A Cross-Cultural Study of Some Selected Ghanaian and Foreign Recipes

Abstract

The focal aim of this study was to investigate the recipes as professional genres in Ghanaian and foreign contexts, in terms of their schematic structures and linguistic features. Using Swales' (1990) rhetorical approach to genre analysis, the study examined 20 recipes from well-known cookbooks. The analysis and discussion of the cross-cultural study pointed to three key findings. First, it was revealed that recipes are organised in six core moves. These are recipe title, serving details, ingredients list, methods, serving suggestions and additional notes. While additional notes and nutritional value per serving were frequently used in foreign recipes, they rarely occurred in Ghanaian recipes. Second, in terms of the textual space allocated to each move, the study revealed that the method was allocated much textual space (44.7%) whereas the recipe title was allotted the least textual space (1.1%). Third, as regards the lexico-grammatical features, it was revealed that the dominant lexico-grammatical feature in recipes from both data sets was imperative verbs. The study contributes to the genre theory and serves as an impetus for further research.