European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 22, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                How Many deciphering British measurements by Sharon Hudgins ave you Ever purchased an English language Cookbook taken it Home tred one of the recipes and it did t turn out correctly at All so you tried another recipe and had the same results a total Flop at that Point you put the Cookbook on the Shell never to open it again and went Back to using something tried and True such As the Joy of cooking. If that s a familiar Story to you then you be probably made the common mistake of assuming that All English language cookbooks Are written in the same language. At first glance cookbooks published in England and the United states look very much alike after All we do speak approximately the same language Don t we even if the British insist on adding an extra letter to the spelling of color flavor and Gelatin and on saying cling film instead of plastic wrap Corn instead of wheat and Maize instead of  certainly an american can reads Cookbook published in England just As a briton can read a Cookbook published in the United states. But just wait until you try out one of the recipes. Put together a British published Cookbook and an american Cook with american measuring cups and you be got the recipe for disaster. The same holds True for a British Cook with British measuring cups and Scales trying to use an american published Cookbook Here s Why. In american recipes All measurements for both liquid and dry ingredients Are volume measurements. That Means they Are Given in cups or fractions of cups. Since an american pint 2 cups equals 16 fluid ounces then half of that pint or 1 cup is 8 fluid ounces in British recipes All liquid measures Are Given in volume measurements of fluid ounce Gills or pints. But a British Imperial pint is 20 fahrenheit celcius or what Here s a Handy guide to equivalent oven temperatures around the world. Cut it out and paste it inside the cover of your favorite Cookbook. Temperature equivalents have been rounded off to the nearest five degrees general fahrenheit celcius Gas Regulo no. Very Cool very slow 200�f 95�c very Cool very slow 225�f 110�c very Cool very slow 250�f 120�c Cool very slow 275" f 135�c slow 300�f 150�c very moderate mod slow 325�f 165"c moderate 350�f 180�c moderately hoi 375�f 190�c hot 400�f 205�c hot 425�f 220�c very hot 450�f 230�c very hot 475 f 250-c 1/4 1/2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 note general terms such As slow moderate hot Are used in Many older recipes. Fahrenheit temperatures ate Standard in Britian and the United states. Cal club temperatures Are used wherever the metric system is Standard. Gas Regulo numbers or Gas Mark numbers Are used on Many British manufactured ovens. Rivaud Hudgims fluid ounces. That Means half a British pint is 10 fluid ounces instead of 8 ounces As in the american system. A Gill is one fourth of a British pint or 5 fluid ounces. In addition the British express All their dry measures for flour sugar Rice even butter in weights ounces and Pound determined by placing these ingredients on a Kitchen scale calibrated in ounces and pounds. Americans on the other hand measure All of their dry ingredients in measuring cups based on a Standard 8-ounce volume cup. If As an american you Don t take All of this into account when using cookbooks published in Britain you re in for trouble. For instance British ounces and pounds in weight Are equivalent to american ounces and pounds in both systems 16 ounces equal 1 Pound. But if a British recipe Calls for 4 ounces of flour you la make a big mistake if you measure out half of an american cup that is. 4 fluid ounce because you will be using an american volume measurement for a British weight measurement. The British would weigh out 4 ounces of Lour on a scale in this example 4 ounces of flour in weight in the British recipe is equivalent to 1 cup of flour in american volume  complicate things even More weight and volume conversions Aren t the same for each ingredient. For example British weight american volume measures measures 4 ounces a sifted flour it cup plus 2 Tablespoons a sifted 4 ounces butter 4 ounces i a Rice 4 ounces sugar 4 ounces chopped almonds 4 ounces dried Apricot halves flour v4 cup butter % cup raw Rice i cup sugar 1 cup chopped almonds 1 cup dried Apricot halves confused you have every right to be. Bui what can be done about these differences in the Way that British and american recipes Are written first Check to see if the recipe is British or american. If the Cookbook was published in the United kingdom or if the recipes use pints Gills Tor liquid ingredients and pounds ounces for dry ingredients you can be sure that your american measuring cups won t give you the Correct amounts. At this Point consult a Standard cooking reference Book such As the Joy of cooking or larousse Castro Domique for the appropriate ounce volume Pound weight equivalencies for each ingredient. Or you can buy an English liquid measuring cup and measuring spoons plus a pounds ounces scale and measure the ingredients the Way the British do. These problems with different measurement systems become even More obvious when you Purchase cookbooks that have been translated from another language into English. For a Start most of the world uses the metric system of measurement instead of the British or american system. That Means All volume measurements for liquid ingredients Are written As liners or fractions of liners dec ilsters Millilitres. All weight measurements for dry ingredients Are Given in kilograms or Grams. And All oven temperatures Are expressed in degrees celsius instead of degrees fahrenheit. When a publisher in Germany France or Italy for example wants to translate one of his cookbooks into English he must convert the metric measurements into the appropriate measurements for the English language edition but Many publishers Are not aware of the differences Between the British and american systems. Worse yet Many translators from other languages into English Don t know How to make recipe conversions correctly. As a result the Reader Cook is the one who ultimately suffers from the Gross inaccuracies in the mis converted recipe measurements. Usually a publisher in cd print the recipe measures system because that s it publishers Are most Familio some English language cd where the British and Arm actually mixed in the Sam the recipe totally Unwor a to avoid these problem their cookbooks More mar internationally some up recipe Mesu remels in All a separate column Tor each metric British american. British metric Imperial 300 my i pint 60 Grams 2 ounces 250 Grams 9 ounces Page 14 the stars and stripes this format makes the re read but at least there s no Correct measurements. My own solution to this i sets of measuring cups me american plus a Good or tar both Grams and ounces. It Cookbook i Check to see in system the recipes Are write which set of measuring cup most Cooks also know try liquids in dear Glass Meas can easily match the level c measurement desired. Dry american system should b plastic cups of ,.vi,v. That you can level Oft the in. The cup Lor accurate Meas Cooks around the world inc Best method Lor measuring but since american Coc their recipes in that syster probably continue to Meas ingredients in cups Lorma to help you identify the systems used in your own cookbooks the ingredient recipe for Honey Almond i the British Imperial and the Honey Almond Barl brith Imperial set Tom 4 ounces butter 3 Tablespoons sugar 1 egg Well beaten .Vi ounces yellow mar Pinch of Salt Pinch of Cream of tartar 2/5 pint Honey 4 ounces chopped Alec or in blanched am Felicin Tyi tem a cup butter 3 Tablespoons sugar 1 egg Well beaten 1 cup yellow com Wal i Teaspoon Salt it Teaspoon Cream of to 1 cup Honey 1 cup chopped Almond unbranched preheat oven to 300 f. Or 9-Inch Square baking bowl Cream together the add the egg Cornmeal r terminology Salt and it the ingredients Are Thoro in a Small Saucepan by boil Over medium heat is pour the boiling Honey of mixture and stir until All t Well blended. Stir in the c pour the Batter into the and bake at 300 f for 1h remove from oven and p Cool. While the mixture is 2-Inch-Square bars but it completely in the pan. It carefully remove the Cool Platter. Makes 20 bars. From Coundon 1m Friday dec