Cooklang Blog on Cooklang

Tandoor vs Mealie vs KitchenOwl: Choosing a Self-Hosted Recipe Manager in 2026

hello@cooklang.org (Alexey) — Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

An honest comparison of three popular self-hosted recipe managers — Tandoor, Mealie, and KitchenOwl. Setup complexity, UI, recipe import, meal planning, mobile experience, and data portability.

Mealie Review: A Developer's Honest Look at the Self-Hosted Recipe Manager

hello@cooklang.org (Alexey) — Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Mealie is one of the most popular self-hosted recipe managers. Here's an honest look at what it does well, where it falls short, and who it's actually for — from someone who builds a different kind of recipe tool.

A Plain Text Recipe Database You Already Know How to Use

hello@cooklang.org (Alexey) — Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

You don't need Postgres, schemas, or migrations to build a recipe database. Your filesystem already is one — and CookCLI gives you the query layer on top.

Cooklang Editor Setup: VS Code, Vim, Obsidian, and More

hello@cooklang.org (Alexey) — Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Cooklang files are plain text, so any editor works. But syntax highlighting and LSP support make the experience much better. Here's how to set up your editor of choice.

The Desktop App Is Gone. Here's What Replaced It.

hello@cooklang.org (Alexey) — Wed, 11 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

We replaced the Cooklang desktop app with a lightweight sync agent — a tiny background service that does the same job faster, with less overhead.

Cooklang vs Mealie: Plain Text vs Self-Hosted Web App

hello@cooklang.org (Alexey) — Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Mealie gives you a polished self-hosted web app for your household. Cooklang gives you plain-text recipes you fully own. Honest fitness-for-purpose comparison.

Cooklang vs Tandoor: Sharp Tool vs Kitchen ERP

hello@cooklang.org (Alexey) — Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Tandoor packs every recipe-management feature into one self-hosted app. Cooklang does one thing — structured plain text — and lets you script the rest. Honest comparison.

Build Custom Recipe Reports with CookCLI and Templates

hello@cooklang.org (Alexey) — Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

CookCLI has a template system that turns .cook files into shopping lists with store links, cost breakdowns, aisle-organized lists, and CSV exports. This post walks through the cook report command, the ingredient database, and real working templates.

Building with Cooklang: A Parser Integration Guide

hello@cooklang.org (Alexey) — Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

You want structured recipe data — ingredients with quantities, steps with inline references, timers, cookware. Here's how to parse Cooklang in your language of choice, with quick-start examples in TypeScript and Python, and a map of the full ecosystem.

Recipe Formats for Developers: Cooklang, JSON-LD, RecipeML & MealMaster (Code-Level Comparison)

hello@cooklang.org (Alexey) — Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

A code-level comparison of the four recipe file formats you'll encounter when building recipe software: Cooklang, JSON-LD/Schema.org, RecipeML, and MealMaster. The same recipe in each format, with parser availability, data structures, and honest trade-offs.

Version Control Your Recipes with Git

hello@cooklang.org (Alexey) — Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Every recipe app has a 'what if the company dies?' problem. If your recipes are plain text .cook files in a Git repo, that problem disappears. Here's how to set up a proper recipe repo, track changes meaningfully, collaborate with family, and publish to the Cooklang Federation.

What Goes Into Designing a Recipe Markup Language

hello@cooklang.org (Alexey) — Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Recipes are one of the most structured forms of human writing, yet almost every digital format either loses that structure or buries it in machine syntax. Here's how we designed a markup language that keeps recipes readable and machine-parseable at the same time.

Cooklang Mobile App: Read, Cook, and Shop from Your Phone

hello@cooklang.org (Alexey) — Wed, 11 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

A walkthrough of the Cooklang mobile app for iOS and Android — how to set up your recipe collection, cook from your phone, and generate shopping lists on the go.

Plain Text Recipes: A Beginner's Guide to the Cooklang Format

hello@cooklang.org (Alexey) — Wed, 11 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

A step-by-step introduction to writing recipes in Cooklang — the plain text format that turns your recipes into structured data. Convert your first recipe in five minutes.

What Is a Recipe Markup Language? (And Why You'd Want One)

hello@cooklang.org (Alexey) — Wed, 11 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

A markup language adds structure to text without making it unreadable. HTML does this for web pages. Cooklang does it for recipes. Here's what that means and why it matters for anyone who cooks.

Publish Your Recipe Collection as a Static Site with `cook build web`

hello@cooklang.org (Alexey) — Wed, 20 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

CookCLI can now turn your recipe folder into a self-contained static website — host it on GitHub Pages, Netlify, an S3 bucket, or just open the HTML file directly.

Markdown Recipe Template: Free Templates & a Better Alternative

hello@cooklang.org (Alexey) — Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Copy-paste Markdown recipe templates that work in any text editor, Obsidian, or static site — plus an honest look at where Markdown falls short and what Cooklang adds.

Building a Recipe API with Cooklang