You didn’t magically know how to do your job on your very first day. It took you weeks, maybe months, to gain the confidence to perform without someone looking over your shoulder.
And it probably took a while longer for you to feel like you were truly good at your job. Maybe you’re still getting there.
Like whatever it is you do for a living, cooking is a long-term learning process. (If you happen to cook for a living or work in close quarters with professional chefs, you definitely know this to be true.)
As an amateur cook, you don’t have a direct financial stake in continuing to plug away. But you do have subtler incentives, like impressing a loved one, becoming more self-sufficient, or simply earning the satisfaction of acquiring new skills and becoming really good at something that could serve you (literally) for the rest of your life.
So quiet those fears and sharpen your knives. Here’s how to begin your cooking journey from scratch.
1. Focus on Your Favorites
Personal preference is a powerful motivator for home cooks. If you focus on cooking food you like to eat, you’ll probably do a better job at it. At least, you’ll be more motivated to get a little better each time you put on your chef’s hat.
If you’re cooking for others, keep their preferences in mind too. It’s not just a nice thing to do. It’s also a great way to attract praise (or constructive criticism) and push yourself to perform even better.
2. Go Straight to the Source (If Possible)
Nothing teaches like experience. Sure, you can faithfully execute a recipe even if you’ve never tried the end result, but it’s always better to begin with a taste.
With that in mind, look for opportunities to sample authentic versions of the food you want to cook. If a transoceanic culinary tour isn’t realistic right now, find restaurants, cafes or home cooks closer to home.
3. Keep Things Simple, At Least to Begin
Great home cooks know which battles to pick and which to skip for now. In general, simple is better for newer cooks. It’s not that you’re not capable of learning tricky techniques or keeping three or four balls in the air at once — more that trying to take on too much too soon could lead to disappointment. As you gain the confidence that comes with competence, you can begin to push outside your comfort zone.
4. Follow Recipes, But Don’t Be Afraid to Experiment As Your Confidence Grows
In the beginning, it’s best to follow recipes more or less to the letter. You’ll get a better feel for how various ingredients work together, and how small changes in their respective volumes can change the composition of a dish. You’ll also get more practice with the actual process of cooking, sharpening your time management skills.
However, sooner or later, you’ll feel the urge to modify recipes — first subtly, then more significantly. At some point, you’ll be confident and skilled enough to ditch the cookbook and cook from a combination of memory and “feel,” perhaps even designing your own recipes from scratch. Getting to this point is a worthy goal of many amateur chefs, and it’s a realistic one if you keep at it.
5. Watch Cooking Videos
Watching professional-grade cooking videos helps reinforce basic culinary techniques, opens your eyes to shortcuts or efficiency improvements, and offers a big-picture perspective on the art and science of cooking. Set aside a couple hours per week to “study the tape,” as they say, or more if you’re so inclined.
Cooking Is a Journey, Not a Destination
Like all the best hobbies, cooking is a lifelong pursuit with no clear finish line. In fact, the world’s best chefs — the honest ones, anyway — will tell you they learn something new every day.
It’s good to keep this in mind because you’re going to have good days and bad days as a cook. You’ll face setbacks, like a dish that doesn’t turn out quite the way you wanted…or goes horribly wrong. If and when that happens, the only response is to dust yourself off, figure out what went wrong, and try to do better next time.
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