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"Fry" is an ambiguous word in English
(lemmy.world)
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this post was submitted on 12 Jul 2024
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"cook well in a cold oven" at least makes sense in the context of the time. Ovens then were not supplied continuous heat - instead, they were fired up to a high heat, and then as it slowly cooled food was baked in them according to the current temperature. A cold or slow oven would be at the low end, and a hot or quick oven would be shortly after it was first heated.
This is a great point. It wasn't like every home had a thermometer in the oven and therefore they had to use different terminology and identifiers for indicating oven temperature. Similarly, this is why American recipes measure in volume vs weight, most homes didn't have scales, they had cups and spoons.
These were also "precise enough" for the era. Perhaps these lexical gaps form as more styles of cuisine become more common and other cooking methods are used.
I've noticed this with some Indian recipes. The instruction "to grind" specifically refers to using grinders, either mill or wet grinders, that just aren't common in the US and that can create some ambiguity in how finely to chop or grind something.