Can you cook?

[MasalaBeans]

If so, what do you mean by ‘cooking’?

I can follow a recipe and make a decent Hello Fresh meal but still don’t feel confident in saying that I can cook.

Would you be able to make something really tasty with no guidance at all?

Yes. I love cooking

Yes I can cook. Make dishes from scratch or follow a recipe.

Yes I can cook and also bake confidently without recipes.

I think the more you cook and the bigger variety the more you learn what you can substitute, what things you can vary quantities of and then become confident to creat while new recipes.

I can, and it bores me, so I do it as little as possible!

Yes. Many basics I can make with my eyes closed, or follow a recipe for something fancier. It just takes practice. My 17 yo loves baking, but is less keen on making the dinner for everyone. She will cook meals for herself though.

Yes. Very easy. Following a recipe is cooking btw.

I cook a mixture of things - staples that I've done often and don't have to look up a recipe, new things every now and then where I do follow a recipe - usually from BBC Good Food website.

My 17 and 20 year olds can also cook a decent meal too. It's an important life skill.

Yes.

Yes. I think I’m a pretty good cook, with a pretty broad repertoire. I don’t use recipes in day to day cooking, and can either meal plan or cook something by just looking in the fridge and pantry. I do use recipes for some things, and for new foods, but I’m just as likely to use a recipe/cookbook for inspiration as I am to follow it diligently. I think I’m quite an instinctive cook really. I learnt as a teen because I was a young carer, and then also at university where I broadened my culinary horizons. I owe a lot to Jamie Oliver and am one of a whole generation of people who started cooking using his early books.

BTW when I say "I can", I mean I can make something that tastes decent without looking at recipes. I don't remember the last time I looked at a recipe or weighed an ingredient. You just get a feeling for what will work and what won't, and in which quantities.

It still bores me rigid, though!

I should probably also say that I enjoy eating which I think is an important part for anyone who wants to learn to cook. There is very little point slaving over something you’re not going to enjoy eating.

Yes, I can
I know about food, I know what works with what, I know timings, and I just understand it.
If I had my time again, I'd definitely work with food.

@DDIJ

I can prepare everyday meals from scratch but I couldn't do anything impressive without a recipe or some idea of cooking times and therefore I would say I can't cook.

I’m the same. I can make something simple like tuna pasta bake, omelette or a spinach and potato curry without following a recipe but I still don’t feel confident to say that I can cook.

No. I hate it. I have no interest in it, and find it a total chore, from the food shopping to the preparation. DH does 99% of it, he loves it and loves trying new recipes.

My talents lie with DIY, planning trips and holidays, and general life admin - I will happily take on all this to avoid chopping garlic

Yes, I like cooking and don't need a recipe to make a straightforward tasty meal that uses up various things we have in. I'm 60 now so I've got decades of cooking behind me. I learned quite a lot of the basics from my Mum when I was growing up, a few extra things from Domestic Science lessons at school, and the rest I learned from watching cookery programmes on TV and reading cookery books and recipes in magazines/newspapers. I owe most to Delia Smith, whose recipes are so clear and reliable, but the books I've most enjoyed reading are Claudia Roden's Book of Middle Eastern Food and all of Elizabeth David's recipe books.

A lot of it is practice. You need to know what works with what, and what's worth keeping in stock.

Yes, hopeless at sticking to recipes, even with new things. I always read through the recipe and think I'll just swap x for y because I think it would work better etc.

Yes I enjoy it, I find it relaxing. My children can cook because we spent lots of time cooking together when they were younger, I foster now and love cooking with the children I have too.

@Azilliondegrees

I should probably also say that I enjoy eating which I think is an important part for anyone who wants to learn to cook. There is very little point slaving over something you’re not going to enjoy eating.

That's probably true. I'm not that bothered about eating, either.

No, every now and again I decide to try then get bored with it, I don't find it enjoyable at all.

Thankfully DH is an amazing cook so the kids and I still eat well. Before I met him my Mum cooked for me and if she as away I would live off of toast and cereal.

Nope.
I can 'put together' a perfectly well balanced and enjoyable meal for my family but I wouldn't call it cooking.

I also bloody hate every minute I spend in the kitchen, my own mum was the same

No. I hate cooking. I take absolutely no pleasure or pride in cooking. I'm not overly fussed about food though. I have a very specific allergy which massively limits what I can eat, and there are many other foods I simply don't like. Food is simply a way of limiting hunger. I'd be quite happy to eat the same thing every day.

No. I don't enjoy it and don't particularly enjoy food in general.

Yes - I can cook improvised or following a recipe.

I prefer to cook savoury but can do cakes and deserts if required.

I really enjoy cooking Italian but am quite good at British, Indian, Mexican and Cajun.

I can also do awesome vegetarian meals but am not confident with vegan.

I would like to cook decent chinese or thai but haven't really got round to anywhere close to mastering that yet.

I love cooking for dinner parties.

Yes, I love cooking. And eating.

Yes, and I get paid to do it.