     (``English'') measurement system is always given first in
     all of these commands.
          Ingredient header.  The ``.IH'' command takes two argu-
          ments. The first is the English-unit specification of
          how much the recipe produces, and the second (if
          present) is the metric specification of the same thing.

          Ingredient list.  The ``.IG'' command takes an optional
          third argument, which is the metric description of the
          quantity of the ingredient.  For counts-3 onions, 2
          eggs-the metric description will be the same and you
          can leave it off.

          References to ingredients.  In the text you might want
          to say something like ``set aside 1/2 Tbsp of the
          ginger'' or ``reserve 100 ml of the sauce''. For that
          purpose there is a macro ``.AB'', that takes two argu-
          ments and prints one or the other, but never both.

          References to temperature.  The U.S. uses Fahrenheit
          degrees; nearly everyone else uses Celsius or Cen-
          tigrade. Troff can print a ``degree'' sign, but nroff
          cannot. To solve these two problems simultaneously,
          there is a ``.TE'' macro, for indicating temperature.
          It takes two numeric arguments, the first a Fahrenheit
          temperature and the second a Celsius temperature.
     In case the .AB or .TE expression needs to be the end of a
     sentence, the macro can take a third argument, which is the
     punctuation character at the end of the sentence. For exam-
     ple, you would type

         Then add butter
         .AB "1 Tbsp" "30 g"
         at a time. Lick the spoon to use the last
         .AB "tablespoon" "few grams" .

         Here is the example of the previous section, updated to
         include international multi-unit arguments to all of the
         macro calls:
             .RH MOD.RECIPES-SOURCE RECIPE-ID ? "22 Dec 83"
             .RZ "RECIPE TITLE IN CAPITALS" "One-line description of it"
             Introductory comments; use .PP between paragraphs.
             .IH "4 cups" "1 liter"        <- Ingredients Header
             .IG "1/2 cup" "butter" "100 g"<- Ingredient (please use quotes)
             (or use a mixture of
             .AB "1/4 cup" "50 g"          <- In-text reference to two systems
             of margarine and
             .AB "1/4 cup" "50 g"
             of butter.
             .IG "1" "onion"               <- No need for 2 systems here
             (medium to large, chopped fine. Don't try to use instant onion
             in this recipe)
             .PH                           <- Procedure header
             .SK 1                         <- Procedure step
             Preheat the oven to           <- Text for that step
             .TE 350 175                   <- Dual-system temperature
             before soaking the rice.
             Boil the water.
             .SK 2                         <- and so forth.
             .NX                           <- Notes header
             Notes (commentary) goes here; use .PP to separate paragraphs.
             .WR                           <- Wrapup
             Signature information goes here. As a minimum you should list your name,
             network address, organization (company, university, etc.), and the city
             and country you live or work in.

CONVERTING RECIPES TO/FROM METRIC
     Don't try to convert a recipe to metric units unless you
     have some experience cooking with metric, and don't try to
     convert a recipe to English units unless you have some
     experience cooking with them. Submit your recipe in the
     units that you are comfortable with, and let the mod.recipes
     editor do the conversion for you. It's not just a simple
     matter of unit conversion, because most most ingredients are
     specified by weight in metric recipes and by volume in
     English recipes.