Reusing data in content files

An embodiment for reusing data in content files includes receiving a request for a content file and retrieving a recipe that includes a series of instructions needed to compose the content file. Data identified by the recipe may then be retrieved from a content file server and the requested content file is composed based on the set of instructions in the recipe. In an example, the recipe is processed by a recipe player to compose a content file. In another embodiment, content files are stored in a cache as a series of instructions for generating them from portions of other content files. In this way, performance in a content delivery network may be improved by reusing similar data in content files.