The Cook's Thesaurus

March 26, 2015 6:42 AM

Got a recipe with an ingredient you can't find? Never fear, the Cook's Thesaurus is here. The Cook's Thesaurus contains information on thousands of ingredients and kitchen tools, including recommended substitutions and commentary on flavors, and is especially useful for people learning to improvise in the kitchen. Entries range from callaloo to huauzontle to Velveeta. There's even sometimes a bit of colorful commentary, as in the entry for chipped beef.
posted by sciatrix (19 comments total)

Nice! Thanks for posting this!
posted by zarq at 6:50 AM on March 26, 2015 [1 favorite]

It's a great site. One of my first bookmarks ever!
posted by Namlit at 7:00 AM on March 26, 2015

More food should use the "shit on a shingle" naming style.

chocolate ice cream: poop by the scoop

hamburger, medium rare: blood in a bun

grilled cheese: mucus on melba

milk shake: slurry through a straw

fluffernutter: feces and fluff
posted by idiopath at 7:05 AM on March 26, 2015 [5 favorites]

Shit on a shingle can be pretty tasty. Like any other dish, it's all about what the cook can do with it. It's not all that different from sausage gravy and biscuits.
posted by slogger at 7:40 AM on March 26, 2015 [1 favorite]

Shit on a shingle can be pretty tasty.

Phrasing.
posted by leotrotsky at 7:58 AM on March 26, 2015 [3 favorites]

I already know I am going to read through every entry on this site. Thanks!
posted by rachaelfaith at 8:24 AM on March 26, 2015

Shit on a shingle can be pretty tasty

second this. many, many boy scout meals of my youth were shit on a shingle (with varying degrees of deliciousness that were often proportional to hunger). Last fall I had part of the traditional side of beef from my aunt's cattle made into chipped beef by the butcher, and I introduced my kids to this "delicacy". As it turns out they love it and has become a frequent request for breakfast.
posted by Dr. Twist at 9:02 AM on March 26, 2015

Oh wow, yes. Thank you.

I don't think I've ever had shit on a shingle. Must try.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 9:18 AM on March 26, 2015 [2 favorites]

When I was little my mom and dad went on vacation, leaving the German neighbor lady, Uta, to take care of us kids. When she asked us what we wanted for dinner we told her "Buffalo Chips on Toast," for that is what our ever proper mother called it. Uta had no idea. When my mom called to check up on us Uta asked her how to make Buffalo Chips on Toast. Mom explained.
Uta said "Oh! You mean Shit on a Shingle!"
posted by Floydd at 9:22 AM on March 26, 2015 [2 favorites]

Hey, this is pretty good! I've just been learning about Indian cooking and the Indian Spices category is pretty good. It's quite a challenge to with names in several different languages, see for example "nigella = black onion seeds = kalonji = calonji = habasoda = ketza = black caraway". Particularly when the flavor is hard to pin down; the recommended substitutions are "cumin seeds OR sesame seeds OR oregano". Um, OK.
posted by Nelson at 9:54 AM on March 26, 2015 [1 favorite]

My favorite snark from a recent Mefi thread on AllRecipes comments: "can I make this without the ingredients?"
posted by dr_dank at 10:08 AM on March 26, 2015 [3 favorites]

We occasionally had "chipped beef on toast" - it was comfort food to be sure. In a much later event, I was at a friend's house and he asked his mom what was for dinner and her response, "shit on a shingle". After recovering from the serious WTF, I found out it was chipped beef on toast. I don't think I heard the word 'shit' come out of my parents' mouths until I was in college.
posted by plinth at 10:23 AM on March 26, 2015

We just call it SOS. You know, for the kids
posted by Doleful Creature at 11:36 AM on March 26, 2015 [1 favorite]

I don't think I've ever had shit on a shingle. Must try.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering

Eponysterical.
posted by dlugoczaj at 12:44 PM on March 26, 2015 [3 favorites]

I love this site. And this reminds me I need to mirror it in case it disappears someday.
(I'm always pleasantly surprised to find it still kicking around when I need it)
posted by HFSH at 4:36 PM on March 26, 2015

Also, every month is red cabbage month!
posted by HFSH at 4:41 PM on March 26, 2015

When I was in the Navy, what is being described as shit on a shingle made with dried beef, we called it creamed foreskins. Shit on a shingle on the other hand was a hamburger type gravy often made much like spaghetti sauce.
posted by Jumpin Jack Flash at 11:05 PM on March 26, 2015

Shit on a shingle, referred to as Creamed chipped beef on toast, was a staple of my youth. esp. as a kids' dinner if my parents were going out. My ex- introduced me to the term, and we called it SOS.

Best dip - cream cheese, chopped chipped beef, horseradish juice, horseradish to taste.

Thanks for posting this when I'm going to have limited Internet access...
posted by theora55 at 7:09 AM on March 28, 2015

This is hazy-memory-maybe-I-read-it-in-Herb-Caen's-column-back-in-the-day territory, but back during the early '80s one restaurant in San Francisco had a breakfast special on the board for Fleet Week: sautéed Japanese mushrooms over toast — aka, shiitake on a shingle.
posted by Lexica at 12:52 PM on March 28, 2015 [2 favorites]