Why is it some people are amazing cooks?

[Violetcake]

So I can cook, I can even make pastry and I try to cook mostly from.scratch although not always and when I eat at the homes of family and friends the food is usually good but just as there are some people who's cooking is a bit rough even when they make a real effort there are some people who's cooking just has that something extra to make it really delicious and memorable.

My SIL is such an amazing cook and I swear she can make the exact same thing as me to the same recipe in the same kitchen and mine will be fine but her's will be amazing extra velvety texture, extra flavourful, extra crispy, extra melty or fluffy, you get the picture.

She like me is just a regular home cook just cooking for her family, no training or fancy gear but her food is just next level.

Why is it that some people can just cook so well?

There's knowing your equipment too, and basically giving everything enough time to be done correctly and rest before putting it on the plate.

My husband is one for following the recipe exactly AND timing it so that it's all ready at the last minute, before dropping it in front of you at scorching temps.

If he asks me how long something steams for, he'll go "but the recipe says half that time". So possibly the meat is ready but the veg are half cooked (like I said they'd be), then you have to wait for it.

There's a lot of quality control that comes from adding 15m to the schedule so that the right things are ready at the right time and can have more salt/stirring/whatever.

Yes good point about the chopping and slicing, I have problems with my hands and although Im a good cook, I really struggle with the strength needed to cut through things, to handle things and grip things.

Another thing you need is really good knives so that you slice and dont mash or crush the item and its safer so the knife doesnt go slipping and sliding all over the place cutting off the tip of your thumb. All our knives are shit and made more shit because OH is obsessed with putting everything in the dishwasher, I darent buy myself some nice knives because they'll be ruined.

Yes my OH has no comprehension (or doesnt care) that you have to stagger times to get a dish all ready at the same time. He isnt bothered if he eats plain rice first followed by some awful concoction he has made up

We dont eat the same food! He likes quite a beige diet.

Process not timing.

The recipe may say saute vegetable x for x minutes. But that recipe doesn't know the water content of your specific veg, for example.

Not being afraid of heat, most people don't sear or caramelise their meat at a high enough heat initially then lose out on flavour later.

Being frugal with spices herbs and flavourings, don't!

Basically it's all experience at the end of the day, plus tasting along the way.

Experience, skill, attention to detail, ability/ practise with taste and understanding seasonings and flavour combinations.

It's the same as anything else. Some people are better at some things than others for a variety of reasons - often because they have practised, researched and thought about it a lot, so have more experience and knowledge. Sometimes there is also a natural affinity (but that's usually secondary to practise and time they've spent thinking about it/ doing it).

If you decided to put in the effort and time to improve your cooking then you would become better, too, but for whatever reason perhaps it's not something that interests you as much. Everyone is different.

I think it's raw talent. My ex was a chef and he loved cooking. My DF wasn't a chef but again he loved it. They both produced the most amazing meals.

I find it boring, difficult and time consuming.

That's not an example of 'raw talent' though is it?

They may like it, sure, but they are mostly better at it because they've spent a lot more time and effort on it than you.

Op just thank goodness you’re not me, I can burn things, dry them out, make them look sludgy- nothing ever works! I cook most days and when dh cooks everything is fab and everyone is relieved. If I bake and have to use any initiative at all I will go the wrong way. 50/50 chance I will always go wrong. I’m 44 and would love to have my mum’s/ mil’s talent of having people excited for their food:(

This. I'm a good cook because I want to eat good food. No supermarket will make food as good as decent scratch cooking do in order to date my foodie needs I have to learn to cook.

I've been cooking since I was about 6 and never stopped so experience comes next.

I personally think that as with most things, it's how much you can be arsed. If you really put your mind to it you could be as good, but the truth is you probably can't be bothered (and that's fine).

They practise more.

I wish I knew OP! DH can throw random stuff into a pan and it tastes utterly delicious. I follow a recipe to the absolute letter and it tastes bland. WTAF?

I swear there is a cooking gene that I wasn’t blessed with. I try SO hard to replicate what he does and it never works.

Solidarity for all the people who are missing the cooking gene- I feel your pain 🤣

I think it often comes down to seasoning - some people (like me) season then taste at the end and hope for the best while others season each step of the way and season everything (like putting butter and salt on boiled vegetables). Talking of butter, people who make delicious food seem to cook everything in butter and seem to use looads of it

DH once went through the same pasta dish with me side by side, we did the exact same thing, used the same ingredients.

His still tasted better than mine.

Ah well, at least I can draw really well, - he can only draw stick figures so that is a comfort to me 😄

I think I’m quite a good cook (with the odd disaster of course!) DP is a perfectly fine cook who makes nice food but we all think mine is generally better. I never use a recipe really and can easily make a meal up from scratch. Even when I do use one it’s only for the basics and I’ll use my intuition about cooking times, temperature, seasoning etc. I think I just pay closer attention to the food itself rather than going on what someone else tells me to do! I know we like a tomato sauce to be extra tomatoey so I’ll put in a big squeeze of purée and let it cook down more, things like that. I’m also not afraid to use fat! A glug of olive oil at the end of a pasta sauce can change it from a weird collection of tomato and veg to a nice glossy sauce, for example.

IMO the big three are fat, salt and practice. If my H ever sees me salt something he accused me of trying to kill us all, but freely admits I'm the best home cook he knows. The two are not unconnected.

Regarding practice/experience, I'm not a very creative cook, but I can tell from experience where a recipe is likely to go wrong (eg sautee an onion for 5mins,), and divert where needed, or make adaptations as I go along. H can't.

It's not just the amount and quality of seasoning and fat, it's also the temperature you use, the amount of stirring, and the length of time you cook each stage.
If you fry onions on a lower heat and for longer, they take on a more mellow flavour, if you fry garlic gently, that's a smoother flavour too.

My partner is a great cook. Can put anything together to taste good. I'm a pretty competent cook. But I'm not obsessed with food and too lazy to taste as I go. He's already talking about what we could have for dinner while I've just eaten my breakfast. I don't start thinking about the evening meal until about 5 o'clock.

I’d agree with this. My mum can’t correlate the fact her food isn’t as good as it used to be and that she lives in fear of salt and fat. She keeps blaming the new electric oven.

Intuition through experience.

I'm a not bad cook but nothing amazing but tips I've discovered late in life are to add salt to pretty much everything, add more seasoning and take your time instead of throwing it all in at once! A lot of what held me back a little from developing my cooking skills was avoiding salt and fats which was the dieting advice when I was a teen/20's.

100% this

Generally, following recipes down to the letter rather than using your own senses - seeing, smelling, tasting, feeling - won’t guarantee good results. Waiting until you can smell the sweet aroma of caramelising onions, seeing them go glossy and translucent, feeling them go soft while stirring is better than slavishly following the timer. This principle applies to so many things and experienced cooks probably don’t have to think about what they’re doing, it’s just second nature.

Dh is an excellent cook because he loves food and cooking, has a good palate, knows how to balance favour and loves to experiment.

I’m more pedestrian but am decent and have definitely picked up a few things from Dh. I’m the better baker but that’s likely because he’s not so keen on baking 😂

I don’t agree with pp who says you have to be precise with baking. I often vary quantities - eggs, sugar etc but you need to balance things. If you reduce the number of eggs you may need to add liquid - milk or water for example, so the consistency of your batter is right.

Don’t be afraid to experiment - be a keen observer and taste, taste, taste.

knows how to balance ‘flavour’..