These are the practices that I think make a good cook:
Don’t over do it
This one is something I’ve been learning more recently. I’ve known a lot of home-cooks that load up every recipe with so much flavor that it impresses by being extreme and other cooks who pile on fats (butter and cheese usually) to make a recipe amazing or the ultimate low they trick the brain into loving a dish with excessive sugar or salt. Or another annoying habit is to have a special ingredient that you always cook with...I knew a guy that only seasoned with fennel...yuck. Anyway, I kept being super disappointed by my curries and stir fries and I eventually realized that I was just way over doing the sauces. I started lightening up on seasonings and let the veggies shine and picked a few subtle spices, toned down the salt and oil and now I can reliably make these dishes very tasty. A quarter cup of the right exotic cheese can replace a block of cheddar, a little rice vinegar with salt and cayenne can kick a fancy peanut sauce’s ass.
Know what flavor combinations work together
My most subjective tip. A good rule of thumb...totally my opinion...be careful mixing cuisines/different dishes. I know that “fusion” cooking is a thing but I really believe that’s best if mostly left to the experts. Follow the cultural spices and flavors for the dish you’re making and season within your theme. Don’t add chocolate to a pumpkin spice cake for example. Some weird and fun flavor combinations can be great (such as peanut butter and swiss) but find out what most think works and what is usually done and get comfortable with that before you start emptying your spice cabinet into one soup. Think: cumin, chili, lime. Think: sesame, ginger, garlic. Think: lemon, salt, butter. Of course these things can be combined and taste good but use spices carefully and know what goes well with what before you start dumping things in.
Don’t over cook it or cook it improperly
Learning how to cook vegetables correctly can really help you with the tip above as well because when done right veggies can stand alone without much effort (for example, cooking an eggplant very quickly on extremely high heat brings out an amazing spicy flavor and slow roasting cauliflower creates a delicious creamy nuttiness). How often have you found yourself saying “this broccoli/green bean/asparagus is undercooked?”, pretty much never. Be careful when you steam veggies and get them out before they’re all the way done as they will continue cooking after you pull them out. Eggs are the same way. Over cooking is even more of a problem for grains and pasta. Don’t let things get mushy. Texture is important. Look up the best way to cook something, there’s a lot of trial and error that’s already been done for you.
Leave it alone
I still struggle with this but it’s very key and very easy. My mom (and pretty much everyone’s mom) always said “a watched pot never boils”, I’m sure you’ve heard that too and it’s definitely not true but don’t mess with your food too much while it’s cooking. The best way I’ve found to fry an egg is to get the pan medium hot and lightly oiled then to just drop it in and put a lid on it and turn down the burner to almost nothing. Just walk away for awhile, don’t poke, peak or prod. Especially with things like rice. Don’t even lift the lid. Don’t keep opening your oven to slide a toothpick in that cake. Don’t open the plastic wrap on your bread dough rising over and over to see how high it’s gotten. It will be okay! Stirring breaks down the food and makes it lose it’s firmness, opening pots messes with pressure and let’s out steam/moisture and checking the oven too much lowers the temperature in there. Follow your instructions or recipe and trust the collective knowledge of the world’s cooks. That leads into the final and most important secret to being a good cook and one of my biggest cooking pet peeves.
Follow the fucking instructions
I’m not talking about following a recipe to a t every time, I’m not saying don’t experiment ever or invent your own stuff. What I’m saying is know about your kitchen tools and know basic things about how ingredients should be treated. This knowledge runs from the very basic such as:
Spray your waffle iron with cooking oil between each waffle (it’s in your waffle manual)
Bring the water to a complete boil before adding your pasta (it’s on the pasta box)
But put your eggs in the water while it’s cold and then boil them (it’s common sense)
Prepare your yeast before putting it in your dough (it’s on the yeast packet)
To the more refined like:
don’t ever cook dry beans or lentils in salt or vinegar/lemon juice/tomato (they will never get tender)
don’t try to deep fry with butter or olive oil (it will catch fire)
don’t lift the lid or stir around your rice while it’s cooking (it will not be a good texture)
don’t put garlic in your yeasted bread dough (the bread wont rise)
Basic cooking knowledge can be acquired very easily by reading manuals, product labels and recipes carefully and all the way through before you fire up your stove. If you do this every time I promise you that you will avoid many ruined or yucky meals and you may also avoid a kitchen fire or food poisoning. Also with a basic knowledge about your tools and ingredients you won’t feel intimidated about trying something new or cooking more from scratch.
Some of these basic facts won’t be on your labels and manuals but can be easily found on the internet. Before you start throwing veggies into a pan for a stir fry look up how long each takes to cook and put them in at the correct times. Before you assume you can make a double batch and freeze half find out how it worked for others and if the recipe freezes well (I ruined like three quiches by freezing one time) If you are out of an ingredient or need to modify a recipe for a dietary restriction or to make it healthier just look up what other cooks find is the best replacement. Write down the mistakes you make and what you have learned in your recipe book or another cooking journal so you wont repeat a disaster.
This takes some time but it’s well worth it.
As for learning the more advanced rules of cooking you will benefit greatly from cooking with an experienced cook. If you get invited over for dinner or if there is a holiday meal coming up ask your grandma or the host who is cooking if you can come help them. Listen to what they say and ask them why they do things a certain way or in a specific order. Ask them about things they “always” do when cooking and things they “never” do. There is probably a lot of thought, teaching and years of trial and error in every action they take. You can invent a better pizza topping combination or a better taco but you can’t invent a better way to cook rice or make an omelet.
Some things are done a certain way because it’s the best or only way.
In addition to that I would highly recommend working in food service for a spell. Try to find some place small and independent that doesn’t use a lot of frozen or canned things (or if it’s baking you’re interested in, pre-mixed things). Don’t expect to be paid much. Even just learning the fastest way to mince garlic or cube a pineapple or how to tell when oil is hot is worth taking a low wage for a bit in my opinion. I am so glad I worked a summer in my great aunt’s diner for example because now I can make eggs the way I want them every time. I also have several recipes from the Nile memorized from a summer position there which especially now that they’re closed I really value.
If you don’t have access to a wise home chef or time to take a prep cook job you can make a decent replacement by watching how-to videos online carefully and purchasing and reading “the Joy of Cooking”. Don’t use this book like a recipe book, take it to bed with you or to the bathroom (wherever you do your heavy duty reading) and read it cover to cover. It describes cooking terminology, the history of different recipes, proper treatment and use of ingredients and tools and also how to store things, what cuts of meat are which, the difference between whipping and beating and basic rules of thumb for altering every recipe in the book (which is pretty much every recipe you’ll ever need). I can’t press enough how essential this book is. It’s the manual for food and cooking it.
Don’t be scared or get frustrated when you make something you’d rather not eat and always practice a recipe before making it for a group. I think cooking is more about practice and wisdom than just having a knack for it or not. Read up, cook every day, learn from other cooks. I’m pretty sure making food taste good every time is this easy.
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