For food lovers of every kind around the world, there is one website that they hail as the bible of recipes: Epicurious.com. The website was created by Gourmet and Bon Apetit magazine, with the ultimate food lover in mind. It is a treasure chest of over 20,000 recipes ranging from healthy, organic vegan dishes, to juicy steaks and the most satisfying deserts. The number of recipes found on the website grow each day, as users are encouraged to become members and contribute their own recipes to share.
The types of food found on Epicurious are neatly laid out for readers on the leftmost tab, where you can choose from a vast selection of holiday and celebration dishes, quick and easy, healthy, seasonal cooking, desserts, international cooking, and drinks. Click on any of these categories and finding what you’re looking for is made even easier with a listing of more categories on the left side. If you’re looking to plan a party or a dinner menu, you can even search entire menus, and mix and match as you please. Or, if you have something more specific in mind, simply type in a dish on the search box and you will find numerous recipes at your disposal.
The Articles and Guides tab leads you to more informational pages on holidays and celebrations, entertaining, healthy cooking, everyday cooking, dining and travel, basics of how to cook, kitchen and equipment, chefs, experts, and drinking. The guides displayed on the website are written by professionals in the kitchen industry and the website editors, complete with photos, to enrich your education and culinary experience. The great thing about Epicurious is you don’t have to be a professional chef to appreciate the website; it has a vast selection of references for beginners and amateurs as well.
Joining the Epicurious community means you register as a member, get to create your own profile, find members who have similar culinary characteristics as you and you also get to post and share your own recipes. Users are also encouraged to submit culinary videos and participate in the forums, where you can gain new friends who share the same passion and love for cooking and food, and read opinions and insights on food and other related topics.
With the vast collection of recipes found online, it might get quite overwhelming to narrow down your search. Thankfully, Epicurious lets members rate recipes, which are displayed on screen depending on the number of forks with the recipe. Furthermore, clicking on any recipe lets the reader view opinions and reviews of other members.
Clicking on “browse” under the Recipes and Menu tabs lets you narrow down your searches with recipe categories that include chef recipes, epicurious tv, kid-friendly, quick and easy, and wine pairing. Dietary considerations include healthy, low fat, kosher, low sodium, high fiber, low or no sugar, raw, vegan, and low carb. The international cuisines include everything from African to Mediterranean and everything else in between. You can also choose from types of dish, season and occasion, preparation method and main ingredient. As you can see, cooking doesn’t have to be intimidating. With a friendly community of food lovers and a vast resource that is Epicurious.com, there’s no reason not to try cooking today.
