/ck/ - Food & Cooking

[Anonymous No.4173898]

When and how did you learn to cook?

I never prepared a dish for myself to the exception of fried eggs and I managed to burn my skin with hot oil the first time I did it.
I'm trying to learn how to cook (like omelette du fromage) at least how to prepare basic dishes but I have no idea where to look any tips?

Picture kind of related to cooking

[Anonymous No.4173910]

Moving far, far, FAR away from your family kind of forces you to learn or starve.

[Anonymous No.4173912]

from watching my mom cook. although i always get inspired to cook from watching shows on food network.

[Anonymous No.4173916]

>be a latch key kid
>parents leave for work before I wake
>parents come home after bed time
>be eight
>get hungry
>first cooking attempt
>pancakes...fuck yeah
>climb up counter to reach cookbook
>assemble ingredients
>stand on chair
>put everything in the blender
>shit goes nuclear
>fall off chair
>knock down bag of flour
>fucking batter everywhere
>not a shit was given
>get back up
>cook pancakes


they were delicious

[Anonymous No.4173917]

My mother, grandmother, and grandfather mastered only a few dishes but really knew nothing about general cooking. So I took responsibility of finding and making new recipes for the family.

Burns and cuts will happen brother. That's what happens when you work with really sharp objects and high temperatures. Look in a second-hand/used book store for any of the CIA's culinary books, or a Gisslen Professional Cooking. Regardless of the version, it will teach you basic skills. I also recommend reading the Food Lover's Companion.

The most important thing is practice. There is no substitute. I can give you advice on specific ingredients, utensils, and methods; but a simple google search or the books I listed can do that far better.

[Anonymous No.4173922]

Thanks very appreciated also is it safe to follow some of the recipes I see in threads from time to time

>Pic related

[Anonymous No.4173924]

When I was a kid my grandparents took care of me, along with other similarly aged persons.

My gayness shew from a very young age and I wasn't like the other boys. I was taught to cook, clean and sow.

[Anonymous No.4173930]

>>4173924
>I was taught to cook, clean and sow.
Funny, all the women in my family were good at spelling too.

[Anonymous No.4173973]

>>4173930

True story. I was taught to sew.

[Anonymous No.4173974]

I started to live on my own, but still were making only basic food like toasts and shit.
Then I decided to bake a cake as an apology to someone and somehow from there it just went off. I haven't eaten bread for a year now and eat out only in emergency. Feels good (and its cheap)

[Anonymous No.4174009]

i went to study music at university but i was really into science so my mum got me heston blumenthal's fat duck cookbook, the big fat hundred quid one, for a leaving present.

i cooked some stuff out of that at my uni kitchen and then started following food blogs and going on egullet. by third year i was cooking a big dinner for my friends about once a week, splitting the cost. when i left uni i apprenticed and started work at a michelin-starred restaurant but i decided i wanted to stick with music so now i just do freelance catering for rich people's birthdays and stuff.

if you want to bake, an absolutely great blog for that is joepastry - for bread, wildyeast

if you have some ingredient you want to use but don't know what to do with it search it on tastespotting or search egullet for it

recipe books are great for ideas, but for techniques, stick to youtube or make friends with someone competent. no matter what a chef says to you or writes in a book, the only way of really learning what they do without a lot of trial and error is to watch them. when i was at the restaurant the head chef used to say he could tell i had potential purely because i would stare at people's hands while they did stuff i hadn't done yet.

check out the roux brothers videos on youtube, in addition to the technique challenges from the UK show masterchef: the professionals. jacques pepin is another good one, certainly for home cooking.

also check out some of the harvard food science lectures and listen to cooking issues by dave arnold if you want to get into wackier stuff.

but yeah, everything you need is on the internet. actually i have three must buys in terms of books: ratio by mark ruhlman, the flavour thesaurus by niki segnit, and 'on food and cooking' by harold mcgee.

and of course, ask on here.

[Anonymous No.4174012]

>>4173922

it's safe, but the vast majority of infographic recipes are total trash

[Anonymous No.4174024]

I'm still in the learning process, being I moved out from my family's place for University in 2011, and only got out of the dorm system to get my own apartment this past August.

A lot of what I do is experimentation. At first there were a lot of frozen Totino's pizzas, cereal, and simple pastas (the one thing I felt like I had down).

Now after this Christmas when my aunt got me a toaster oven and crock pot, whereas before all I had was a saucepan, one nonstick frying pan, and a microwave, I've been doing even more experimentation, and I figured out that, hey, throw a tortilla with marinara, some shredded mozzarella, and pepperoni layered on top into the toaster oven actually is pretty good. Could even be better than the pre-bought frozen stuff after I figure it out proper.

