What is the primary function of recipe cards in culinary practice?

The primary function of recipe cards in culinary practice is to standardize recipes. Standardization is crucial in a kitchen setting as it ensures consistency in the preparation, cooking, and presentation of dishes. When recipes are standardized, it allows for uniform taste, texture, and appearance, regardless of who is preparing the dish. This is particularly important in large-scale operations, such as those found in the Navy or commercial food service, where many people may be involved in food preparation.

Standardizing recipes also helps to streamline the process of training new staff, as they can reliably follow a set format that details each step, ingredient, and technique. This leads to efficient operations and helps maintain quality control.

While other aspects like nutrition facts, portion control, and ingredient lists are important, they serve supplementary roles rather than the primary function of recipe cards. Nutrition facts may be included to inform about dietary information, portion control helps in managing serving sizes, and ingredients provide a list for preparation but are not the core purpose of recipe cards in ensuring the overall consistency and quality of the culinary output.