I love to cook and one of my favourite things about cooking is that you can constantly learn new tricks and tips to elevate your craft.
Cooking is an important life skill and a form of self-expression and creativity. Whether you are a beginner or a professional home chef, there are always ways to improve your cooking skills.
You can use diverse approaches and techniques to upgrade your culinary prowess, develop your repertoire, and create meals with conviction, like a foodie scientist.
These tips are beginner-friendly but we are sure that more experienced cooks will also appreciate these reminders.
Invest in your equipment
Spend as much as you can reasonably afford on a really good set of kitchen knives. They should be comfortable to hold and a good weight, but not too heavy to manage. Store them in a knife block, not in a drawer, and always wash them by hand.
A starter selection might include a large cook’s knife for most food preparation; a paring knife for greater control when cutting small ingredients; and a long, serrated knife for cutting bread and cakes and sharpening steel.
Hone your knives on the steel every time you use them to maintain their cutting edge. Sharper knives are safer. Don’t overlook chopping boards too – you will need at least two for raw and cooked foods.
Use fresh, seasonal ingredients
One of the best ways to make your cooking more enjoyable is to use fresh, seasonal ingredients. Not only do these ingredients taste better, but they are also often more affordable than out-of-season options.
For example, if you want to make brown sugar honey-glazed carrots, using carrots that are in season will make a big difference. In-season carrots will be sweeter and more flavourful than those that have been stored for months.
As a result, your dish will be more enjoyable to eat.
Salt is your friend
Properly seasoning your food is one tip that chefs and culinary professionals bombard us with time and time again. The majority of home cooks either greatly under-season their food or just dump in some salt at the very end of the cooking process.
And on the topic of salt, don't forget to add it to your water when cooking pasta. And not just a pinch, you literally want the water to taste like ocean salt water. This will make sure your pasta is perfectly seasoned.
Get experimental with ingredients
How do chefs stay motivated? By exploring new cuisines and new ingredients that inspire their creativity. For the home cook, that might mean picking up an unfamiliar vegetable at the farmers’ market or experimenting with a new ingredient from the deli.
A novice cook might take one familiar recipe and play around with variations. Every recipe you read and every restaurant you go to, could be the source of a new idea.
Follow cooking guides online
There are thousands of cooking tutorials, lessons, and guides online. If you dedicate a few meals a week to following the teachings of other cooks and bakers, you might be surprised at how much your own skills improve.
Consider starting with basic videos, like how to chop vegetables uniformly, and work your way up to more advanced skills and recipes. This way you won’t overwhelm yourself or lose interest by starting beyond your current skill level.
Implement mise en place
That's a fancy French word that means “getting everything in place”. In restaurants, all ingredients are washed, measured out, chopped appropriately, and at arm's reach before anything hits the pan. It's about being organised.
Take the extra couple of minutes and have everything ready. It will make for a much happier, more enjoyable cooking experience.