Cooking filter: Teach a man to cook
May 5, 2015 5:37 AM
Hi, I'd like to learn the art of cooking to both help my wife and child out, and to learn a cool skill. Looking for a few things here: 1) Resources for teaching the theory of cooking, 2) Tips/Tricks and (of course) 3) recipes. Some special snowflakey details inside.
The Spousal Unit and I had a baby boy about 2 months back and will soon be returning to our home after living with the In-laws for about 5 months(because renovations).
Perhaps because my wife and MiL watch the cooking channel almost exclusively, I've got the wild idea to actually learn to be a chef around the house.
Firstly, what I am looking for are good resources to teach a relative newb: techniques, cooking theory, etc. If I do something I want to understand the why and how of what I'm doing. I treat it like a science and an art. My mother did teach me to cook meals, but that was many years ago and was not in depth, more "Follow instructions and here's some tips".
Now for the Snowflake details. My wife has Celiac (so no wheat) and I am quite possibly the most picky person on the planet in regards to veggies/fruit.
Ideally I'd like to be able to cook something that is rather modular, so I can cook each item separately and add what we both want to the final plate, so the wheat stuff only ends up on my dish and the veggies end up in hers. (I've gotten very good at avoiding cross contamination and we have separate prep areas)
The ability to reuse these meals as leftovers to eat during the week would be awesome but is not always a necessity.
We have a fair number of tools and appliances, as my wife is actually a great cook. I get home from work a few hours before she does and it makes more sense that I do some cooking to save her time off her limited evenings. (She works 10 hour days, 4 days a week, where as I do the more typical 8 hours, 5 days).
Recipes are of course welcome, but I'm hunting the Theory of Cooking.
tl;dr Teach me the science of cooking that I might create awesome food!
The Spousal Unit and I had a baby boy about 2 months back and will soon be returning to our home after living with the In-laws for about 5 months(because renovations).
Perhaps because my wife and MiL watch the cooking channel almost exclusively, I've got the wild idea to actually learn to be a chef around the house.
Firstly, what I am looking for are good resources to teach a relative newb: techniques, cooking theory, etc. If I do something I want to understand the why and how of what I'm doing. I treat it like a science and an art. My mother did teach me to cook meals, but that was many years ago and was not in depth, more "Follow instructions and here's some tips".
Now for the Snowflake details. My wife has Celiac (so no wheat) and I am quite possibly the most picky person on the planet in regards to veggies/fruit.
Ideally I'd like to be able to cook something that is rather modular, so I can cook each item separately and add what we both want to the final plate, so the wheat stuff only ends up on my dish and the veggies end up in hers. (I've gotten very good at avoiding cross contamination and we have separate prep areas)
The ability to reuse these meals as leftovers to eat during the week would be awesome but is not always a necessity.
We have a fair number of tools and appliances, as my wife is actually a great cook. I get home from work a few hours before she does and it makes more sense that I do some cooking to save her time off her limited evenings. (She works 10 hour days, 4 days a week, where as I do the more typical 8 hours, 5 days).
Recipes are of course welcome, but I'm hunting the Theory of Cooking.
tl;dr Teach me the science of cooking that I might create awesome food!
How to cook everything by Mark Bitman is a cookbook, but it discusses how to use ingredients in a way that goes beyond recipes.
posted by chiquitita at 5:51 AM on May 5, 2015
posted by chiquitita at 5:51 AM on May 5, 2015
I asked this question a few years ago and got a lot of good answers. Not quite the same question but probably some overlap.
posted by Alterscape at 5:53 AM on May 5, 2015
posted by Alterscape at 5:53 AM on May 5, 2015
Firstly, what I am looking for are good resources to teach a relative newb: techniques, cooking theory, etc. If I do something I want to understand the why and how of what I'm doing. I treat it like a science and an art.
You would almost certainly enjoy Alton Brown's Good Eats, which is available on Netflix (selected episodes) and on Amazon (for pay, most or all episodes). It should be fairly easy to target the episodes that don't require gluten and ignore the ones about baking.
posted by pie ninja at 6:00 AM on May 5, 2015
You would almost certainly enjoy Alton Brown's Good Eats, which is available on Netflix (selected episodes) and on Amazon (for pay, most or all episodes). It should be fairly easy to target the episodes that don't require gluten and ignore the ones about baking.
posted by pie ninja at 6:00 AM on May 5, 2015
I've always been a Jamie Oliver fan.
