Cooklang is the markup language at the center of an open-source ecosystem for cooking and recipe management. In Cooklang, each text file is a recipe written as plain-english instructions with markup syntax to add machine-parsible information about required ingredients, cookware, time, and metadata.
Below is the specification for defining a recipe in cooklang.
To define an ingredient, use the @ symbol. If the ingredient's name contains multiple words, indicate the end of the name with {}.
Then add @salt and @ground black pepper{} to taste.
To indicate the quantity of an item, place the quantity inside {} after the name.
Poke holes in @potato{2}.
To use a unit of an item, such as weight or volume, add a % between the quantity and unit.
Place @bacon strips{1%kg} on a baking sheet and glaze with @syrup{1/2%tbsp}.
To modify the ingredient any other way, use parentheses.
Top with @green onions{1%tbsp}(finely chopped)
You can add comments to cooklang text with //.
// Don't burn the roux!
Mash @potato{2%kg} until smooth // alternatively, boil 'em first, then mash 'em, then stick 'em in a stew.
Slowly add @milk{4%cup}, keep mixing
You can add metadata tags to your recipe for information such as source (or author), meal, total prep time, and number of people served.
>> source: https://www.gimmesomeoven.com/baked-potato/
>> time required: 1.5 hours
>> course: dinner
You can manually add information for scaling serving size up or down. Serving size information comes in two parts: the metadata tag, and ingredient tags. The metadata tag defines the serving sizes the recipe supports.
>> servings: 2|4|8
Then, you can automatically scale ingredient quantities with *. This will multiply the quantity given by the number of servings selected.
>> servings: 2|4|8
Add @milk{1/2*%cup} and mix until smooth.
Alternatively, you can manually specify ingredient quantities for each serving size. This is useful for non-linear scaling.
>> servings: 2|4|8
Add @milk{1|2|3%cup} and mix until smooth.
If no ingredient scaling is defined, the same quantity will be used for all serving sizes.
>> servings: 2|4|8
Add @salt{1%tsp} // this is the same
Add @salt{1|1|1%tsp} // as this
You can define any necessary cookware with #. Like ingredients, you don't need to use braces if it's a single word.
Place the potatoes into a #pot.
Mash the potatoes with a #potato masher{}.
You can define a timer using ~.
Lay the potatoes on a #baking sheet{} and place into the #oven{}. Bake for ~{25%minutes}.
You can add images to your recipe by including a supported image file (.png,.jpg) matching the name of the recipe recipe in the same directory.
Baked Potato.cook
Baked Potato.jpg
You can also add images for specific steps by including a step number before the file extension.
Chicken French.cook
Chicken French.0.jpg
Chicken French.3.jpg
To support the creation of shopping lists by apps and the command line tool, cooklang includes a specification for a configuration file to define how ingredients should be grouped on the final shopping list.
You can use [] to define a category name. These names are arbitrary, so you can customize them to meet your needs. For example, each category could be an aisle or section of the store, such as [produce] and [deli].
[produce]
potatoes
[dairy]
milk
butter
Or, you might be going to multiple stores, in which case you might use [Tesco] and [Costco].
[Costco]
potatoes
milk
butter
[Tesco]
bread
salt
You can also define synonyms with |.
[produce]
potatoes
[dairy]
milk
butter
[deli]
chicken
[canned goods]
tuna|chicken of the sea