Recipe diagrams

Convert the recipe into a dependency graph, then render that graph as a high-resolution Cooking for Engineers-style PNG table. Read the table left to right: ingredient rows are streams, columns are stages, and vertically merged action cells are joins.

Steps

1. Normalize the source. Read the complete recipe, including yield, ingredient headings, ingredient preparation, numbered method, notes that alter execution, and any linked source the user supplied. Preserve quantities, equipment, temperatures, times, sensory completion cues, resting/cooling, and serving steps. The source is normalized when every execution-relevant source statement has one prospective home in the diagram.

2. Build the dependency graph. Separate global setup from ingredient streams and operations. Treat an ingredient's inline preparation (for example, onion, diced) as an operation unless it is purchased in that state. Split an ingredient into labeled portions when the source uses it at different stages. Keep independent preparations in the same column when order does not matter; place dependent operations in later columns. The graph is complete when every ingredient reaches every operation that consumes it and all operations lead to the finished result.

3. Make the graph planar. Order ingredient rows so every operation consumes one contiguous row range. Each later join spans the complete ranges of the intermediates it combines. Add columns until actions in one column have disjoint row ranges. The layout is complete when no action range is discontinuous and no two action ranges overlap within a column.

4. Encode the layout. Write a temporary JSON file using the schema below. Keep labels imperative and compact, but retain execution details. Use plain strings; the renderer transliterates symbols to ASCII.