I'm not a terrible cook, but I'm not the best either.
He always seems to be very excited and passionate about what he's cooking, and I like his accent.
He breaks it down, tells you what you need to do, and then does it.
Nothing flash or fancy, just good eating.
Maybe some of his 15 minute meals would get you in the groove.
posted by Major Matt Mason Dixon at 6:09 AM on May 5, 2015
I'm not a terrible cook, but I'm not the best either.
He always seems to be very excited and passionate about what he's cooking, and I like his accent.
He breaks it down, tells you what you need to do, and then does it.
Nothing flash or fancy, just good eating.
Maybe some of his 15 minute meals would get you in the groove.
posted by Major Matt Mason Dixon at 6:09 AM on May 5, 2015
Seconding Good Eats. That's how I learned to cook for real. The show is better than his books. Also, while I his conceptual explanations very useful, I can't say I've had a lot of luck with his actual recipes.
Transcripts of every Good Eats Episode
"What Einstein Told His Cook" by Robert L. Wolke was good, as I recall.
"The Kitchen Detective" by Chris Kimball had good info.
posted by He Is Only The Imposter at 6:12 AM on May 5, 2015
Transcripts of every Good Eats Episode
"What Einstein Told His Cook" by Robert L. Wolke was good, as I recall.
"The Kitchen Detective" by Chris Kimball had good info.
posted by He Is Only The Imposter at 6:12 AM on May 5, 2015
Ruhlman's Twenty gives a great base on cooking basics and a lot of the how and why. I rely mostly on the idea that fresh, quality ingredients will elevate your cooking to another level.
I also throw my vote for Alton Brown in getting into the science of cooking and will also recommend Gordon Ramsay's non-American shows. Here are his Chili Beef Lettuce wraps which are making me hungry.
posted by thefang at 6:17 AM on May 5, 2015
I also throw my vote for Alton Brown in getting into the science of cooking and will also recommend Gordon Ramsay's non-American shows. Here are his Chili Beef Lettuce wraps which are making me hungry.
posted by thefang at 6:17 AM on May 5, 2015
I'd recommend starting with one or more volumes of How to Cook Everything along with a copy of either The Flavor Bible or The Flavor Thesaurus.
The former will give you a whole bunch of base recipes that can be easily adapted along with simple instructions on how to cook/prep individual ingredients in a variety of ways; the latter will let you pair up flavors specifically to your liking -- like, if a HTCE recipe suggests combining one ingredient with another that you don't like, you can look up the ingredient you do like in the Flavor Bible/Thesaurus and match it up with something more amenable to your tastes instead.
There's also James Peterson's axiomatically-titled series of cookbooks, designed to give you introductory lessons in the preparation of each ingredient: Meat, Fish & Shellfish, Vegetables, and Sauces, as well as Cooking: 600 Recipes, 1500 Photographs, One Kitchen Education.
Other than that, I've gotten rave reviews from folks to whom I've gifted Cook's Illustrated's The Science of Good Cooking and Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking.
posted by divined by radio at 6:46 AM on May 5, 2015
The former will give you a whole bunch of base recipes that can be easily adapted along with simple instructions on how to cook/prep individual ingredients in a variety of ways; the latter will let you pair up flavors specifically to your liking -- like, if a HTCE recipe suggests combining one ingredient with another that you don't like, you can look up the ingredient you do like in the Flavor Bible/Thesaurus and match it up with something more amenable to your tastes instead.
There's also James Peterson's axiomatically-titled series of cookbooks, designed to give you introductory lessons in the preparation of each ingredient: Meat, Fish & Shellfish, Vegetables, and Sauces, as well as Cooking: 600 Recipes, 1500 Photographs, One Kitchen Education.
Other than that, I've gotten rave reviews from folks to whom I've gifted Cook's Illustrated's The Science of Good Cooking and Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking.
posted by divined by radio at 6:46 AM on May 5, 2015
Get a subscription to Cooks Illustrated online. It's an amazing resource and goes through all of the hows and whys of a particular recipe or technique. I definitely recommend it over Bittman's books (while they are very comprehensive, the recipes are not, in my experience, as on-point as Cooks Illustrated or many other sources and the less-than-stellar results can leave you second-guessing your cooking skills).
