To ask what "cooking from scratch" means?

[CruCru]

I keep seeing posters who say that they cook from scratch. What does this mean?

I can cook lots of things, including bread, but there is plenty that I buy (pasta).

At what point does it become cooking from scratch?

Yes, it's a grey area, isn't it.

So, if you bought dried pasta and a jar of ready made pasta sauce I would not call that cooking from scratch. But if you made your own pasta sauce (chopped onions, garlic, tinned tomatoes, mince, plus other ingredients) and added bought dried pasta to that, I would call that cooking from scratch.

It means not using jars of sauce or packets. Making everything from start to finish.

I would say filled pasta plus ready made sauce = not cooking from scratch.

Bought pasta + bolognese made from onions, mince, tinned tomatoes etc = cooking from scratch.

I don't think most people would assume that a packet of pasta means the meal wasn't cooked from scratch. It's like buying rice isn't it?

Cornflake NO tinned tomatoes allowed!

Different things for different people, surely.

If you aren't a great cook or don't cook often then making a shepherd's pie using fresh meat and veg but one of those packets for flavouring might be cooking for scratch for you.

If you cook pretty well, then making your own sauce is cooking from scratch.

If you love cooking or just have too much time of your hands then it probably only counts if you make the pasta as well.

I do think if you're going to say it's not using a jar (which could be plain passata, after all) then you probably have to say it's making absolutely everything yourself. So nothing processed. So no bought pasta or bread. Or no frozen chopped veg.

Your own interpretation really.

My sister amuses me (though I don't say anything) because she'll say 'I'm making lasagne tonight' or 'I'm making medeterranean veg' - when what she actually means is she's taking them out of the freezer. Hardly 'making' that for dinner IMO but she thinks she is.

It's all in the eye of the beholder.

In general, I'd say it means starting with individual ingredients rather than things which have already been mixed together. So, making your own sauce rather than buying a jar/tin/packet of sauce. Buying meat and vegetables rather than a tin of "chiili con carne".

But then I don't see any problem in buying a mixed pack of 'fajita spices' or 'passata with herbs' or lots of other things and still saying you cooked a meal from scratch.

Maybe I'd define it as something which involves more cooking skills than just heating up and stirring gently?

I think it's to do with using ingredients that could or couldn't be used to make something else.

So a jar of pasta sauce can't be used to make anything but pasta and that sauce, but tinned tomatoes might end up in bolognese, chilli, ratatouille, etc.

Oooh curry paste. Is that cheating?

Years ago in Chaing Mai, I went on a Thai cooking course where they showed us how to grind everything up to make Thai Curry paste. I can't get the ingredients in this country.
I was going to say I am making Thai curry from scratch tonight, but I am using bought Thai Curry Paste, does that still count?

Also...

What about something like garam masala, which is a blend of spices?

Surely tinned stuff is fine as long as it's just the ingredient in the tin, like a tin of red kidney beans if you're making chilli rather than soaking dried ones for ages.

Where do we stand on the use of condiments in cooking like a dash of worcestershire sauce?

Have to say, in rl I never use the term 'cooking from scratch'. My meals are a mix. Tonight we're having pork loin, spinach tortellini in cheese sauce and broccoli.

I'm cooking the pork and broccoli 'from scratch' (not sure how you could not cook them from scratch though). The tortellini is pre-bought, but the cheese sauce i'll make myself.

Last night we had lasagne - I used bought pasta sheets and a jar of white sauce because I cba to make it. I would still class that as a 'homemade meal' as opposed to a frozen lasagne. But it's obviously not from scratch because of the jar.

Cooking with veggies you grew yourself, making pasta by hand, home made jam, using eggs from your own chickens, making bread... It's all relative depending on how much time, money, other commitments you have and want to spend cooking.

I love it, others see it as a chore but it's horses for courses. Whatever works for you is right.

she'll say 'I'm making lasagne tonight' or 'I'm making medeterranean veg' - when what she actually means is she's taking them out of the freezer.

I find "we're having xxxxx tonight" covers a multitude of sins

That last post sounds as though I would make Thai curry paste myself if only I could get the ingredients. Would I fuck?

Me too MrsMcRuff!

I'd still say 'I'm making' about the lasagne for instance because there is 'making' involved. I wouldn't say it about a frozen meal though!

I made a curry 'from scratch' once. It was shit.

I try to cook from scratch where possible - I think my definition is anything that hasn't got added salt, sugar, preservatives, etc already added.
Life is too short to make pasta though

To be fair, I would say that a curry made with a jar of curry paste plus coconut milk and loads of veg is cooking from scratch. It's way cheaper to buy a jar of Thai green curry paste then buy all the individual components (from waitrose, which is next to work, I am sure if you have time you can find lemongrass cheaper).

cowbiscuits have you not got a Chinese supermarket near you? They have all the stuff for making your own paste. We always make a large batch and split into amounts just right for one meal.
lots of the Chinese places also have online stores now which deliver ( so you now have no excuse!)

Tonight we're having breaded chicken (homemade) with balsamic red pepper, courgettes and onion and pesto pasta. Pesto is homemade BUT wasn't made by me?

I'd class that as from scratch? I haven't made pesto in years though and if my "supplier" dries up I do buy a jar.

My meals tend to be mainly from scratch, but can sometimes have an element of "cheat". For example I don't eat mash potato and have never truly mastered it - despite knowing its "easy" - so on the rare occasions I want to serve it to OH I buy M&S ultimate mash!!

Don't think I am ever going to have time / space to make my own pasta but when I am on maternity leave next year I do want to master the art of curry making from scratch. I currently use a paste!

I find the expression really annoying for some reason - I like to cook and bake myself, and I'm reasonably competent, but the phrase sounds as if you're supposed to gasp in admiration and give the cook of the 'from scratch' dish extra credit for not having thrown a jar of Dolmio at the spaghetti or something.

There's nothing at all wrong with short cuts - I'm a believer in canned beans/chickpeas because I almost never plan things long enough in advance to soak them - but there's something a bit depressing about the assumption that 'cooking from scratch' is the culinary equivalent of running a marathon blindfold in a diver's suit.

When DH makes curry, he's grinding things up with a pestle and mortar...and toasting seeds and stuff.

I use curry powder!

I've been thinking about this as there's a lot I wouldnt even think of doing and I sometimes wonder why! I've never bought jars or packet spices and it wouldn't cross my.mind to do so. But I might serve a simple meal as can't be bothered with raff say of lasagne.... Surely shortcuts are better...

But I still wouldnt buy a jar of white sauce or think using it is cooking from scratch!

I think of myself as a 'cooker from scratch' but some things just have to be bought: baked beans and pasta for example.
I have a friend who won't even have a microwave iin her house as she considers it 'cheating' whereas I batch cook at weekends and rely heavily on the micro during the week.
I do usually make my own curry pastes, but I do use tinned tomatoes and kidney beans.
I buy and chop onions for the freezer, make stacks of frozen mashed potato, pureed carrots and other things which mean my day to day cookery may not be 'from scratch', but as I prepped it in the first place I'm maming the claim!

A friend in the US made bolognaise and told me her guests were v impressed and said, "Wow. Scratch cooking!" They h
ad to explain what they meant!