You can watch any number of videos on the television or a computer and see someone cooking a fancy looking dish. You can watch them cut, chop, dice, toss, flip, and many other techniques. Most of these people you watch have been cooking like that for a long time. Many of them are actual chefs. It does look really cool when someone flips something in a pan. That is the advanced stuff. What do I really need to know to get started? This is by no means an all-inclusive list. However, it is some things to get you started. So let get into it.
I Can Barely Toast Bread
Not to worry. You don’t have to have any skills in the kitchen to get started. There are some things I personally think everyone should know how to do. One of those things is to learn how to cook. That being said, there are a few basic cooking skills that you can master fairly easily, and will likely use for a long time. There are tons of websites you can search on the internet that list the top ten, top twenty, top…however many, basic cooking skills everyone should learn. I am not going to get into any advanced stuff here. If you can correctly cook even a few basic things, can use your imagination, and are willing to give it a shot, you can cook some pretty tasty meals.
What Should I Learn First?
Now, this is just my opinion. I think, other than figuring out how a toaster works, is how to cook eggs. You might not like eggs, or are allergic to eggs. If you are allergic to eggs, please disregard this section. If you just don’t like eggs, you probably still use them in various recipes. There are several ways to cook an egg…fry, scramble, poach, soft-boil, hard-boil, and on and on. My advice is to learn how to fry, scramble, and hard-boil eggs first. Those three methods will take you a long way. Once you master them, move on to more advanced techniques.
Pasta, Potatoes, and Rice
If you can cook pasta, potatoes, and rice, you can create a ton of different meals. Now there are lots of ways to cook all three of these. I am talking about the non-microwave or instant cook varieties. I know, you’re thinking right now, “There are literally hundreds of ways to cook potatoes. Which method is he talking about?” Quite frankly, I am talking about the easiest ways. Boil them and fry them. Boiled potatoes are the base for mashed potatoes, cubed potatoes you would use in a salad or other dish, and even the precursor to frying them in some cases. You can also slice potatoes, grate potatoes, or just cube them up and fry them in a skillet with butter or oil. Pasta is very simple as well. You do have to pay attention to how long it boils though. The same for rice. Rice is a little more challenging as you do not want it to be under cooked, but you most definitely do not want it overcooked. Of course, you could read the instructions on the package, but I have found the cooking times are off a little.
What Else Do I Need to Master Right Now?
This is a very good question. My suggestion is to learn how to cook various meats correctly and safely. A quick caveat to that is that what is correct for a given piece of meat is really up to you. If it is safe to eat and tastes good, then it’s correct. Learn how to sear, brown, and sautee different kinds of meats. I would also suggest learning how to bake and broil certain meats. Those few techniques will take you a long way. You should learn how to steam and simmer vegetables as well. Once you can cook meat, potatoes, and vegetables, you’re on your way. A couple of other things I think everyone needs to know are how to make simple stews and tomato sauce. Of course, those are going to involve any number of the skills I already mentioned. Still, I highly suggest learning both, as they are fun to make, generally easy to make, and will often leave plenty of leftovers for lunch the next day.
Is That All?
If you are new to cooking or have never cooked anything at all, this may sound like a lot. Actually, these are very few skills to learn. I will get into more in a future post. We haven’t even touched on making bread or making more difficult things like a roux or a gravy. We’ll get into that later. For now, these are just a few things anyone wanting to cook should know. I am sure I could add a bunch more to this, but we’ll go with these for now. I will be writing another article in the near future that will add to this one. I will delve into some things like basic knife skills; differences between stirring, whipping, whisking, and beating things like eggs; how to fold things into a mix; and so on. This article is just something I came up with off the top of my head. Is there a lot more to talk about? Yes there is. As I always say, more to follow.