On Food and Cooking is pretty much the bible of the science-side aspect of cooking. It doesn't have recipes, but I really liked reading it as a companion to whatever I was making.
Knife Skills Illustrated, La Varenne Pratique (out of print but SO good), and Baking Illustrated are all good choices.
For celiac-friendly recipes that work well for leftovers, I suggest getting yourself a rice cooker and a wok and looking into Chinese cooking. Every Grain of Rice is an excellent book for this. A bonus is that the prep (10-20 mins of chopping and whatnot) can be done ahead (like when you get home from work) and the active cooking time is only 5-10 mins prior to serving (after your wife gets out of work).
posted by melissasaurus at 7:11 AM on May 5, 2015
On Food and Cooking is pretty much the bible of the science-side aspect of cooking. It doesn't have recipes, but I really liked reading it as a companion to whatever I was making.
Knife Skills Illustrated, La Varenne Pratique (out of print but SO good), and Baking Illustrated are all good choices.
For celiac-friendly recipes that work well for leftovers, I suggest getting yourself a rice cooker and a wok and looking into Chinese cooking. Every Grain of Rice is an excellent book for this. A bonus is that the prep (10-20 mins of chopping and whatnot) can be done ahead (like when you get home from work) and the active cooking time is only 5-10 mins prior to serving (after your wife gets out of work).
posted by melissasaurus at 7:11 AM on May 5, 2015
Before you do anything else, watch "knife skills" videos on YouTube. You will thank me at the later stages of your project.
posted by oceanjesse at 7:22 AM on May 5, 2015
posted by oceanjesse at 7:22 AM on May 5, 2015
Cooking is more like engineering than like science, in that there are a bunch of useful techniques and best practices rather than a single Grand Unified Theory. Obviously, there is science behind why those techniques work the way they do — the physics of heat, the chemistry of browning and protein denaturation, stuff like that — but especially if your goal is to provide actual practical help to your partner, rather than to take up cooking as a fun but impractical hobby, you'd be best off starting with recipes and techniques.
It's like how engineering projects that need to be both cheap and reliable tend to use established, time-tested techniques. If your goal is to reliably get healthy meals on the table on time and under budget, start by following recipes — maybe Mark Bittman-style recipes which specifically point out where there's room for low-risk improvisation ("feel free to substitute any other green vegetable for the spinach" or whatever), but recipes all the same. If you aren't willing to follow recipes, accept that the result is likely to be a few nights a week when dinner is late or disappointing, and maybe a few nights a month when you really just need to scrap it and order pizza, at least until you've got a few years of practice at improvising in the kitchen.
That said, you would probably enjoy the way Kenji López-Alt approaches recipe-writing, which involves testing a bunch of different techniques head-to-head to see which combination of techniques gives the best results for a particular recipe. Think of him as an R&D team supporting your engineering efforts, doing all the experiments needed to determine which techniques are worth using on a given project. Alton Brown is also good for this sort of thing, though he often doesn't talk as much about the behind-the-scenes testing he does, which might make him less satisfying from a SCIENCE! point of view.
posted by nebulawindphone at 7:23 AM on May 5, 2015
It's like how engineering projects that need to be both cheap and reliable tend to use established, time-tested techniques. If your goal is to reliably get healthy meals on the table on time and under budget, start by following recipes — maybe Mark Bittman-style recipes which specifically point out where there's room for low-risk improvisation ("feel free to substitute any other green vegetable for the spinach" or whatever), but recipes all the same. If you aren't willing to follow recipes, accept that the result is likely to be a few nights a week when dinner is late or disappointing, and maybe a few nights a month when you really just need to scrap it and order pizza, at least until you've got a few years of practice at improvising in the kitchen.
