'Mi plato favorito?
'Mi plato favorito?
Mi plato favorito es 'vegan sloppy joes?
Primero (,) tu hierves dos tazos de agua en una cazuela.
Añades la mezcla 'Comer Fantastico Sloppy Joe',
dos cucharadas de aceite, y tres onzas de pasta de tomate.
Deja cocer a fuego lento (durante) seis minutos.
Mientas tanto, salteas una cebolla cortada en aceite
durante un minuto. Despues (,) añades un ''''? cortado
tomate y tres onzas albahaca picado muy fino.
Mientas tanto (,) calientas el pan en la tostadora.
Una vez que los ingredientes en la cazuela se espesan,
y esta tiene muy poca agua, añades el salteado a la sartén.
Después (,) echas el azúcar moreno y chile en polvo.
Untas 'vaganaise? sobre de el pan y echas las mezclas
y lo sirves.
Edit: Please do not delete your text.
13 Answers
Colourful, yes, but there you go.
Wow, yes, that's quite something! We have nothing like this in our English recipes.
In English, it's as if I said "how do you make banana bread" and the written recipe says "here's what you do." We don't think of the instructions as orders or commands, but rather, simply an answer to our question.
Hierve **(tú) ***dos tazas de agua
Añade **(tú) ***la mezcla
Books don't tell you this, but the position of the pronoun makes a big difference: "Abre tú" is almost polite, whereas "Tú abre" is closer to bossy and impolite. The former is almost like a clarification after asking the person to open (the door), whereas the latter begins with a "tú" can easily sound as if you are pointing at people while giving orders, almost like a slave master. Of course, intonation can make a huge difference, and you can make this initial "tú" sound like usual contrastive pronoun, suggesting that you shouldn't care about others, that it is just about you. In any case, and maybe just for politeness sake, in written Spanish, when using the imperative, the pronouns are always written after the verb.
But coming back to the main topic, using the present for recipes is not an unusual thing. Think of it: are you going to give orders to the person who bought the recipe book? Well, you can think of them as 'instructions', rather than orders, but it is still too straight for some people (not me, for example). The alternatives are tu use the "usted" forms, or to use some sort of virtual off-voice that describes the whole preparation of the recipe, putting you in the starring of the movie. This story, told "as it happens", uses the present tense, and you are in it. Colourful, yes, but there you go.
Grammar books normally offer a simplistic (and not totally realistic) view of the tenses, explaining it simply in terms of time references, but in reality, they are used to play with the perspectives in its widest sense, and this opens lots of doors when it comes to free expression.
Primero hierves **dos tazos de agua ....Añades **la mezcla....
It seems strange to me that the language of this recipe isn't in the command form, specifically:
(tú)* Hierve *dos tazas de agua
(tú)* Añade *la mezclaI think it is a cultural thing ... politeness. Since the recipe is telling you how something is done/made, it is explaining to you step by step "what you do" (indicative) to make it, not telling you "what to do" (imperative), which comes across (in that culture) as more demanding, condescending, or intrusive.
It's like I was explaining to Eric the other day about the expression "¡Oye!" Many people think that because their bilingual dictionary says that it translates to "Hey," that it can be used in all the contexts/situations in which we use the English expression. Not true. Many times it is taken as a strong "getting-your-attention", subordinating remark, especially between people not well acquainted. For example, if you say to a person "¿Oye, qué haces aquí'", it could be taken the same way it would if we were to say to a person, "Listen, what are you doing here'" (its literal translation). In English we use "hey" to introduce sentences and begin conversations, even when we don't need to get someone's attention. Less so in Spanish.
That brings me back to my point (in another thread) that learning a language has a lot to do with its culture, not just cutting and pasting words/phrases from a dictionary and conjugating verbs. That is only accomplished by exposure to/interaction with natives in different contextual/cultural situations.
I think I am on track here; if not, anyone feel free to redirect.
I think it is a cultural thing ... politeness.
Ahhh...I get it.
Also, "Uno más" is the correct typing.Thank you for catching that, Eric! It looks like everyone else missed it!
and also "Uno más" is the correct typing.
Primero hierves **dos tazos de agua ....Añades **la mezcla....
It seems strange to me that the language of this recipe isn't in the command form, specifically:
(tu)* Hierve dos tazas de agua
(tu) Añade *la mezcla
¡Hola y bienvenido a los foros de español e inglés!
oops already noted
Well, I might as well post something here as long as I wasted the space:
http://www.followyourheart.com/vegenaise.html
'Mi Plato Favorito?
Mi plato favorito es 'Vegan Sloppy Joes'(.)
¿No son dos tazas de agua?
'Comer Fantástico Sloppy Joe?
Mientras (2 times)
Después, añades un poquito de tomate cortado '''
Would it be, "Una vez que ... se espesen"?
"y ésta tiene muy poca agua ..."
"Untas 'vaganaise? sobre [del]de[/del] el pan"
oops already notedDon't you feel good, though, that you caught something without having seen it in someone else's post?
Emily, please don't erase/correct your original post. If you do that, then others cannot see what is being referred to in later posts.
Don't feel bad about your mistakes! That is how all of us learn--from our own mistakes and from those of others. We need your mistakes to be able to see what was corrected, so we know what to avoid in our own writing. Although it may look like a lot of red ink, your paragraph was actually pretty good. Keep trying; I'm sure next time will be even better! 
dos tazas
Después (,) añades un poquito de tomate cortado
These were overlooked by Lazarus, who has been very generous.
"Mi plato favorito"
Mi plato favorito es "vegan sloppy joes"
Primero (,) [del]tu[/del] hierves dos tazos de agua en una cazuela.
Añades la mezcla "Comer Fantastico Sloppy Joe",
dos cucharadas de aceite, y tres onzas de pasta de tomate.
Deja cocer a fuego lento (durante) seis minutos.
Mientas tanto, salteas una cebolla cortada en aceite
durante un minuto. Despues (,) añades un ''''' cortado
tomate y tres onzas albahaca picado muy fino.
Mientas tanto (,) calientas el pan en la tostadora.
Una vez que los ingredientes en la cazuela se espesan,
y esta tiene muy poca agua, añades el salteado a la sartén.
Después (,) echas el azúcar moreno y chile en polvo.
Untas "vaganaise" sobre de el pan y echas las mezclas
y lo sirves.
Ok, "para" is used to indicate the final location or final recipient. "Cocer para 6 minutos" means "to cook for someone called '6 minutes'", or something like that. For time length, you don't even have to use a preposition in Spanish, but if you insist in using one, use "durante", or "por" if it is only an approximate length.
Here, "tú" has no place anywhere.
