What is a "Glass", in terms of measurement?

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larry_stewart

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I came across this recipe by accident. I doubt ill ever make it, but I've never heard (or seen) 'glass' used as a measurement term.

Fine Bulgur Halva With Ice Cream
Ingredients

The Recipe
4 tablespoons of sunflower oil
4 tablespoons of butter
2 tablespoons of pine kernels
2 glasses of Fine Bulgur
1 package of vanillin
5 glass of sugar
1 glass of grape molasses
2 glasses of water

Char pine kernels with sunflower oil. Add bulgur and continue charring for approximately 15 more minutes at very low heat. Add butter and vanillin and mix them.
Boil water and grape molasses in a separate cup. Pour it onto bulgur you charred. When bulgur slightly absorbs water add half of the sugar and the remaining sugar five minutes later.
After mixing several times close the cap and turn off the heat; let it rest for 15 minutes. Serve warm with ice cream.
For Serving: 4 balls of vanillin ice cream

https://durubulgur.us/fine-bulgur/fine-bulgur-halva-with-ice-cream/
 
Before measurements were standardized, people used the dishes and utensils in their homes for measuring things. I imagine they often weren't very precise, but most women, who did most of the cooking, learned how as they were growing up, so they were able to recognize when it was "right."

There are lots of articles out there about this. Here's one, with a table of measurements: https://silverhomestead.com/vintage-kitchen-measurements/
 
Before measurements were standardized, people used the dishes and utensils in their homes for measuring things. I imagine they often weren't very precise, but most women, who did most of the cooking, learned how as they were growing up, so they were able to recognize when it was "right."

There are lots of articles out there about this. Here's one, with a table of measurements: https://silverhomestead.com/vintage-kitchen-measurements/

True. However, that doesn't help a guy who lives in NY with no ties to old Turkish grandmothers and their kitchen wisdom.
 
Before measurements were standardized, people used the dishes and utensils in their homes for measuring things. I imagine they often weren't very precise, but most women, who did most of the cooking, learned how as they were growing up, so they were able to recognize when it was "right."

There are lots of articles out there about this. Here's one, with a table of measurements: https://silverhomestead.com/vintage-kitchen-measurements/

Good looking article at that link and nice chart. I would have guessed that a "glass" was equal to about 8 oz, plus or minus.

I have read Danish recipes from as recently as the 1960s that use measurements like glass. In that case, it depends on what the ingredient is. For most liquids it would be approximately 8 ounces, but for wine, it would be about 4 ounces. It would depend on how the ingredient was usually served by itself.

I still see that kind of measurement in Danish recipes. When it says that in a more modern recipe, it means that the amount doesn't need to be all that exact.
 
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I´d say it was exactly the same as a "cup".
A convenient measuring device which was close at hand when someone was trying to measure out a recipe, some time in the past.
These days, if you want to be precise, use grams/kilos or ounces/pounds.
 

I don't trust those measurements. From the article:

1 U.S. cup = 1 Turkish water glass = 200 milliliter = 2 çay bardağı

But, 1 US fluid cup = 236.5882 ml, not 200 ml. So, what else is off by 15% or so? Depending on what you are making and how many "glasses" are being used, that could make a big difference.

So, maybe a Turkish water glass does actually hold 200 ml. I think it's much better to think of a Turkish water glass as holding about 1 US cup.
 
Heritage Mediterranean Basin cuisine and dessert making uses intuitive cooking methods learned from centuries of experience passed down from generation to generation of women. There are no precise measuring units used in heritage baking recipes, when mixing the ingredients feels right it is correct. Same ingredients, drive 10 kilometres to the next town, the cooking style and taste is entirely different. Move from household to household, everyone will claim their recipe is the best.

Unfortunately; since the 1970's inflation spiral, out of financial necessity, married women became full time workers rather than stay at home housewives. In 50 years, centuries of intuitive cooking techniques has been lost.
 
