Young people may be
eating fewer “square meals” than did earlier generations, but their
foodie tendencies are undisputed and, as such, they’re a driving force of a recent upsurge in
recipe use. Now, new platforms are inspiring would-be cooks by customizing, streamlining, and simplifying the process of making a good meal at home.
Mor.sl:
Mor.sl is a smart site that automates cooking at home by providing recipe suggestions based on what users have on hand and what foods they like, or dislike, most. Novice cooks will take comfort in the site’s preliminary “tastes” quiz, which asks users to identify their preferred cuisines, favorite chefs, most despised ingredients, and even sets of distinct choices (creamy soup or spicy tacos)? At each stage, the site pulls recipes to match preferences users may not have even known they had. A layout
reminiscent of Pinterest lends immediate visual appeal, while the
Pandora-inspired smart results platform gradually weeds out disliked foods and flavors.
Gojee: With its minimalistic design and enticing, full-screen foodie photography (a definitive specimen of “
food porn”),
Gojee takes some of the guesswork out of deciding what to make for dinner. The curated recipe site has drawn comparisons to
StumbleUpon for to its exploratory search platform. Users simply enter the ingredients they wish to use and Gojee “surprises” with relevant recipes sourced from food blogs across the Web. Searchers can “like” recipes and sources or “hate” least favorite ingredients and cuisines to make the search engine smarter and results more personalized over time. A new
drinks page promises to simplify
the art of the cocktail for at-home mixologists.
Whisk: The
Whisk app and browser plug-in synchronizes online recipe searches with offline grocery store runs. The beta platform lets users add recipes to their “baskets,” then provides a personalized shopping list of recipe requirements including items already stocked in one's pantry. Also, the list shows items’ availability at users' preferred supermarkets and e-tailers. By automating list making, Whisk minimizes the hassle of preparing to cook while preventing
overspending and, by integrating suggested serving sizes, food waste. Those who hate to see
good ingredients go bad can also make use of the platform’s clever recommendations for recipes that use leftover ingredients.