That said, you would probably enjoy the way Kenji López-Alt approaches recipe-writing, which involves testing a bunch of different techniques head-to-head to see which combination of techniques gives the best results for a particular recipe. Think of him as an R&D team supporting your engineering efforts, doing all the experiments needed to determine which techniques are worth using on a given project. Alton Brown is also good for this sort of thing, though he often doesn't talk as much about the behind-the-scenes testing he does, which might make him less satisfying from a SCIENCE! point of view.
posted by nebulawindphone at 7:23 AM on May 5, 2015
OMG knife skills. Nothing drives me to rage more than Rachel Ray's terrible knife skills. Learn how to use a knife well so that way when you have to chiffonade and instead choose to dice it's because you don't want to, not that can't.
Focussing on one particular recipe or cuisine at a time will help you figure out how it works. But don't do what I did and make eggplant 4 times in one week. No-one will want to eat eggplant if you do that.
posted by fiercekitten at 7:34 AM on May 5, 2015
Focussing on one particular recipe or cuisine at a time will help you figure out how it works. But don't do what I did and make eggplant 4 times in one week. No-one will want to eat eggplant if you do that.
posted by fiercekitten at 7:34 AM on May 5, 2015
I will second anything Cooks Illustrated puts out -- their lengthy discussions of all the different things they tried to "perfect" their recipes border on hilarious, but I think they will hit that "theory" button for you. You also might like Cooking Light Mad Delicious -- although I don't have this cookbook, I really enjoy the author's monthly column in Cooking Light, and the book seems to be based on a very similar format. Basically he goes through why each ingredient is included in the recipe.
Finally, I will just say -- I love reading cookbooks and food blogs and what have you, but nothing is going to improve your skills in the kitchen like just picking out a recipe and making it. Print it out, read it through, and follow the directions carefully. Yes, that sounds obvious, but I have found so many people who think they are "bad" cooks (and give up) because they try to cook on the fly/intuitively right from the start. Yes, you can absolutely get there (and it is really fun!) -- but, my opinion is that you have to start with good recipes and following instructions carefully to build up your skill set.
posted by rainbowbrite at 7:37 AM on May 5, 2015
Finally, I will just say -- I love reading cookbooks and food blogs and what have you, but nothing is going to improve your skills in the kitchen like just picking out a recipe and making it. Print it out, read it through, and follow the directions carefully. Yes, that sounds obvious, but I have found so many people who think they are "bad" cooks (and give up) because they try to cook on the fly/intuitively right from the start. Yes, you can absolutely get there (and it is really fun!) -- but, my opinion is that you have to start with good recipes and following instructions carefully to build up your skill set.
posted by rainbowbrite at 7:37 AM on May 5, 2015
As a new cook with a goal of feeding people (rather than impressing someone, eg a date) your best bet is to figure out what it is that you genuinely really want to eat and enjoy eating and practice making that thing. In your case, it might be a dish that work well for both you and your wife, or a recipe that splits apart ingredients easily, but whatever - your target shouldn't be absolutely impossible (fanciest 4-hour chef-style meal) but there's no need for it to be simple (I'm not telling you to start with "how to boil an egg"), the only requirement is that it's something you'll enjoy eating, and something that you have a perfect vision of, i.e. you'll know when you get it right. Maybe it's chili. Maybe it's Pad Thai. Maybe it's rice and pork chops. Just pick a meal you're going to want to eat.
Look up the recipe. You'll find 10 versions without hardly trying. Read them all, pick your favorite three. Make them to the best of your ability. Yum! Think about what you liked about each, and what went wrong. Maybe the one that had (some ingredient) in it was insanely bad, except for that one quirk, so add that good ingredient to the other recipe. Just be patient. Each attempt does not have to be perfect, it only has to be edible. By your 5th version of this meal, though, it's going to taste pretty darn good! Mysteriously, you'll find that also know how to chop, slice, measure, sautee and simmer things better than you used to. The next dish you attempt to master will come more easily.
posted by aimedwander at 7:58 AM on May 5, 2015
Look up the recipe. You'll find 10 versions without hardly trying. Read them all, pick your favorite three. Make them to the best of your ability. Yum! Think about what you liked about each, and what went wrong. Maybe the one that had (some ingredient) in it was insanely bad, except for that one quirk, so add that good ingredient to the other recipe. Just be patient. Each attempt does not have to be perfect, it only has to be edible. By your 5th version of this meal, though, it's going to taste pretty darn good! Mysteriously, you'll find that also know how to chop, slice, measure, sautee and simmer things better than you used to. The next dish you attempt to master will come more easily.