I remember my son (in China) asking me how to make something. I gave him the recipe, his reply was that he had no measuring spoons or cups (stereotypical single guy living by himself). So we face timed, and I asked him to show me what sized cups (Drinking). he had on hand. One looked like it could be about 1 cp +/-. So I basically converted the recipe to that cup he had on hand, using it to keep the overall ingredients in proportion (as long as he consistently used the same cup). I remember he told me it came out fine. I dont remember what recipe it was, but most likely a soup, where most things (Veggies, broth...,) could be measured in basic cup,1/2 cup, 1/4 cup measurements. Obviously wouldn't have worked for a recipe that would need more precise. measurements (Baking). In the very next box we sent him, it included measuring cups and measuring spoons :) .He's now dating a girl who likes to cook.
 
Heritage Mediterranean Basin cuisine and dessert making uses intuitive cooking methods learned from centuries of experience passed down from generation to generation of women. There are no precise measuring units used in heritage baking recipes, when mixing the ingredients feels right it is correct...

I experienced this first hand with a neighbor from India. She shared some butter chicken with SO and me and it was sooo good I ran over and asked her for the recipe.

She wrote out the recipe and I ran out and bought the ingredients I needed. Made the recipe. It was not great. Made it again. Same result.

I invited her to my kitchen to watch me make the recipe. As I was adding spices she interrupted and told me to add more, then more again until it "looked right". That did the trick.

She had been making the dish with a different set of learned skills that did not involve exact measurements but rather by how a quantity of an ingredient looked in the pot.
 
She had been making the dish with a different set of learned skills that did not involve exact measurements but rather by how a quantity of an ingredient looked in the pot.
Exactly.
A "cup", a "glass", a "pinch", are not exact measures.
A "Gram", an "ounce", a "kilo" and a "pound", are.
Some people intuitively know how much of each ingredient they need; other people need a recipe. That´s a fact; so use which ever method suits you .
I, personally, need to know how much of this and that I´m using, so I use the metric system, because it has the smallest measurements and is always precise.
Each to their own.
 
Cooking foods that don't have precise, written recipes is fine when it's familiar foods, foods that we have seen being made while we were growing up. It's also fine when someone shows us how to make it. We can even extrapolate to similar foods. Videos are a blessing for making foods that are unfamiliar. Explanations of how it should look and feel are very helpful. Without that extra information, comprehensible measurements or ratios are important, at least the first few times one makes the dish.
 
Exactly.
A "cup", a "glass", a "pinch", are not exact measures.
A "Gram", an "ounce", a "kilo" and a "pound", are.
Some people intuitively know how much of each ingredient they need; other people need a recipe. That´s a fact; so use which ever method suits you .
I, personally, need to know how much of this and that I´m using, so I use the metric system, because it has the smallest measurements and is always precise.
Each to their own.

I'm not sure it's intuitive. She, like many many others, probably learned by watching the older generation. If you learn to measure using the palm of your hand, a water glass or by how big a pile it makes in the mixing bowl, you're just using alternative measuring tools.
 
Heritage Mediterranean Basin cuisine and dessert making uses intuitive cooking methods learned from centuries of experience passed down from generation to generation of women...
Fixed it for you. ;) Tactile cooking and cooking by looks and taste rather than measurements are common across all nationalities. My Polish great aunt made all sorts of delicacies that have been lost for want of proper measurements.

..since the 1970's inflation spiral, out of financial necessity, married women became full time workers rather than stay at home housewives...
Inflation was only part of the problem. "Keeping up with the Joneses" became rampant as my generation became adults. Fortunately, Himself and I lived a more frugal, depression era lifestyle that we learned from our parents...who learned from their parents. I quit full-time work when our twins were born and didn't go to work until they were in high school - and only part-time jobs then. Sadly, with so many employers going to only part-time jobs these days, families often need both parents to make the equivalent pay to what Himself made in one, full-time, full-benefits job. :(

...In the very next box we sent him, it included measuring cups and measuring spoons :) .He's now dating a girl who likes to cook.
And she probably had sets of measuring cups and spoons of her own! :chef:
 
Inflation selling smaller amounts in smaller boxes and cans would change grandma's recipe for Dump Cake.


Melt a stick of butter.
Dump in 1 can of any flavor pie filling.
Dump over that one cake mix any kind.
Bake until bubbling.

Serve hot over ice cream.
 

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