I saw an episode of "Good Eats" where Alton Brown baked a cake to a
metric recipe. Alton made no bones about the advantages of (and his
clear preference for) the metric system. If I recall correctly, no
customary equivalents were given.
Remek Kocz wrote:
Again, forgive me if this has been discussed, but I just saw something
amazing on our all-American Food Network. This is the first time I
saw the program Good Eats, which is hosted by Alton Brown. It's a
highly entertaining cooking show presented with a scientific twist and
a good bit of historical tidbits. Anyways, it's pretty clear that Mr.
Brown is a fan of the metric system in the kitchen. Today's episode,
on roasting a chuck, had a couple of nice pro-metric moments: at one
point Alton Brown's buddy is showing off his knowledge of various
ancient units that make up a cup of tomato juice they're adding to the
roast. To this Mr. Brown says: "What, no metric?" "Oh yeah, 236
milliliters," the other responds. Soon after, a 1/3 cup of something
or other is added. Alton Brown's buddy throws in the metric: "That's
78.1 milliliters." Mr. Brown counters: "OK, Rainman. You can round
up to 80 milliliters."
Mind you, everything else proceeded with the traditional measures, but
evidently Alton Brown does not see metric as an obstacle in the
kitchen. He's even shrewd enough to round up.
The show, overall, is fun to watch if you're scientifically inclined
or if you like to dig into some interesting trivia about food. The
guy explains everything from principles, kind of a "How It Works"
approach towards cooking.
