Does anybody else suffer from the Cook Again Curse?

I can't say that happens to me very often.

I would suggest it was just the spices used last night, as spices can vary a lot, but you're having it happen with other things as well.

It might be a mental thing. When you first make something it's new and different. When you make it a second time you are not so surprised at how it tastes. Just a thought.

You could try to adjust the ingredients a bit when you cook something a second time. Taste it near the end. If it needs more salt or more spice, add it.

I agree with the kitty - a kitty that can read should be taken seriously. I can't really think of a time that's happened to me unless I've altered something, and I suspect it may be psychological, especially as you say it's happened a lot. Thus, it's not just that you missed spices or something random.

Something new may have a wow factor, and then increase expectations or come with a memory that's somewhat enhanced maybe?

I've had that happen to me. I've gotten rave reviews on the first go around and then so-so on the next. I don't give up, though, unless I make it for a third time and it flops.

There are so many factors in how a recipe can turn out. Freshness of ingredients, cooking times, how much salt and pepper you use (I never really keep track of amounts) or even if your just not in the mood for something the way you were the first time you made it.

So many times! I'm not sure exactly why it is except that I must get cocky and start to improvise. I THINK I'm doing it the same way, but I must not be because the stuff is almost inedible. So bad, I get turned off and don't make that food again. In full disclosure, I should confess that I'm not really a great cook. I make a few things well but that's it. Luckily, the same is true of the other two cooks in the house so all tolled we have something of a diverse menu.

About the only things I trust recipes and measurements for are non-yeast leavened pastry. Beyond that, measuring can cause more inconsistency than consistency. Herbs and spices are a prime example. I've had jalapenos that tasted like green peppers, requiring me to add cayenne pepper to recipes and I've had jalapenos that were blisteringly hot even after the seeds and ribs were removed.

Volume is just not a good measure of the amount of flavor something will put in a dish.

Of course, I don't mind snowflake cooking, either. As long as what I cook tastes good each time, I'm happy. Having it taste the same as the time before isn't really a priority.

I was going to agree that this happens to me all the time, but I hardly ever make the same dish the same way twice. So even when the differences surprise me, there's no proof it wasn't whatever tiny things I changed from last time, if I can even clearly remember last time. Just made a cake from a box mix following the exact instructions and it turned out bizarre, but I can't swear that's not how the mix usually turns out because usually I add a bag of bittersweet chocolate chips.

I can usually get stuff to taste mostly the same most times, but my ability to do stuff like flip an egg successfully is determined by the phases of the moon.

Pisco Sour said:

Glad to see I'm in good company. I made my French meal last night. It was good, and we enjoyed it, but I fretted, and during initial tasting it wasn't quite right. But this time I had a plan: I bought excellent wine and made sure to have copious amounts before, during and after we ate. Suddenly, everything tasted much better!

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If you have enough wine, even 2 buck chuck, everything will taste fine. But yes, stuff never comes out exactly the same way twice. Maybe because I rarely use a recipe or measure anything.

I can still remember the time, about 50 years ago, that my mother ran into the kitchen and pulled the half cooked casserole out of the oven. She suddenly remembered that she hadn't put in the chili powder. It looked funny when it was finished, but tasted right.

MM

As a person who has been making and eating pancakes for a long time I still burn them or make them wrong sometimes. There are so many variables from ingredients to measurements to temperature to time to mood or even humidity so hang in there