India, April 12 -- They're fun to watch, aren't they, those expectation-vs-reality videos? It's not so much fun to be on the other side.

I'd like to talk, today, about why picture-perfect recipes can be so perilous.

I love recipe videos. They let us discover our own culture, and learn about cuisines from around the world. They make learning so much faster and easier.

I remember my periamma (aunt) in Hyderabad making tomato soup with croutons for the first time, with the help of a recipe book, in 1985.

It was the highlight of our day; no, our year! When I make unfamiliar dishes today, I think of her. She would have loved the simple, delicious, no-onion, no-garlic labra torkari of West Bengal, and the Italian spaghetti all'assassina, ma...