gdritter repos apicius / 6ddaf68
Basic description of recipe format Getty Ritter 8 years ago
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1 # Apicus
2
3 Explorations in recipe visualization. Right now, this just implements
4 a DSL for describing recipes in a graph-like way. A basic Apicus recipe
5 looks like this:
6
7 ```
8 scrambled eggs {
9 [2] eggs -> whisk -> stir & butter -> DONE;
10 }
11 ```
12
13 The name of the recipe is `scrambled eggs` and it consists of one rule.
14 This rule starts with an ingredient where the amount of the ingredient
15 is marked with `[...]`, and then has a set of actions. Actions can
16 optionally include ingredients after a `&` character, which is supposed
17 to be used for garnishes, seasonings, or incidental ingredients like
18 flour used as a thickener or oil used as a medium for cooking.
19
20 A recipe can include multiple rules, and you join them together using
21 _join points_, which are written with a dollar sign:
22
23 ```
24 nicer scrambled eggs {
25 [1/2] onion + [1 clove] garlic
26 -> chop coarsely -> sautee & butter -> $mix;
27 [2] eggs -> whisk -> $mix;
28 $mix -> stir & salt -> DONE;
29 }
30 ```
31
32 This recipe includes a join point called `$mix`, which combines two
33 previously separate threads of preparation. Rules can begin with
34 either ingredients or join points, and actions can be either textual
35 descriptions of what to do or join points. You can also include a
36 join point as part of a longer chain, so the above recipe could also
37 be written as
38
39 ```
40 nicer scrambled eggs v2 {
41 [1/2] onion + [1 clove] garlic
42 -> chop coarsely -> sautee & butter -> $mix -> stir & salt -> DONE;
43 [2] eggs -> whisk -> $mix;
44 }
45 ```
46
47 So the handwavey grammar of recipe descriptions is
48
49 ```
50 recipe ::= text '{' rule* '}'
51 rule ::= ( ingredients | join ) '->' action ('->' action) * ';'
52 ingredients ::= ingredient ('+' ingredient)
53 ingredient ::= ( '[' text ']' )? text
54 action ::= join | text ('&' ingredients)?
55 ```