Posted on: Wednesday, March 23, 2005

FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Sizing up culinary Web sites

By Wanda A. Adams
Advertiser Food Editor

In keeping with the section's cyberspace theme today (see the lead story on culinary blogs), it seems a good time to answer a thoughtful e-mail from reader Lehua Henion, who asked what sites I rely on for cooking hints and recipes and how to evaluate a culinary Web site: "Please share some of your evaluation criteria. Maybe mine is too subjective and I need some pointers."

I know an effective Web site when I see one, but I had never quantified the attributes that cause me to use, and trust, online food material.

I have no loyalty to any particular site, with a couple exceptions. I go to epicurious.com's food encyclopedia often, because it's an online version of "The Food Lover's Companion," a trusted food dictionary. And I have bookmarked the U.S. Department of Agriculture site, where you can find nutritional analysis of thousands of foods (www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search).

My path to Internet recipes always begins with google.com, one of the most broad-reaching and well- organized search engines on the Web. All you need is a title or key ingredients. For example, if you want a beef-stew recipe made with red wine, just plug in "beef stew red wine recipe" and you'll receive 153,000 options.

Craft your search as specifically as possible by using the advanced search function. This allows you to narrow the parameters to — for example — only beef-stew recipes that use zinfandel and chuck steak.

A good culinary Web site has the same attributes as a quality cookbook: ease of use. Logical organization. Pictures. Tested recipes. Detailed instructions.

And just as I value a book index with detailed cross-referencing, I value a well-designed search function. Too often, I'll search for something on a site, knowing it's there, but fail to find it via the internal search engine. Then I tinker around with other means of navigating the site and find it. This indicates the search engine isn't programmed in sufficient detail.

Additionally, a good Web site identifies itself as to purpose and sponsor or maker so you can judge whether the information is slanted in a particular way. At Cyberbee.com, a Web site for educators, I found a couple of very useful downloadable forms for evaluating Web sites, developed by Karen McLachlan of East Knox High School in Howard, Ohio.

She suggests you consider: Does the first look tell you what the basic content of the site is? Is a revision date provided and is content updated frequently? Are the information providers identified and do the presenters seem qualified? Are all parts of the site up and running? Is the information well-organized and easy to understand? Does it appear accurate based on your knowledge of the subject and consistent with other sources you trust? Are the grammar and spelling correct? Are links provided to other sites?