posted by aimedwander at 7:58 AM on May 5, 2015
Cooksmarts.com
This is pretty much theory-of-cooking. I think in addition to all the blog posts and reference posters you can download, they also have youtube theory-of-cooking-based cooking lessons, which requires a membership, I think, but maybe not.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 7:59 AM on May 5, 2015
This is pretty much theory-of-cooking. I think in addition to all the blog posts and reference posters you can download, they also have youtube theory-of-cooking-based cooking lessons, which requires a membership, I think, but maybe not.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 7:59 AM on May 5, 2015
I'm also a fan of the Cooks Illustrated / America's Test Kitchen empire. It gets repetitive and is too bland Americana, but they have an excellent emphasis on technique and the why of technique. They have a relatively new book called The America's Test Kitchen Cooking School Cookbook which is good. It's basically a collection of their recipes from elsewhere, but chosen and organized for a beginner cook learning to do basic things.
posted by Nelson at 8:01 AM on May 5, 2015
posted by Nelson at 8:01 AM on May 5, 2015
Not especially relevant, but fun: Tested.com has just finished a week at America's Test kitchen.
Did you ever take organic chemistry? Cooking is a lot like organic chem lab. Follow the directions, get the result.
I think the secret is to find a cookbook that communicates to you. We learned to cook Chinese from the Betty Crocker Chinese Cookbook by Leann Chin. Just read the explanatory material in the front, get the ingredients, follow the directions.
There are billion or so cooking gadgets in the stores. Don't buy any at the outset. Chefs use very few, because they have mastered how to use the basic tools like knives and whisks. Later, when you find a particular task that remains hard or annoying, then consider getting a specialized gizmo. Not really an exception: a good instant read thermometer.
Always consider the first try at a new recipe to be an experiment.
posted by SemiSalt at 8:10 AM on May 5, 2015
Did you ever take organic chemistry? Cooking is a lot like organic chem lab. Follow the directions, get the result.
I think the secret is to find a cookbook that communicates to you. We learned to cook Chinese from the Betty Crocker Chinese Cookbook by Leann Chin. Just read the explanatory material in the front, get the ingredients, follow the directions.
There are billion or so cooking gadgets in the stores. Don't buy any at the outset. Chefs use very few, because they have mastered how to use the basic tools like knives and whisks. Later, when you find a particular task that remains hard or annoying, then consider getting a specialized gizmo. Not really an exception: a good instant read thermometer.
Always consider the first try at a new recipe to be an experiment.
posted by SemiSalt at 8:10 AM on May 5, 2015
May I also suggest that in addition to learning about food preparation, you also make an effort to learn how to cook in such a way that the kitchen is clean and the cooking dishes are soaking or in the dishwasher when you're ready to eat.
Many new cooks focus only on the food itself, and leave a huge mess when they're finished. This is dispiriting, and neither you nor your family will enjoy the meals as much as you would if you learn how to clean up as you go along.
Of course, there will always be some left to do after the eating is done, but the less to do, the better.
I wish there was a book that taught this skill (if anyone knows one, please recommend!).
posted by ocherdraco at 8:43 AM on May 5, 2015
Many new cooks focus only on the food itself, and leave a huge mess when they're finished. This is dispiriting, and neither you nor your family will enjoy the meals as much as you would if you learn how to clean up as you go along.
Of course, there will always be some left to do after the eating is done, but the less to do, the better.
I wish there was a book that taught this skill (if anyone knows one, please recommend!).
posted by ocherdraco at 8:43 AM on May 5, 2015
If I do something I want to understand the why and how of what I'm doing. I treat it like a science and an art.
That's great, but I think your mother had the right idea by starting with "follow instructions". It's similar to learning to play an instrument. One does not begin by learning music theory while composing - one begins by practicing scales and playing simple songs that someone else wrote. So, I think what you need is recipes rather than The Theory of Cooking. The Theory of Cooking will come when you successfully cook enough recipes. You will come to intuit much of it in time and will be able to cook freestyle.
