How to Write a Recipe Poem
Writing in verse is a fun and creative way to share a recipe with friends, especially since poetry can take so many different forms. If you have children in your household or are a teacher, using food as the inspiration for a story in rhyme is a good way to expand their vocabularies, get them to think about pacing and meter and maybe even tweak their interest to study the works of famous poets. A recipe poem also makes for a distinctive special occasion greeting card.
Other People Are Reading
Instructions
-
-
1
Decide which type of poem you want to write. If you've thought up until now that all poetry has to rhyme, hop on over to some of the websites listed at the end of this article. A poem can be a haiku, an elegant sonnet, a limerick or even free verse that may or may not use any punctuation. Perhaps the recipe will be the cornerstone of a special evening with your sweetheart and will incorporate romantic imagery that appeals to all of the senses. Maybe it's a recipe for leftovers and will depict the ingredients as if they were mystery guests who have all been invited to the same party. Or maybe certain ingredients conjure bad memories, and your recipe poem will take on the nature of a horror story.
-
2
Make a copy of the recipe you want to write a poem about. Circle every word in it that can be rhymed with another word. The interesting thing about cooking is that so many ingredients and procedures have great rhyming potential (bake, cook, boil, pour, slice, pan, meat, fish, roast, bread, drink, cream, brie, ham).
-
-
3
Purchase a dictionary of rhyming words. These books are fun tools for aspiring poets because they are divided into sections for one-, two- and three-syllable combinations. A few good choices to get you started are "Scholastic Rhyming Dictionary" by Sue Young, "Webster's Compact Rhyming Dictionary" by Merriam-Webster and "The Complete Rhyming Dictionary: Including The Poet's Craft Book" by Clement Wood and Ronald J. Bogus. You can also find inspiration in the texts that songwriters use such as "Essential Songwriter's Rhyming Dictionary" by Kevin M. Mitchell and "Songwriting: Essential Guide to Rhyming: A Step-by-Step Guide to Better Rhyming and Lyrics" by Pat Pattison.
-
4
Write down each of the words you circled in the menu and see how many rhyming words you can match to it. Experiment with substituting some of the rhyming words into the recipe and listening to how they sound. Even if you're not writing a la-dee-da poem or your best imitation of Ogden Nash, a poem will hold together better if there's a pleasing flow and echo of similar-sounding words.
-
5
Pick an easy-to-sing song that you really like. If you've never written a poem before, penning thoughts as if they were going to be lyrics is a surprisingly easy way to get into a rhythm. The reason is that an existing song provides a virtual template that tells you how many syllables should be in each line. If you're not writing a rhyming recipe poem, listening to music is still a good idea because it will evoke emotions that reflect what you want your poem to say. If you're making scary Halloween cookies, for example, listen to "Thriller" a few times.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
Consider entering your recipe poem in competitions or as a magazine filler. Pam White's monthly newsletter on the Food Writing website is full of great tips and market resources. Her newsletter is also free! Always read your poetry out loud. It will give you a much better sense of its lyrical qualities than if you read it silently.
It's going to be hard to rhyme things such as measurements, and so you may not even want to try. Instead, list the ingredients at the top of the poem and focus on rhyming the rest of it. Don't stress! Poetry--like anything else in the arts--is subjective, and accordingly, not everyone is going to like it. The important thing is that you like it and that you had fun putting it together.
Resources
- Photo Credit Photo by Christina Hamlett
