The simplicity of the presentation isn’t all that simple. I thought I had clicked an entirely different recipe. I know this crowd loves minimalist design but I’ve had to correct a zillion mistakes on here because text is tiny on my phone.
I think of myself as a pretty decent cook but without some rough measurements I don’t find the recipes very useful. When I look at the gnocchi recipe I have no idea how much flour to take for an amount of potatoes for example . It is a little like watching my mom who just seems to throw things together until it’s right. Every time it’s perfect but she can’t explain what she does. You need a lot of experience for this.
The thing is that cooking, as it's (usually) based on products that have some intrinsic variability in them ( plants, dead animals... ) hence the recipe cannot be made fully deterministic. I know for gnocchis for example, the amouny of flour needed depends on the moisture content of the potatoes which depend on the variety uses, and how long they've been stored... Also depends on the flour you use. Until you get the dough texture "just right". Agree with many comments here that this makes a cooking an art.
It’s pretty much a given that in most recipes the quantities are a rough estimate. But at least you have starting point. With gnocchi I have no idea where to start and I have never seen them made so I simply don’t know what’s “just right”.
I get most of my recipes from YouTube these days. I can see the technique and result, which is valuable, but I make my own notes in a format that suits me, sometimes like Cooking for Engineers (group ingredients, do process, add next group, etc) but usually with a lot of bullet points and terse sentences.
Writing my own notes is great for understanding and retention. They get printed out, then tested to earn the right to a plastic sleeve and a place in the folder! Analogue with a digital backup.
Either way, the simplicity of presentation here transcends any such criticism which misses the point entirely.