Whether you own a restaurant with multiple proudly-displayed chef’s hats, prepare three meals a day for the family at home or cook only for yourself, you understand the importance of trying new things in the kitchen.

But from where does the constant inspiration come?

Traditionally, of course, the answer is from the community. Recipes shared between groups of people, each individual developing their own twist, their own subtleties before, hopefully, passing the recipe down to the next generation.

Since the 1st century, we’ve been collecting and compiling written recipes, and 20 centuries later the cookbook still reigns as the most popular source of food inspiration in most households. Most chefs and high profile restaurants have books published, and there likely exists no cuisine on which a book can’t be found.

But this is the digital age and with food, as with any form of publishing and/or communication, things are evolving.

Certainly cookbooks are still popular (a publishing contract is among the most valued prizes in the Masterchef competition), but as more of our lives go online, the culinary world isn’t being left behind.

Many published chefs (Jamie Oliver, Maggie Beer, Nigella) have their own websites, bursting with freely available recipes. In most cases, however, the free recipes are selected to promote the wider collection of recipes by that chef available in print. Still, as an online resource, many amateur food enthusiasts prize (and bookmark) these sites.

For broader, more anonymous recipes, there are many sites (Taste, AllRecipes) that compile enormous numbers of recipes in one place, searchable by tags, ingredients, cuisines and cooking styles.

Of course, wherever people gather online, talk is sure to turn to food. Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and YouTube, the most popular social networking sites, are home to thousands of chefs, recipes and enthusiasts. Naturally, you can find the Essential Ingredient on all of them.

The blog world is also full of food, with many food enthusiasts self-publishing their own food creations and experiments.

And while we certainly won’t be abandoning cookbooks in a hurry (there’s nothing like having that book open on the bench beside you as you cook), it’s easy to see the benefits of this digital food revolution.

Inspiration can come to you any time. Find a particularly beautiful rack of lamb at the butcher? Find a new recipe for it on your smart phone while you’re shopping and pick up the rest of the ingredients (or you could use one of the thousand iPhone apps filled with recipes). at work and feel like Mexican rice for dinner? Look it up and grab what you need on the way home.

We all seek and find inspiration in different places. Share your stories, thoughts and resources with us below, and remember, for true inspiration, there’s no substitute to walking around your nearest Essential Ingredient store.

Posted under Essential Inspiration.

Cooking online: The internet food revolution | Essential Ingredient

He likes to party a lot, I figured he could make something with it.
Believe me, I did look at the "make your own cocktails" cookbook, but somehow I didn't think that would be sending the right message of what I think of him. What do you think about giving gifts?

Would it be acceptable to buy my gay colleague an appetizer cookbook for a present before winter break?

I'm partial to canned french cassoulet in quick and painless cold weather dinner situations. This fairly ubiquitous brand below does a good goose, duck confit or pork shoulder and sausage cassoulet. it might sound posh but across the Channel it's borderline pleibian, though it's pretty decent quality as far as canned good go, and it goes for under 3. The label says it should be baked in a ramekin with some chalpelure (breadcrumb topping) but I doubt if anyone bothers with that.

In N. America, I sometimes like to take a big microwaved spud, cut a bunch of deep parallel grooves, fill those slots with cheddar or gruyere slices and top it with a can of chili, nuke the whole thing with some more cheese on top.

If you are in the US and are lucky enough to have a Trader Joe's store outlet near where you live, your supermarket ready meal options will be muliplied by ten. Enchiladas, eggplant parmigiano, canneloni...

The best ready made item I've had from a supermarket shelf was a local brand of tamales in San Francisco (called Primavera), made by a friendly woman who started out selling a few batches made in her kitchen at the Berkeley farmers' market. She still does that now, but her kitchen got a littlbigger. There are about half a dozen stuffing options like black beans, mushrooms, chile peppers or squash. You wet the corn husk a little bit and throw them in the microwave (almost asgood as steaming them), serve with sliced heirloom tomatoes and a sprinkling of hot salsa, for a quick meal that's still under 4 quid.

(tamale on bottom left)

<a href="http://www.wsc.co.uk/component/option,com_kunena/Itemid,73/func,view/catid,28/id,414013/tag:news.google.com,2005:cluster=http://www.wsc.co.uk/component/option,com_kunena/Itemid,73/func,view/catid,28/id,414013/Mon, 19 Jul 2010 19:49:15 GMT 00:00">It's shit on a plate but you love it

How to Choose the right Kitchen Accessories

When you are doing your shopping at a small kitchen appliances store, be careful not to spend too much on kitchen accessories that just have too many useless functions. Small kitchen appliances are very space-saving in the kitchen and are very convenient, but choosing the wrong ones could leave your kitchen a cluttered mess!

How to Avoid a Small Kitchen Appliance Catastrophe!

Is there anything such as too many small kitchen appliances? too many kitchen appliances will make the room look like a mess. Small kitchens should only have one to two kitchen appliances on the counter-tops and three at most. The rest should be able to be stored in the cabinets.

What should I Look for in Discount Kitchen Appliances?

Electric Stove vs Gas Stove

The pros of having an electric stove is that you do not have to deal with gas but the con is that electric stoves can heat unevenly and people that like to cook a lot may not like that. The pros of having a gas stove is that it does not heat unevenly and the cons of having a gas stove is that you have to use a match to start it up.

Tips on Kitchen Accessories

Cooking in your small kitchen will be easier if you have a good amount of space, like how hanging fans on the ceiling are preferred more than the stand-alone ones because it does not take up room where you will be cooking. since you will be using your kitchen appliances for a wide variety of cooking foods, it is very important to choose the correct ones that will last years to come.

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Discount Kitchen Appliances

Cooking Mama is a game about cooking from Taito, Cooking Mama now beplayed on your iPhone or iPod Touch. This game tells our efforts tocook, along with a variety of recipes that we can try. some of the advantages is played on the iPod / iPhone for this game using the motion sensor from the iPod:)
But be careful cooking, because Mama would be angry if cooking burnt ehehehehhehe
This application can be found at Apple stores or through the iTunes Store.

About Gadget, Games and Internetworking: Review : Cooking Mama for ...

I just moved to a new apartment, and the living room is very small. The cabinets in the open kitchen/living room are red laminate with silver handles, i guess it's trying to be modern looking, and one wall in the living room is painted red, the others are white, and its darker hardwood floor. The kitchen is visible from living room, it's red cabinets, white appliances, and dark greenish granite counter. I have no idea what my color scheme should be! What color sofa should I get that goes with a red wall? I want a contemporary style, but kind of retro looking maybe.

My new Apartment!!! What color scheme goes w/red?