Does the word “variation” mean the changing cooking recipes according to one’s favorite taste?

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I have a question about everyday English expressions.

Do you cook? When you cook, do you ever change the recipe according to your favorite flavor, such as "add milk according to your taste" or "Add water (you can put it on low heat)"?

I would like to express this kind of thing with one noun.

When I used the word "arrangement" for this meaning, a native English speaker told me that "arrangement means changing the order or placement of things", i.e. the word "arrangement" does not have the above-mentioned meaning.

If I looked at the sites like the following, is "variation" the correct noun?

I also thought of adjustment and conversion, but these seem to express quantitative change, according to this site and this one.

Q1. Does the word variation mean to change cooking recipes according to one's favorite taste?

Q2. For cooking recipes, do "substitute" and "variation" mean the same thing or different things?

My new question is the below;
"Tuna is (one noun) of salmon." or "You can use warm water as (one noun) of the cold water."

Best Answer

Many of the things you've already discovered are right.

  • Yes, "arrangement" has a few meanings, but not one that applies here. (In music it can mean to make a new version of a musical piece, but its primary meaning is to order or position things.)
  • Yes; although "adjustment" can be defined as "a slight change made to something to make it fit, work better, or be more suitable," and after these changes you could say that you had "adjusted the recipe," there are better words for your goal of talking about the actual items that you change.
  • And "conversion" almost always involves changing the quantity of a recipe, usually proportionally (for instance, doubling the amounts of all ingredients).

The word that fits your example sentences best is one you mentioned, "substitute," though you will have to change a few words to fit (note, it usually uses "for" rather than "on"):

Tuna can be a substitute for salmon.
You can use warm water as a substitute for the cold water.

(Both of these could also more easily simply use "substitute" as a verb: "You can substitute warm water for the cold water.")

Q1. Does the word variation mean to change cooking recipes according to one's favorite taste?

One of the definitions of variation is "something that is slightly different from the usual form or arrangement." Using this meaning, you might call the entire new version of the recipe that your change created "a variation." For example: "Here's my favorite cake recipe. For a lighter variation, you can substitute applesauce for half of the oil."

Q2. For cooking recipes, do "substitute" and "variation" mean the same thing or different things?

Although as you can see they're related, no, they're different words with different meanings, and you can't substitute (haha) one for the other.

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