Former non-cooks: how did you learn to cook?

[GauntJudy]

My parents never cooked so I grew up on boil in the bag meals. I started cooking for myself around 14, but mostly made things on toast. I never really fell in love with cooking.

Now I'm a mum I'd quite like to be able to make delicious things. However I seem incapable of getting timings right and my efforts never seem as delicious as the recipes promise.

Wondering if anyone was like me and found a cookbook or account that transformed them into competent cooks?

I'd like to be able to produce good unfussy meals and I'm vegetarian but dc eat meat so will cook that too. Thanks!

What sort of things would you like to cook?

I can cook a few dishes. I recommend a fool-proof recipe book like Delia Smith's Complete Cookery Course, and learn the basics.

I'm a vegetarian too. If I'm cooking for meat-eaters, I make the one dish, and the meat gets cooked separately.

Hearty fare, like mindblowing roast dinners, really tasty spaghetti bol, a good pie

Just pick a few easy recipes off bbc good food and get going. Wanting to feed my family nutritious meals is what got me into it!

Jamie Oliver has a good cook book for the big favorites, like a roast, spag bol, curry etc. It's really for a starter cook and is basic and non fussy.
I did learn a bit from my mum but really most things I have improved on and developed for myself have been from cook books.
Charity shops usually have a good second hand cook book section if you don't want to be paying 25 quid.
And now we all have phones or tablets I save recipes on Instagram and cook from those a bit too plus I find watching someone cook it really helpful.

I would recommend Sarah Rossi cookbooks to you. There is one called What's for Dinner, and the recipes are easy quick and tasty.

I taught myself to cook many moons ago, via Delia Smith mainly.

Ministry of Food by Jamie Oliver
Nosh for busy mums and dads

I learnt to cook slowly.

I did baking as a child and could cook basic meat and 2 veg dinners.

I did cooking at school but I had as many disasters as edible meals - I often didn't really know what the thing I was meant to be cooking looked like as I had never eaten it.

As an adult I have had the time and money to slowly build up my skills and knowledge - using cookbooks and especially you tube. You tube is great because you can see what it's meant to look like.

I now have a wide range of dishes from a variety of different cultures/countries that turn out fairly well each time.

I'd recommend ministry of food for that sort of thing. It's a really decent cookbook. Allow longer than you think and if you're not experienced make sure you chop veg etc up beforehand so you can just focus on the cooking process.

From a technical point of view, I really enjoyed "Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat" - it's quite heavy going and maaayyybe not the best beginner book (I would borrow from the library rather than buy) but I quite liked the way it explained scientifically what I had worked out by instinct over years of cooking.

Easy recipes off Good Food with everyday ingredients and good reviews

I couldn’t cook either, but getting a Gousto box weekly was a massive game changer. I still say that I can’t cook, I just follow a recipe, but actually, I have definitely picked things up

Another way - I’ve always found Jamie Oliver’s books are really easy to follow

I'd second trying Gousto - it's been great for me in learning new things. As everything is measured out I can just concentrate on putting it together and we've had some lovely meals. You'll also get a pretty big discount for your first few weeks.

Allow longer than you think and if you're not experienced make sure you chop veg etc up beforehand so you can just focus on the cooking process.

Assemble all the ingredients first is a top tip, especially if there are lots of them.

I’m not into cooking and do the bare minimum a lot of the time but I did do a 1 day vegetarian cooking course run by a local cookery school years ago that was incredibly helpful to me. I remember cooking a celeriac gratin among other things, and I didn’t even know what the vegetable was before that day. 😂

I can’t remember how much I paid but it was worth it even though I didn’t drink any of the booze that was provided during the meal that we all shared at the end. I definitely felt more confident about cooking veggie meals after that.

Find out what mirepoix is. Half of western dishes start with mirepoix or a near cousin.

Invest in a starter set of herbs and spices. Worcestershire sauce or hendersons relish lift most things.
Mixed herbs or herbes de Provence can be used for many recipes.
Bay leaves, paprika, chilli flakes and a medium curry powder all very good standbys.

