augh hmm....
Clearing my throat...I am about to rant.
I came across this description of a blog owner. This is by no means a bash or an attack or anything of that nature...but this is my take on the thoughts of people/foodies like this. Here it is...
"I love cooking but sadly have no ability to create a recipe on my own. I love reading magazines, watching cooking shows and visiting Web sites to find recipes that I can test at home. For those of you out there who are the same as me, may this Web site serve as a helpful tool for finding recipes out there that really work! I'm not a trained chef and have no special kitchen skills so if I can do it you can probably do it ten times better."
Why does this bother me? Well for the same reason students in my culinary classes who uttered the same thing bothered me; or when perfectly intelligent people, (not the ones jumping off roofs and injuring themselves while doing 'backyard' wrestling), say that I know better because they are not as smart or intelligent or whatever as me or you or the next person.
EVERYONE CAN COOK!!!!!!!
Do I need to scream that again?
EVERYONE CAN COOK!!!!!
Just take a look....
Why do you say this?
"I love cooking but sadly have no ability to create a recipe on my own"
Do you not realize that every time you follow a 'recipe' you are creating one of your own? By the very intrinsic nature of YOU doing it as opposed to the test cook/book chef/Rachel Ray wanna be who 'authored'(used lightly) the book. You are creating the recipe for you. Does it need extra salt for you? Is it too spicy for you? Do you not have $400 french truffles, and are using something else? Then you are cooking YOUR recipe.
You want to know the secret of cooks in restaurants? The thing that makes them a good line cook? THEY CAN CONSISTENTLY COOK A DISH THAT SOMEONE ELSE CREATED OVER AND OVER AGAIN WITHOUT GETTING CREATIVE OR DEVIATING FROM A VISION.
There is no secret to creating a recipe. No great skill/mastery/magic...or ability. Everyone can do it. Made mudpies as a child? Thats your recipe. Microwaved a burrito? Thats your recipe. made roasted rack of lamb with pistachio butter, roasted tomato gel, wilted mustard greens, grilled polenta, and mint pesto? Well thats your recipes...
Cooking is not about following a recipe. it is about doing a sequential order of things that you already know how to do. If you have been following recipes to cook for 'years' then guess what? YOU CAN COOK WITH OUT THEM!
Browning onions in a medium sauce pan over low heat? Guess what...you are making caramelized onions and using the sweating/caramelizing method.
Been boiling chicken in water? Guess what...you have been making stock.
Etc.
Every single person has the ability to create. Every time you cook something you are creating. I am not saying that everything will always taste good. until you have tried it and changed it for you, then it wont be yours. This..." I'm not a trained chef and have no special kitchen skills so if I can do it you can probably do it ten times better."...is CRAP. Did you know that most home cooks can cook better than restaurant chefs? Why? Because you know what you like! And every time you cook something you like you add that special ingredient to it. once again...cooks at restaurants are trained...yes, trained to do it over and over again for 300, 400, 150, 1000 people every day. Just like marathoners...everyone can run. Do you not think that you could run a marathon? Well you know what. You can! You might have to practice, might have to get in shape, might have to 'train', but everyone can run...you've been doing it since you were a child.
Do you know all those french chefs who have 3 michelin stars and fancy restaurants...well they couldn't 'cook' either...until they went through apprenticeship at the young ages of 10 or 11 through their teens and then worked all over and then developed their style...the key being their style.
All cooking methods in our worlds cultures are similar and therefore the techniques are known. You can saute, wok fry, grill, rotiserize, sweat, boil, sous vide, roast, bake. If you have followed recipes before...then you can do these things without the recipe NOW! (and you have been 'trained' by the very nature of cooking)
You are not stupid. You are not unskilled. You are not untrained. You can do it!
A recipe is just this; a road map. A road to a destination that is your tummy. Sometimes it is a quick trip (saute, wok, grill), sometimes you have to go a long way (braise, simmer, reduce, bake), but always you will end up somewhere. (it might be in a bad neighborhood, i.e. you burned it, or you might end up in mexico, hawaii, argentina, france). And of course everyone has to learn how to drive. But that is easy right...(see above about sweating onions).
I know I have used this analogy before...and before I beat it to death, lets revisit. You determine how you get from point A (raw ingredients) to point Z (finished product). The way you get there is up to you...sure you might have a map(recipe) from a book, internet, your friend, famous chef; but after you start your journey(cooking), it is completely up to you how you get to the plate. The long slow journey...the quick short trip, the wandering scenic tour, turn left, add a little salt, turn right, reduce the heat so you can talk on the phone. Been over the river and through the woods to grandmother's house? Well, you know where her house is...what happens if there is traffic on the bridge and you need to go an alternate route? Then if you only rely on the map, your screwed...but if you get off the map, you can get there.
Recipes are nice...but like training wheels, you can only go so far before they break down.
Once you have learned the basics...saute, fry, grill, broil, braise, boil, bake, roast, steaming...then you can do any of those to anything. its a matter of first learning those. And then you can go the store load up your art, come home and start your journey.
