Eat Tweet is not so neat

An overriding theme found in cookbooks has been making recipes simple and easy enough so anyone can make it.  While I have no problem with that, Eat Tweet takes that notion into the realm of the ridiculous.  Just as I figured out what Twitter’s value was in my life, I spotted this book over the weekend.  It’s a collection of recipes that were condensed step-by-step into Twitter’s maximum of 140 characters.  Here are some examples cut-and-pasted from the book’s Twitter feed:

• Whisky Apples: Boil2c h2o&sug; +4c slicdapple/cinnstick. Simmr4m; rmv apple to 4 8oz jars. Boil syrup 5m; +½c whisky. Fill jars; boil5m.
• Mussel & Apple Stew: boil 2c apple&juice&leek/T buttr/whlclove/pep; +2lb cleanedmussel. Cvr5m@med-high. Srv open(discard shut) w dill&bread

As a social networking platform, I think it’s a great idea.  Sharing your recipes with others is part of what enjoying food is all about, and using abbreviations for Twitter or text messages is entirely appropriate.  However, there’s no need to ration characters when you’re publishing a book.  I’m all for concise directions, but isn’t that a pre-requisite for any cookbook anyway?  It’s a recipe, not prose.  With Eat Tweet, now I have to decode recipes and cross-reference a glossary before I can actually make something.  That doesn’t sound simple and easy to me.