Cloned restaurant recipes

[amber]

I saw this site advertised on The Daily Buzz this morning. Some of the recipes are free, while others you will have to purchase.

http://www.topsecretrecipes.com/home.asp

 

[Raven]

Warning: Do not copy any recipes from this site and post them to another though, he'll sue the living pants off both the poster and the message board.

Their lawyers went through last year and sent form letters to any message board where they found any TSR recipes posted or any posts containing the URL to the old recipe archives (which are now no-longer free) saying take it down or face a lawsuit.

~ Raven ~

 

[spdrdr]

I checked this book out a long time ago from my local library - I think there is a second edition even. Very interesting reading as it gave some history behind the foods too.

 

[Andy M.]

I checked this book out a long time ago from my local library - I think there is a second edition even. Very interesting reading as it gave some history behind the foods too.

I guess I missed it. What book?

 

[CharlieD]

I don't see what's the big deal is about...

 

[amber]

Raven, thats a rule on discuss cooking, not to post the actual recipes from another site because that is copyright infringement, unless you get permission from the author, but it's fine to post a link to the site.

 

[Raven]

Okay, I just thought I'd mention it just in case. It caused quite a stir on few other boards last year.

~ Raven ~

 

[CharlieD]

the true recipes are precious comadity and restaurants would never give them up. just because somebodie thinks that thouse recipes are the same i wouldn't go alone with that. Otherwise nobody would go to restaurants, everybody would cook at home.

 

[RedBedHead]

Charlie,
I own the book and the recipes are amazing! I'm sure that it isn't EXACT but I know that he spent many years and came close to perfect on the ones that I have tried.

 

[CharlieD]

Jen, but that is my point, if it isn't exact, why bother. There are plenty of great recipes out there. There was a show on TV few days ago about KFC. The original chicken recipe is locked in the place that only couple of people in the company know about, and the ingredients are made in different places so nobody could figure out the final mix. So, I don't care how close these recipes are they are not the original ones.

 

[GB]

Jen, but that is my point, if it isn't exact, why bother.

Charlie, lets say there is a dish that you love from a local restaurant. The restaurant is 20 minutes away from your house. You need to pay for that entree plus a tip to the waiter plus tax.

Now lets say you have a recipe that comes very close to tasting like what you get at the restaurant. You can make it in your own home for a fraction of the cost. You don't even need to leave your home with the possible exception of a trip to the supermarket.

That is just one reason why it might be worth the bother.

 

[CharlieD]

Now having said all of that, I have to admit I rarely use any recipe. A recipe book for me is more of an Idea or like they say in the movies "Inspired by true events". BTW, I do that not because I am such a great cook, but because I cannot fallow a recipe as well as I cannot fallow an instruction for VCR or DVD, or camera.

 

[SNPiccolo5]

My parents got me the first TSR book, and it is very interesting. I sometimes use my own variation on the Mrs. Fields Chocolate Chip Cookie, and also use the CPK Bruschetta Topping recipe for my own bruschetta- it turns out quite well! I wouldn't necessarily buy the book for each recipe, but it can give you some really good ideas.

-Tim

 

[licia]

I have the book "Top Secret Recipes, Treasure II". It has some really good recipes. They may not be exact, but they are really close to the real thing in the ones I know. I've made a few things from it, but mostly I read it.

 

[CharlieD]

GB, The closest restaurant that I can go to is about 30 minutes away, and it isn't even that great. So I make my own stuff at home for the fraction of the cost oh, about 99.99999999999999999999999% of the time. (That’s beside the point)

Speaking of the recipe(whatever recipe it might be), if it is not the same as the one in the restaurant it is still not the same no matter how close it is. There are tons of recipes that are similar. That is my only point. That is why I did not understand what the big deal about the site and law suites etc. The guy can take his recipes and shove them you know where if he wants to be so obtuse about it. The internet opened a huge can of worms; you can copy his recipe, change the order and just say it is not his recipe. That is what I am talking about. Obviously, it is great to be able to reproduce favorite meal at home. I just did not like this entire copy rights scares tactic. I know, I know, there is copy right everywhere including here, the only question is how far do you go with it.


P.S. we really need more smilies.

 

[jennyema]

you can copy his recipe, change the order and just say it is not his recipe. .

Not so, I am afraid.



There are many copycat recipe sites on line that provide very close copies (and not-so-close ones) of restaurant recipes.

 

[SNPiccolo5]

I was just thinking about this... but it brings up an issue of "when do you call a recipe 'your own' ". For example, could I post the TSR Mrs. Field's Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe I use with the modifications of 3/4 the butter, no white sugar, add oatmeal and use whole wheat flour? That's different enough where I could just post it as my own recipe; but what if the only difference is half the butter and 1/2 cup oatmeal... where do we draw the line? I guess that's the only thing that isn't super clear when it comes to the copyright business- titling the recipe could also make a difference.

-Tim

 

[GB]

The only thing that can be copyrighted with a recipe is the instructions. You can have a recipe that has the exact same ingredients as someone elses recipe and that is not a copyright violation. It is just the instructions on how you put those ingredients together that matters.

 

[Constance]

Here is a site that has lot's of "cloned" recipes. There are some good ones here.

http://recipes.robbiehaf.com/Copycat.html