What makes a good cook?

Think of a recipe as a map to a certain place. Many Need to follow a recipe, without one they could Never cook. Love, you are a natural! You don't need a recipe! You Know your way! Me? Even with a recipe I would never cook. I do bake. To bake one Needs a recipe, it is precise! But recipes are more like suggestions. you can Always substitute one thing for another! So Please see yourself as a good cook , because you are!

I think you have just hit the nail on the head. Baking is more scientific than making, for instance, a casserole. So if you mess about with the baking recipe it won't come out as intended, but you can play about with a casserole pretty much as much as you like. I'm not disciplined enough to bake well I guess.

That's really nice to read, thankyou. I just learnt to cook by having to do it every day, day in and day out. I have to cook for guests each day, so there's no getting out of it and just grabbing a banana and a piece of toast either! It's probably because i'm so poor at following recipes or making specific dishes that I don't consider myself to be a good cook. But f everyone eats what they are given, then should not complain!

Multi tasking = makng dnner whlst helpng with homework, feedng the cat, locating car keys and puttng the washing on! Excuse the typos, me (letter to the left of O) has ceased to be alve!

My kitchen is rarely spotless EVER so I'm afraid I'm far from your mum's standard!

You sound like my Mum. She's like a little whirlwind in the kitchen but the place is always spotless when she's finished!

I think that's pretty key, making something from whatever there is in the pantry. I've got a storecupboard full of homemade sauces, preserves and dehydrated things which I bring out to enliven whatever is to hand if need be,

What are you good at Writersedge? I'm good at casseroles and things which you can throw in whatever you have to hand. And I make nice jams and chutneys.

Meat and potatoes. Grew up with males that like that, married one that likes that. But he also likes rice or noodles. Sneaking food into other food since the males don't seem to eat fruits and veggies.

Reminds me of cooking for kids who won't eat veggies!

Full and satisfied implies that you've enjoyed your meal. Good pointer to a good cook!

Calories are the last thing I consider Parascevi, but I figure that as I never stop running about I don't need to worry too much about it. Like you, I rarely follow recipes. In my case it is because I rarely have all the ingredients to hand, but occasionally I'll improvise.

I'd like to learn more about different herbs, and in fact I'm planning on planting more this year so I have something new to experiment with. I reckon I'm pretty good at knowing when something needs a pinch of salt, splash of vinegar or whatever to perk it up though. That just comes from experience I guess. If I do something and it doesn't come out quite right I just add something complimentary until it tastes better. I guess that's experimenting!

I think that if you can 'rescue' something that hasn't turned out quite as planned, or invent something, then you're a great cook!

And i reckon kids are the toughest customers!

I'm forever having to rescue things or improvise with different ingredients! It's all part of being busy and doing ten things and once, and having a limited store cupboard I guess! Tomato and asparagus salad sounds good. I love asparagus.

Hiya GM, Yesterday I found at long last a Store and they are wholesalers as well and they grow their own produce so I managed to get some good things really cheap unbeliebably cheap considering how much they are in the Shops got three really big tomatoes that are for real and not all hollow in the middle like most overpriced ones. Bought some other green stuff as well and it only cost me 13 euros altogether big bind that it is a bit out of the way but the Lady is so nice too she has been forced to change her Job so she is there doing something totally different but then she comes from a background where you have to go with the change. Just going to clean up all the greenstuff in a while and get down to the nitty gritty of cleaning and making the Dinner. Asparragus can be very expensive here now as a lot of it is grown for this Country outside of here in places like Morocco and such.xxx Yes I love them as well.xxx

Experience and practice is definitely the key thing. My cooking has become infinitely better since I had to start cooking for other people every single day.

If you earn money through your cooking, you must certainly be good. Experience I think is what makes a cook confident to experiment with flavours and turn ordinary meals into something really tasty.

So how did she learn her skills? Cooking for large numbers in a commercial environment is very different to cooking for just the family I think.

Hi there, My sister is really the good one since she is the chef here.

Thanks Inertia. Did you pick up some skills yourself?

I picked up a few things. But I am no cook, believe me. I can slap something simple together but thats it.

I'm not sure I'd include speed in my own list of qualities, but experience would certainly make you faster. I don't doubt your mother is a great cook!

I don't consider myself a particularly good cook, although other people sometimes say so and I'm certainly capable of providing consistently decent food with little fuss. I'm pretty quick, but certainly not as quick as someone who cooks professionally for instance. When i worked in a kitchen I was astonished at the speed some of the chefs could chop veggies.

You should include it GreenMoo. Experience makes one to do work faster. As a new comer one cannot do at a big rate. If he try to do it at bit faster he/she gets suffered. Do you feel that you are a good cook ?

Simple ingredients, minimal time and fuss. Sounds like a great recipe!

Well, it does. But I was actually talking about simple ingredients, minimal time & a LACK of fuss.

Plenty of FUSS might also make it very interesting.

Having a passion for cooking would certainly make it more fun and give the impetus to put lots of effort in. That would reflect in the finished product.

How about if you're in a bad mood? Do you still produce excellent dishes then?

A good question indeed! I do cookwell but not excellent dishes.

Actually, inspiration for what to cook is sometimes my biggest stumbling block. I'd eat pasta every night myself, but when I'm feeding other people I feel I need to show a bit more imagination.

Yes, though it would be lovely to eat restaurant food daily it's not possible for most of us and we need to eat more simply at home day to day.

I get lunch at home every day.I do my best to let the dish be good to eat,but it is difficult to cater for all tastes.

I guess that is something that comes with experience. I'm not good at doing it, but then I'm not particularly good with different herbs and spaces.

I don't find cooking relaxing personally, but I do agree that practice make perfect.