You Do It Like This

Me: "You know, I like blogging, but..."
FRE: "But?"
Me: "Well, I end up sounding so pedantic.¹"
FRE: *silence*
Me: "What?"
FRE: "What, what?"

A few days later I'm flipping through my new cookbook, From My Mexican Kitchen, Techniques and Ingredients, compliments of the FRE, when I read in the Introduction:

"I have tried to think and stress (without, I hope, being pedantic) what is important ... "

The author, Diana Kennedy, proceeds to discuss certain Mexican dishes:

"It is just a matter of spending a little time looking them up in the right cookbooks!"

And here, she's talking about a particular spice:

"The heavy use of achiote is also to be deplored. Its strong, musky flavor is unpleasant and overpowering when concentrated in a sauce - I shudder when I remember the nouvelle types I have come across ... "

Ms Kennedy? I'm sorry to dash your hopes, but, um, pedantic pretty much describes ...
Oh ... What's this on page 187? Yeah, Baby ... It's a pedantic discussion on mole making!

(Oh well, I guess pedantism is an idiosyncrasy of food writing.)

~~~~~~
¹ Pedantic: adj.; Marked by a narrow, often tiresome focus on or display of learning, especially its trivial aspects; Characterized by concern for formal rules.