To that point, I agree with the recommendation of Alton Brown's Good Eats. Most of his recipes are not too challenging and while the show is recipe-focused, he does explain why the recipe is written in that particular way. I am not the biggest fan of Kenji López-Alt's writing but I agree that he would also fit your bill of describing underlying theory.
Logistically, I also find it helpful to have a rotation of recipes that can be made from simple ingredients that are kitchen staples. When you are short of time on a weekday evening after a full day of work, you want to be able to make something in 30 minutes from on-hand ingredients rather than a foodie dish that will have to running out to the gourmet shop for some specialty ingredient. Your crockpot can be a great friend in this regard.
Oh, and I agree with ocherdraco to clean while cooking.
posted by Tanizaki at 8:59 AM on May 5, 2015
That's great, but I think your mother had the right idea by starting with "follow instructions". It's similar to learning to play an instrument. One does not begin by learning music theory while composing - one begins by practicing scales and playing simple songs that someone else wrote. So, I think what you need is recipes rather than The Theory of Cooking. The Theory of Cooking will come when you successfully cook enough recipes. You will come to intuit much of it in time and will be able to cook freestyle.
To that point, I agree with the recommendation of Alton Brown's Good Eats. Most of his recipes are not too challenging and while the show is recipe-focused, he does explain why the recipe is written in that particular way. I am not the biggest fan of Kenji López-Alt's writing but I agree that he would also fit your bill of describing underlying theory.
Logistically, I also find it helpful to have a rotation of recipes that can be made from simple ingredients that are kitchen staples. When you are short of time on a weekday evening after a full day of work, you want to be able to make something in 30 minutes from on-hand ingredients rather than a foodie dish that will have to running out to the gourmet shop for some specialty ingredient. Your crockpot can be a great friend in this regard.
Oh, and I agree with ocherdraco to clean while cooking.
posted by Tanizaki at 8:59 AM on May 5, 2015
I think the best starting place for learning how to cook is to figure out what kind of food you like to eat, and find a cookbook for that. And then find a few recipes that you both like and practice cooking them over and over until it starts to feel natural and you start seeing how to refine and improve those recipes. And I think watching cooking shows is helpful, because then you learn things like what the food is supposed to look like at various stages, which makes it a lot easier to cook properly. Mark Bittman has a cookbook How To Cook Everything: The Basics which is also very helpful in that regard.
Be careful of getting so caught up in learning the theory behind how to cook that your time gets eaten up by reading cooking blog posts, etc, while your wife ends up still doing most of the cooking. At some point, you have to learn cooking by doing, not just reading.
posted by colfax at 9:01 AM on May 5, 2015
Be careful of getting so caught up in learning the theory behind how to cook that your time gets eaten up by reading cooking blog posts, etc, while your wife ends up still doing most of the cooking. At some point, you have to learn cooking by doing, not just reading.
posted by colfax at 9:01 AM on May 5, 2015
Nthing Kenji Lopez-Alt (sorry, don't know how to make diacritical marks with this keyboard) and Bittman's "How to Cook Everything."
posted by holborne at 9:16 AM on May 5, 2015
posted by holborne at 9:16 AM on May 5, 2015
Cooks Illustrated / America's Test Kitchen helped me become a better cook, and they do have a few good "starter" cookbooks and some gluten-free ones also. They often provide great foundations, the necessary building blocks of a recipe--and it's easy to make substitutions once you're more confident regarding what goes together.
Good Eats, however, is what's gotten my fiance interested in cooking. We've watched the first four-ish seasons together, and he's really starting to see what clicks regarding how recipes work and why you'd use various techniques when you cook. It's a great series for getting you interested in the process.
posted by PearlRose at 9:44 AM on May 5, 2015
Good Eats, however, is what's gotten my fiance interested in cooking. We've watched the first four-ish seasons together, and he's really starting to see what clicks regarding how recipes work and why you'd use various techniques when you cook. It's a great series for getting you interested in the process.
posted by PearlRose at 9:44 AM on May 5, 2015
Three books that I haven't seen recommended:
Cookwise by Shirley O. Corriher (who was a guest and science adviser on Good Eats fairly frequently).
