Copycat Recipes, Clone Recipes, Commercial Recipes
When searching for a recipe from your favorite restaurant or bakery, remember that the more well-known a restaurant is, the more likely that there will be copycat recipes for its dishes on the web. That little, secluded, one-of-a-kind place that you love is a poor candidate. The same is true of local bakeries. Also, remember that the copycat recipe that you want may not exist. A copycat recipe doesn't exist unless someone creates a "tastes the same" recipe in their kitchen. Many restaurants use premixed ingredients. Even the cooks don't always know what's in them. When a restaurant does give out "home versions" of their recipes, these are usually copycat versions of the actual recipes.
See also: Restaurant Recipes.
Same with commercial recipes. A lady recently wrote me wanting me to get the recipe for Nabisco Royal Lunch Milk Crackers, which have been discontinued. She said she had called Nabisco, but they wouldn't give it to her.
It's just as well, because that lady couldn't use Nabisco's recipe if she got it. Nabisco made these things in huge quantities, in a factory. What would this lady do with a recipe that said "take fifty pounds of flour and add twenty pounds of milk powder...", etc. Where's she going to get ingredients like "stabilizers, emulsifiers, preservatives, artifical flavors and colors"?
What this lady really wants is a copycat recipe, a "knock-off", - something that she can make in her kitchen that will taste like the commercial product. Nabisco probably doesn't even have such a recipe. They never made them that way.
Links to some sites for restaurant and copycat recipes are below.
Remember, not all restaurants are owned by big corporations, and not all food products are made by big companies. Instead of copying that Amish family's special jelly, why not buy their product? It's their living! Instead of trying to copy a local restaurant or bakery's dish or drive-in's sandwich, etc, go there often and dine! It gets you out of the kitchen for a change, and your patronage is what keeps that restaurant going!
If you want me to try and locate a restaurant recipe for you, give me the name of the restaurant and the location. If you are looking for a recipe from a restaurant or bakery that is no longer in business, it's very helpful if you give me any information that you have about the owners, their family, and/or the chef.
To find copycat recipes on my site, use the search box and enter the name of the restaurant, bakery, or company.
