| I've been teaching my friends how to cook. Here's what I've learned: Follow the recipe, then don't follow it. As a beginner, follow the damn recipe. Read the ingredients list, buy the ingredients, and follow the instructions to the word. I know too many beginners who get lazy, don't follow the recipe and then the food doesn't taste good. Then, once you've gotten it down, start to tweak and experiment. Try adding a new ingredient or substituting something you don't have. Once you're not a beginner, you can skip following the recipe. Learn the basic science of searing, emulsions, salting and temperature (hot & fast versus low & slow). The Food Lab/Serious Eats is a great resource for this. Salt Fat Acid Heat is also good. Gain intuition. Learn to taste the food and see what's missing. You probably need to add more salt. Maybe a little acid? Or you could slip in some butter. You will need to use more fat and salt than you think. When beginners watch me cook, they're shocked at how much salt and fat I add. It's still a fraction of how much you eat at a restaurant. This is especially true if you're blanching or boiling something, as the water needs to be really really really salty. Pasta water needs quite a few tablespoons of salt. Don't worry about it. I read a theory that the whole bacon wrapped whatever craze was due to bacon being essentially fat and salt. People became obsessed with adding bacon because they weren't adding enough salt and fat. American food tends to not have a lot of vegetables, but a crapton of carbs and meat. Try to learn Indian, Chinese, Korean or Mediterranean dishes. Beans are a great meat substitute. |