A New Way to Cook and The Improvisational Cook both by Sally Schneider, which tend to focus on a technique and then give a few varied applications. I think they'd be really good for people on limited diets, because both encourage experimenting with the technique rather than just explaining what it is.
posted by Gygesringtone at 10:36 AM on May 5, 2015
Cookwise by Shirley O. Corriher (who was a guest and science adviser on Good Eats fairly frequently).
A New Way to Cook and The Improvisational Cook both by Sally Schneider, which tend to focus on a technique and then give a few varied applications. I think they'd be really good for people on limited diets, because both encourage experimenting with the technique rather than just explaining what it is.
posted by Gygesringtone at 10:36 AM on May 5, 2015
The NY Times recently started a column on men cooking at home that you might enjoy: Hey, Mr. Food Editor. Heck, submit your question to him and see what happens!
posted by mogget at 10:51 AM on May 5, 2015
posted by mogget at 10:51 AM on May 5, 2015
I found a very useful book is How to Cook without a Book. It teaches basic, handy techniques and has you improvise the recipes. I will also second kalessin's comment.
posted by tatiana131 at 2:09 PM on May 5, 2015
posted by tatiana131 at 2:09 PM on May 5, 2015
When I was learning to cook, I approached it from two directions:
- I learnt a few very simple but tasty dishes from my grandmother, so I could always turn out a tasty meal. I cooked these a lot. They were good enough that I didn't get bored of them even if I ate them every week, and guests found them lovely, not knowing they were standards.
- During weekends with extra time, I cooked really complicated famous dishes which I found in classic cookbooks like Ali-Bab and Larousse gastronomique (later I added Indian, Chinese and Jewish classics to my shelves, now it is much easier with the www). From carefully following these great recipes, I learnt a lot, which I could modify and apply to everyday cooking. Carêmes Bortsch from Larousse takes ten hours to make. I do it every five or six years, because it is amazing. But from that recipe, I learnt to mix meats and mix preparations of meats for a richer umami flavour. I also learnt to use freshly pressed vegetable juices just before serving a soup, and the wonder of homemade croutons. Since I first learnt all this, I've recognized some of the skills and knowledge in other kitchens across the globe. I did this with a number of classic dishes - and dishes I love. After some years, I became able to read a recipe and understand it's principles and improvise from that, so I could accommodate allergies or preferences among my family and friends.
Other than that, I learnt from cooking with skillful friends. Instead of inviting people over for dinner at 6:30, I'd invite my friends who cook over for cooking from 4 PM, including drinks and a bit of snacking and watching TV, with dinner at about 7. This was a big thing when we all had small children/babies, because there was a much more relaxed atmosphere and time enough for talking in spite of all the distractions.
posted by mumimor at 2:48 PM on May 5, 2015
- I learnt a few very simple but tasty dishes from my grandmother, so I could always turn out a tasty meal. I cooked these a lot. They were good enough that I didn't get bored of them even if I ate them every week, and guests found them lovely, not knowing they were standards.
- During weekends with extra time, I cooked really complicated famous dishes which I found in classic cookbooks like Ali-Bab and Larousse gastronomique (later I added Indian, Chinese and Jewish classics to my shelves, now it is much easier with the www). From carefully following these great recipes, I learnt a lot, which I could modify and apply to everyday cooking. Carêmes Bortsch from Larousse takes ten hours to make. I do it every five or six years, because it is amazing. But from that recipe, I learnt to mix meats and mix preparations of meats for a richer umami flavour. I also learnt to use freshly pressed vegetable juices just before serving a soup, and the wonder of homemade croutons. Since I first learnt all this, I've recognized some of the skills and knowledge in other kitchens across the globe. I did this with a number of classic dishes - and dishes I love. After some years, I became able to read a recipe and understand it's principles and improvise from that, so I could accommodate allergies or preferences among my family and friends.
Other than that, I learnt from cooking with skillful friends. Instead of inviting people over for dinner at 6:30, I'd invite my friends who cook over for cooking from 4 PM, including drinks and a bit of snacking and watching TV, with dinner at about 7. This was a big thing when we all had small children/babies, because there was a much more relaxed atmosphere and time enough for talking in spite of all the distractions.
posted by mumimor at 2:48 PM on May 5, 2015
Cook's Illustrated, Good Eats. However, like Tanizaki pretty much already said, your understanding of the science isn't going to help you master the kitchen in the beginning. Trust me, I know an incredible amount of the science behind cooking and the techniques used in cooking. I understand how muscle tissue of poultry effects cooking time, how brining effect the meat, how the age of the bird can effect stock body, etc. but, when I was just learning, I had to cook a lot of chicken before I could make something turn out the way I wanted. Learning to cook is about building up a huge cache of observation until you are familiar with your materials.