I've assembled a good bit of ingredients for some Texas chili, I think I'll start on that this weekend.

Food is also where I learned how to do my budget as well, but that's another story for another time.

[Anonymous No.4174026]

>>4174024
I'd suggest getting a ricecooker

[Anonymous No.4174033]

>>4174026
I've gotten myself into a mindset where any expense more than $20 physically pains me.

I guess that's what a $55/wk spending budget will do to you. (Decided to go ahead and pre-lease + deposit for my next apartment for Fall 2013)

[Anonymous No.4174038]

>>4174033
In due time of course I can understand having a tight budget- rice is fairly cheap and goes well with quite a few meals so if you get the chance it wouldn't hurt

[Anonymous No.4174043]

>>4174038
Oh I am well aware of the virtues of rice.

Pic related, it's my lunch. Experimenting to see if I can get veggie stir fry with rice done correctly.

[Anonymous No.4174045]

>>4174038

yeah but you don't need a rice cooker to cook it

[Anonymous No.4174050]

>>4174009

woops, michael ruhlman* sorry

[Anonymous No.4174048]

>>4174045
It's more convenient

[Anonymous No.4174056]

>>4174048

marginally yeah, but it's really not that big a deal when you're a student

i have one but i use it for low temperature water bath cooking

[Anonymous No.4174063]

>>4174056
It was just a suggestion- as a starving student I get plenty of use out of mine

[Anonymous No.4174067]

>>4174063
Granted, my crock pot and toaster oven did come from the goodwill, and there's one nearby.

I may go see what kind of prices they would be charging for one, if they have any, that is.

[Anonymous No.4174126]

>>4173916

>put everything in the blender

wat

[Anonymous No.4174132]

>>4174043
When you do stir fry, make sure you have everything ready, chopped, measured, prepped, before anything goes in the pan. It'll save you a lot of hassle, and prevent you from suddenly going "oh shit, I forgot the x."

That, and really high temperature.

[Anonymous No.4174162]

>>4174132
Well, my batch came out pretty good, actually.

>bag of frozen mixed veggies safeway brand, carrots, corn, green beans, peas, and some kind of bean.
>Threw about a cup in pan with veggie oil.
>High temp, wait for freezer burn to melt, immediately dump veggie oil.
>put back on medium heat, add soy sauce and just a few teaspoons orange marmalade, because hell, why not?
>let marmalade reduce, then add rice (cooked beforehand), then add sriracha

I liked it, and it made plenty.

[Anonymous No.4174184]

You serious son? Get a cookbook. Google stuff you might want to make. Start with dishes that you actually want to eat. Desserts are an easy place to start, since you'll almost always like the result. If you ever have a vague question that the cookbook doesn't answer, just google/Youtube it. It's on there 99% of the time

[Anonymous No.4174189]

>>4174162
I am getting sick just by reading this

[Anonymous No.4174186]

>>4174009
>i was really into science so my mum got me heston blumenthal's fat duck cookbook

What

[Anonymous No.4174196]

>>4174009
nice post highly appreciated
I started studying german literature about 3 months ago ( 18 years old) and 2 months ago I started my own blog where I post what I am cooking (everyday sth different)

[Anonymous No.4174197]

>>4174162
I just threw up a little

[Anonymous No.4174215]

>>4174189
>>4174197
Say what you will.

There are leftovers, and I do not intend to throw them out.

[Anonymous No.4174225]

>>4174215
would have been better doing so I want to vomit

[Anonymous No.4174246]

I've learned to cook many a dish in the past year after somewhat being forced to move off campus between semesters. Decided to quit school meal plan in an attempt to eat healthier. Loved all sorts of food to begin with but have found a few essentials that allow me to cook whatever I want - a high quality rice cooker, a wok, one big pot and one nice chef knife are all one needs.

[Anonymous No.4174287]

It's a subject in school the place I live.

It's something people do with primary schoolchildren during the holidays.

And for me personally it's an excuse to swing around really sharp knifes.

[Anonymous No.4174317]

taught myself using the internet after i became vegetarian & obsessed with food.

[Anonymous No.4174334]

>>4174186

at that time he was doing the rounds in the press and had a reputation for being science-minded and my mum wanted me to learn to cook for myself. it was a p well chosen present i think

[Anonymous No.4174372]

My mom, reading recipes on the internet, and an Alton Brown book a friend lent me

Actally, that's not quite true. These things helped me learn to cook. I learned to cook by - cooking - more than anything