If you tried one new food or drink every three days, in a little over 16 years, you would have tried 2000 new things. My wife and I will achieve this in a little less than 15 years. How did we do it?
First, we answered the question, ‘What do you want to eat?’ We collected a number of cookbooks over the years, but to be honest, didn’t use them as often as we had intended. So, one day we embarked on the laborious task of going through each book, selecting recipes, and inputting key data into a spreadsheet. In a year, the spreadsheet had grown to 1000 desirable dishes (it is now over 5000), including recipes from websites and family members.
Second, we built 16 different levers within the spreadsheet to narrow the choices (can be made on a weeknight, protein, type of dish, what area of the world the dish is from, etc.). By using the filters, we narrow the choices down to five or so. By looking at five potential dishes that we already identified as wanting to eat, we find it remarkably easy to select one.
Third, we simply used the spreadsheet for long enough to realize how valuable a tool it is. We record a few things after making each recipe - the month and year, a rating (1 through 5), and most importantly, what we would change about it the next time we make it. Without this, we would have long forgotten the Moroccan-style Chicken, or Tempura Olives, or Middle-Eastern Soup with Harissa that we did back in 2010.
As a side project, we’ll be putting together the rest of the story. In the meantime, if you are invited to dinner, I highly recommend you accept the invitation.