Re: Can this be done in MySQL functions or is PHP best?

[Peter Brawley]

You describe a graph or hierarchy. You might want to look at http://www.artfulsoftware.com/mysqlbook/sampler/mysqled1ch20.html.

If you impose strict limits on the possible depth of any recipe tree, you can write a generic query that covers all cases---basically, given N possible levels you will need N-1 joins.

Without such a limit, you need recursion to query such a system, so you need a MySQL stored procedure or a language like the one you're using.