Recipes/Commands/Articles

Question

Ok, so my question is simple really. If I am writing a recipe in spanish using command verbs and I'm telling someone to mix the ingredients, when I list the ingredients do I need to put the articles before each noun?

For instance:

mezcle los nueces, dos huevos, harina, vainilla y sal.

or should I say

mezcle los nueces, dos huevos, la harina, la vainilla y la sal.

Correct me, please! And thank you very much for taking the time!

Answer 1

Hi and welcome to the forum.

When listing the ingredients, it is not necessary to use the articles. However, when giving the directions, whether written or verbally, I would use the articles.

Ingredientes (No articles used)

1 lb. de acelgas

1/4 taza de uvas pasas claras

2 cdas. aceite de oliva

3 dientes de ajo, cortados en rebanadas finas

1/4 taza de anacardos (cashews), tostados

sal y pimienta al gusto

Enviar ingredientes a mi móvil

Preparación****(articles used) Lava las acelgas bien y seca con papel toalla. Separa las hojas de los tallos. Corta los tallos en rebanadas finas y deja aparte. Enrolla las hojas y corta en rebanadas de 1 pulgada. Calienta el aceite en una sartén sobre fuego medio alto. Agrega los tallos picados y saltea 2 minutos. Agrega el ajo y las hojas de acelgas. Cocina 3 minutos y agrega las uvas pasas. Cocina 1 minuto más y sazona con sal y pimienta. Decora con los anacardos picados.

thank you, thank you, thank you! - lauramish, Nov 10, 2011

Answer 2

I have noticed that in recipes the instruction verb is usually in the infinitive, In fact I was giving a talk in class about a year ago and using a recipe as my subject, I remember asking a similar question on the forum and the answer came back to use the infinitive.

Hope this helps - its also easier!

Answer 3

Ah, thank you so much! If I'm speaking it instead of it being something to read would the situation be the same (as in not using the articles)?

Again, thank you!

I apologize. I just changed my answer because I thought you were speaking of the list of ingredients. So refer to the above answer, which I just updated. - Nicole-B, Nov 10, 2011

So whether written or spoken, use the articles when giving the cooking instructions. - Nicole-B, Nov 10, 2011