Dive in but don't get frustrated. Repetition will be a better sword in this case than science. Practice, practice, practice.
posted by Foam Pants at 1:03 AM on May 6, 2015
Dive in but don't get frustrated. Repetition will be a better sword in this case than science. Practice, practice, practice.
posted by Foam Pants at 1:03 AM on May 6, 2015
Youtube! You just learn to cook whatever item or dish you want to cook. Most videos are only 3 to 15 minutes long and use common ingredients. So figure out which basic dishes you should master, such as:
Roast Chicken
chicken soup
Spaghetti
Roasted vegetables
meatloaf
posted by Coffeetyme at 12:25 PM on May 6, 2015
Roast Chicken
chicken soup
Spaghetti
Roasted vegetables
meatloaf
posted by Coffeetyme at 12:25 PM on May 6, 2015
Tanizaki has it right. Learning to cook is just like any other skill; you have to drill drill drill drill drill. To use their musical instrument analogy, when you first start playing an instrument you don't get terribly deep into theory beyond 'this is a scale' and 'this is a clef.' It's mostly about where your fingers go. After you've been playing lots of scales, then you start playing actual music--and later, you start learning the theory.
Cooking is no different. Your best bet is to get a couple of really solid books with absolutely well-tested recipes; anything from America's Test Kitchen, Julia Child--yes really, Bittman (although he has issues with enough seasoning) or the perennial that I suggest here, The Family Meal by Ferran Adria.
Go through them with an eye towards what your family both can (from a diet restriction standpoint) and will (from a taste standpoint) eat, and cook the hell out of a few things. Follow instructions to the letter (I recommend The Family Meal because every step of every recipe is photographed, amounts for scaling up/down are given, and every set of recipes has a timeline from prep to to table) until you don't even have to think anymore--tonight you're making Julia's meatloaf, so better get this out of the fridge now and I'll need a handful of that, put the other thing in a pan while you're chopping this, etc.
Then start looking at the underpinnings of why.
And, yeah, knife skills knife skills knife skills. Learn how to sharpen a knife properly. Learn how to hold it properly (not like a sword! grip the blade withthumb and forefinger). Learn what your left hand should be doing while chopping (fingertips curled away from the blade, steadying the food, knuckles against the side of the blade to guide). And remember: the sharper your knife is, the safer it is. Also remember: a dropped knife has no handle. If you drop a knife, resist the urge to catch--just move your feet out of the way as fast as possible.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 10:33 PM on May 6, 2015
Cooking is no different. Your best bet is to get a couple of really solid books with absolutely well-tested recipes; anything from America's Test Kitchen, Julia Child--yes really, Bittman (although he has issues with enough seasoning) or the perennial that I suggest here, The Family Meal by Ferran Adria.
Go through them with an eye towards what your family both can (from a diet restriction standpoint) and will (from a taste standpoint) eat, and cook the hell out of a few things. Follow instructions to the letter (I recommend The Family Meal because every step of every recipe is photographed, amounts for scaling up/down are given, and every set of recipes has a timeline from prep to to table) until you don't even have to think anymore--tonight you're making Julia's meatloaf, so better get this out of the fridge now and I'll need a handful of that, put the other thing in a pan while you're chopping this, etc.
Then start looking at the underpinnings of why.
And, yeah, knife skills knife skills knife skills. Learn how to sharpen a knife properly. Learn how to hold it properly (not like a sword! grip the blade withthumb and forefinger). Learn what your left hand should be doing while chopping (fingertips curled away from the blade, steadying the food, knuckles against the side of the blade to guide). And remember: the sharper your knife is, the safer it is. Also remember: a dropped knife has no handle. If you drop a knife, resist the urge to catch--just move your feet out of the way as fast as possible.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 10:33 PM on May 6, 2015
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posted by emilyw at 5:43 AM on May 5, 2015