I came across this description of a blog owner. This is by no means a bash or an attack or anything of that nature...but this is my take on the thoughts of people/foodies like this. Here it is...
"I love cooking but sadly have no ability to create a recipe on my own. I love reading magazines, watching cooking shows and visiting Web sites to find recipes that I can test at home. For those of you out there who are the same as me, may this Web site serve as a helpful tool for finding recipes out there that really work! I'm not a trained chef and have no special kitchen skills so if I can do it you can probably do it ten times better."
Why does this bother me? Well for the same reason students in my culinary classes who uttered the same thing bothered me; or when perfectly intelligent people, (not the ones jumping off roofs and injuring themselves while doing 'backyard' wrestling), say that I know better because they are not as smart or intelligent or whatever as me or you or the next person.
EVERYONE CAN COOK!!!!!!!
Do I need to scream that again?
EVERYONE CAN COOK!!!!!
Just take a look....
Why do you say this?
"I love cooking but sadly have no ability to create a recipe on my own"
Do you not realize that every time you follow a 'recipe' you are creating one of your own? By the very intrinsic nature of YOU doing it as opposed to the test cook/book chef/Rachel Ray wanna be who 'authored'(used lightly) the book. You are creating the recipe for you. Does it need extra salt for you? Is it too spicy for you? Do you not have $400 french truffles, and are using something else? Then you are cooking YOUR recipe.
You want to know the secret of cooks in restaurants? The thing that makes them a good line cook? THEY CAN CONSISTENTLY COOK A DISH THAT SOMEONE ELSE CREATED OVER AND OVER AGAIN WITHOUT GETTING CREATIVE OR DEVIATING FROM A VISION.
There is no secret to creating a recipe. No great skill/mastery/magic...or ability. Everyone can do it. Made mudpies as a child? Thats your recipe. Microwaved a burrito? Thats your recipe. made roasted rack of lamb with pistachio butter, roasted tomato gel, wilted mustard greens, grilled polenta, and mint pesto? Well thats your recipes...
Cooking is not about following a recipe. it is about doing a sequential order of things that you already know how to do. If you have been following recipes to cook for 'years' then guess what? YOU CAN COOK WITH OUT THEM!
Browning onions in a medium sauce pan over low heat? Guess what...you are making caramelized onions and using the sweating/caramelizing method.
Been boiling chicken in water? Guess what...you have been making stock.
Etc.
Every single person has the ability to create. Every time you cook something you are creating. I am not saying that everything will always taste good. until you have tried it and changed it for you, then it wont be yours. This..." I'm not a trained chef and have no special kitchen skills so if I can do it you can probably do it ten times better."...is CRAP. Did you know that most home cooks can cook better than restaurant chefs? Why? Because you know what you like! And every time you cook something you like you add that special ingredient to it. once again...cooks at restaurants are trained...yes, trained to do it over and over again for 300, 400, 150, 1000 people every day. Just like marathoners...everyone can run. Do you not think that you could run a marathon? Well you know what. You can! You might have to practice, might have to get in shape, might have to 'train', but everyone can run...you've been doing it since you were a child.
Do you know all those french chefs who have 3 michelin stars and fancy restaurants...well they couldn't 'cook' either...until they went through apprenticeship at the young ages of 10 or 11 through their teens and then worked all over and then developed their style...the key being their style.
All cooking methods in our worlds cultures are similar and therefore the techniques are known. You can saute, wok fry, grill, rotiserize, sweat, boil, sous vide, roast, bake. If you have followed recipes before...then you can do these things without the recipe NOW! (and you have been 'trained' by the very nature of cooking)
You are not stupid. You are not unskilled. You are not untrained. You can do it!
A recipe is just this; a road map. A road to a destination that is your tummy. Sometimes it is a quick trip (saute, wok, grill), sometimes you have to go a long way (braise, simmer, reduce, bake), but always you will end up somewhere. (it might be in a bad neighborhood, i.e. you burned it, or you might end up in mexico, hawaii, argentina, france). And of course everyone has to learn how to drive. But that is easy right...(see above about sweating onions).
I know I have used this analogy before...and before I beat it to death, lets revisit. You determine how you get from point A (raw ingredients) to point Z (finished product). The way you get there is up to you...sure you might have a map(recipe) from a book, internet, your friend, famous chef; but after you start your journey(cooking), it is completely up to you how you get to the plate. The long slow journey...the quick short trip, the wandering scenic tour, turn left, add a little salt, turn right, reduce the heat so you can talk on the phone. Been over the river and through the woods to grandmother's house? Well, you know where her house is...what happens if there is traffic on the bridge and you need to go an alternate route? Then if you only rely on the map, your screwed...but if you get off the map, you can get there.
Recipes are nice...but like training wheels, you can only go so far before they break down.
Once you have learned the basics...saute, fry, grill, broil, braise, boil, bake, roast, steaming...then you can do any of those to anything. its a matter of first learning those. And then you can go the store load up your art, come home and start your journey.
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