If you are not initiated, cooking can haunt people. You could not even decide on the beginning of your journey. Do not worry, we are here to celebrate your attempt and we’ll try to make sure you get through the initial and fog-driven phase of cooking smoothly.
Here is how:
- Read recipes: If you follow recipes from the internet or books, Big show you read the completely before starting. Read the recipe twice or thrice, till you become familiar with the dish. Check the ingredients, see them try to consciously dedicate your senses to them. People generally start in a haste without knowing if they have sufficient ingredients for the recipe or not. Try to smell their aroma, and identify them with what kind of taste they would impart. Feel free to continuously overlook the recipe in the process to avoid mishaps. If you are reading the recipe online you can check a few reviews or comments to take a few extra measures and add a pinch of extra taste to your dish. Do not go by the book completely: Different compositions, different environments, and different cookware can lead to deviation in the duration in which the food is being cooked or the temperature and pressure it requires. You will have your set of mistakes but do not get demotivated by them, try to learn and accommodate the learning in the upcoming cooking session. Play around with the ratios, and involve yourself in it perceiving cooking as an activity for fun, not compulsion. Play around with salt, sugar, and black peppers. You can also pen down the mistakes and substitutes you have learned from the particular dish.
- Taste test: Taste before you serve and isn’t it the best part of cooking, you get to taste the recipe first. If any confusion or disproportion of ingredients takes place, correct them by using measures or by balancing the flavors by adding other ingredients in a similar ratio.
- Opt for a good knife set: The first thing that is taught in a culinary course is how to chop vegetables like carrots and onions, not only that students are trained to sharpen their knives too. A knife set and a good chopping board will never let your morale go down. Please make sure you use the knives with utmost caution and wash them manually instead of putting them in the dishwasher which can turn your life upside down. You can use a damp cloth to stabilize your chopping board as sometimes it just keeps sliding and it can get on your nerves.
- Mise en place: Prepare everything prior. Make sure you check all the ingredients, measure them and place the measured quantities handy, clean the knives and board. This ensures quick preparation and serving. You can avoid blunders of burning the spices while being engaged in chopping the vegetables for two extra seconds. And as you have prepared before cooking, clean as you cook. It is yet another great skill that has been taught in culinary schools too. Wash the chopping boards as soon as you get over the work related to them, and keep used pans, bowls, and other utensils consecutively in the dishwasher. The cleanliness you maintain around you can reflect inside your dish and you as a person. Food is something that also has an emotional value. People find it very praiseworthy that the cook respects the former’s health and emotions.
- Roast nuts and spices before use: Nuts and spices develop a very mild fragrance that occurs due to air and a little bit of moisture absorbed by them. Tossing the nuts and spices before using can remove the moisture and they are ready to be the star ingredient of the dish. You can also season your food with a few acidic flavors like wine, citrus fruit juice, or sweet flavors like maple syrup- anything that you find to be interesting and great as a combination.
Play around with the flavors, do not hesitate to explore variations in proportions, and enjoy the process. Yes, you can add your input in cooking normal things but if you are learning how to bake. Be a teacher’s pet. Stick to the instructions and follow every step as said and shown.
Cooking is engaging, you can meet a newer self that is more confident and welcoming.