Read about cooking as well as just reading recipes. I’m not at home or I’d double check which books have the best explanatory sections. Delia is a safe bet anyway. Maybe Elizabeth David. I have a couple of books about European cooking. One is called something like “European peasant cooking”. Reading around the subject is a book help. Just browse a few and pick up second hand or kindle copies of something that talks about techniques and history of cooking. I’m sure MNers with better memories will suggest books.

If you can master stew and a simple
mince based dish then you instantly are competent to cook a couple of dozen related dishes.

Don't be afraid to halve amounts to try making smaller batches while you learn.

But you’ll have fewer disasters if you understand why you (for example) seal meat, the difference between browning and softening onions. Things like that.

Many, many years ago (1985) my sister gave me a copy of Katie Stewart’s Cook Book, telling me though I wouldn’t read it in bed I would learn from it, and she was absolutely right. I’ve given a copy to each of my 3 adult daughters and we often have conversations (because we all love food) that start “Katie says”. www.amazon.co.uk/Katie-Stewarts-Cook-Book-Stewart/dp/0575032782

I’ve also found the original “How to Eat” by Nigella very good. https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Eat-Pleasures-Principles-Good/dp/0701165766

I have a ridiculous number of cook books but these are the two I’d save from a fire.

mirepoix or soffritto How To Make Soffritto (Recipe, Tips, Tricks & Its Uses) : Italian Recipe Book

I recommended Delia Smith because her recipes are reliable, cover the basics, and the book (about 50p in a charity shop) covers things that sound difficult but aren't like bechamel, roux, roast dinners etc. The Nigella one pp mentioned is said to be reliable.

I still haven't, I leave the boring stuff like cooking to DH

Actually you could do worse than starting with making stock. Then using the stock to make an easy soup (you can freeze the stock in between times).

It’s not as hard as it looks OP, honestly.

I started off with using jars and other convenience food to cook. For example the vegetable section in supermarkets will sell stir fry veg, noodles and sauces. My first roast was with frozen roasties. Jars eg curry will have have recipes on the back.

Once I could do those confidently, I became curious about cooking more bits from scratch. So the frozen roasties became fresh, curry pastrs were made from scratch etc

I watched a lot of videos on social media. You can search recipes by budget, time or number of ingredients. I like ready within 30 mins during the week but others will prefer using a slow cooker or other gadget.

Supermarkets all seem to have good recipe sites for inspiration. Eg https://www.aldi.co.uk/recipes
https://realfood.tesco.com

This is fantastic cookery book by Leiths Cookery School, it teaches you everything (and has the best recipe for Yorkshire puddings I've ever come across):

Leiths How to Cook (Leiths School/Food & Wine) https://amzn.eu/d/f95H3WD

YouTube is also great for videos on cooking skills etc. The best way is to find recipes you want to try and give it a bash, you'll learn new skills as you go and build up a repertoire.

I have a blank recipe book into which I copy all my favourite recipes.

I spent time with friends who could cook. Meant I learned how to cook Northern Indian and Pakistani food first, but that was perfect for meat, vegetables, pulses, grains, understanding seasoning and basic cooking techniques (I'm from a family of zero salt/herbs/spices/joy/flavour). Then got interested in Japanese food and learned some techniques for that.

Beforehand, I could bake a cake successfully (although I didn't like them), reheat stuff, boil and mash potatoes, put something on toast, that kind of thing.

I find these recipes v easy to follow, linked to one but he has lots of comfort food recipes
you can adjust the quantity slider, press cook mode to keep the page open on your phone and there’s a little video demo for each one

https://www.dontgobaconmyheart.co.uk/waffle-cowboy-pie/

Delia Smith cook book

my dm always cooked and I did cookery at school but DS’s recipes were good

I also find BBC good food recipes excellent

Delia does the sort of recipes you are looking for. Her instructions are really clear, every recipe has been tested to destruction and you end up making things that taste really nice. Plus she has free access to loads of stuff on her website.

After a while of Delia, I was so much more confident and expanded into other books and genuinely enjoying cooking.