I'm going to say about 97% of people can't cook.

[ShrikeAttack]

I read threads on here about food all the time & even people who claim 'to 'cook', as in 'make stuff hot and eat it', have no idea about food. How to make delicious things, how to treat ingredients, what goes together.

It honestly makes me a bit sad.

The majority of people probably eat really rubbish food.

I really want people to understand food and eat better, not because I'm a dick, but because it would make their lives more pleasurable.

@PlanDeRaccordement

I agree with you OP. The number of people claiming they make a “homemade birthday cake” and it’s not. It’s a box cake and a bought tub of pre-made frosting. All my DCs have commented to when they went to university that they were considered oddities because they could actually cook full meals and baked goods from basic ingredients. Your % is probably more correct than people think.

Oh rubbish - people do not regularly claim a shop cake that they iced with shop bought icing is homemade. (They might well deliberately lie as an attempted cheat, but they rarely actually think it's homemade.) This is smug nonsense (from you and the OP).

I can cook, I’m just not a smug twat about it..

@midnightstar66

To be honest I'm on board with the slow cooker thing. I've never made a single thing that wasn't less bland and less pleasant texture than its oven or stove top counterpart despite using the exact same ingredients or seasoning. I use it purely for convenience when time is limited at the end of the day but it's never my go to for that reason. Mostly throw in a chicken or jacket litigators so they are ready when we get home

I make a lot in a slowcooker. It took few tries to learn how much more spices to add and that some ingredients can't go in right from the start. It's a great kitchen tool which can be used to cook various types of dishes. I make base sauces in it. Curry sauces, chilli, crispy duck (finished off under the grill in the oven though) , slow roast beef etc.

You cannot use exact same ingredients in exact same amount like on a hob.

@midnightstar66 love a jacket litigator so smart aren't they?

Prefer mine in the oven though. I'm also not a huge fan of the slow cooker.

@SimonJT

I’m not a food snob, I like cooking, there are also two allergies in our home so most premade things are a no no.

This is what I have bought this week

Bananas
Oranges
Apples (pink lady of course)
Blueberries
Cherries
Mango
Cauliflower
Carrots
Cavolo nero
Okra
Brocolli
Savoy cabbage
Leeks
Squash
Sweet potatoes
White potatoes
Tomatoes
Cucumber
Raddishes
Peppers
Pak choi
Courgettes
Frozen green beans
Frozen spinach
Tofu
Eggs (sadly inferior hens eggs)
Coconut milk
Tinned tomatoes
Risotto rice
Saffron
Idon noodles
Chickpeas
Turtle beans
Adzuki beans
Peanut butter
Marmite
Honey
Chia seeds
Frozen berry selection (great in porridge)

Note mine doesn’t include microwave rice or a £1.50 tiramisu, I have no issue with ready made food, if I thought there was something wrong with ready meals then I wouldn’t buy them and then complain about other people buying them.

That's a lot of food! How many will that feed?

@midnightstar66

To be honest I'm on board with the slow cooker thing. I've never made a single thing that wasn't less bland and less pleasant texture than its oven or stove top counterpart despite using the exact same ingredients or seasoning. I use it purely for convenience when time is limited at the end of the day but it's never my go to for that reason. Mostly throw in a chicken or jacket litigators so they are ready when we get home

Me too - slow cooker food is bloody awful.

OP it sounds to me like you don’t know how to cook, and by that I mean make a balanced meal. From your menu you aren’t getting anywhere near enough vegetables, especially green veg.

That's a lot of food! How many will that feed?

And a hell of a lot of typing 😂

I think most people are able to cook to varying degrees. A lot of folk don't cook for many reasons.

Some people care more about the taste of what they eat for others it's just fuel.

Sometimes I cook stuff from scratch, sometimes I use jars of stuff, sometimes I fling pre-cooked meals in a microwave - all are acceptable depending on the circumstances. If I invite people to dinner I would cook rather than reheat a ready meal.

Just on the pheasant point, I imagine the price depends on location. Our local butcher sells them (and partridge) for a very reasonable £4 each or 4 for £12.

I still have my last 2 in the freezer.

@JerichosPenisInADeadChickHat I only just noticed jacket litigator myself. Fabulous autocorrect

@JinglingHellsBells
I wasn't looking for tips on how to cook pheasant. Just trying to ascertain if the OP is indeed a good cook.

@midnightstar66

To be honest I'm on board with the slow cooker thing. I've never made a single thing that wasn't less bland and less pleasant texture than its oven or stove top counterpart despite using the exact same ingredients or seasoning. I use it purely for convenience when time is limited at the end of the day but it's never my go to for that reason. Mostly throw in a chicken or jacket litigators so they are ready when we get home

I have had some disappointing slow cooker meals too. But I find it is good for cooking gammon and, more importantly, keeping mulled wine warm!

I voted YABU, but how deluded are you OP that you think anyone who disagrees with your warped way of thinking can't cook. I suppose you're much better at cooking than any chef, whether they're famous or not. I highly doubt that you're as amazing as you seem to think you are. Just because you cook a pheasant instead of a chicken doesn't make you a high end chef, and there's no need to belittle anyone else for being different to you.

97 per cent of people can’t cook? Don’t be ridiculous.

*I make a lot in a slowcooker. It took few tries to learn how much more spices to add and that some ingredients can't go in right from the start.
It's a great kitchen tool which can be used to cook various types of dishes. I make base sauces in it. Curry sauces, chilli, crispy duck (finished off under the grill in the oven though) , slow roast beef etc. *

Oh I've tried, I've added extra of all sorts. It's just always a bit slimy and meh compared to oven or stove top. Fine for a quick meal but never delicious. And the idea of frying things off first kind of defeats the object of a time saver. I have a dog to be walked and 2 kids and myself to get out the door by 7.50am, I do not have time to stand there frying meat.

I genuinely can't cook, but I find the average MNer to be militant abut cooking to the extent that some of them can't understand how people who don't cook even eat!

@Regularsizedrudy

But why aren’t they eating the best rice possible?? Doesn’t that make you saddd?

Also get a rice cooker dumb dumb

Exactly. But OP is speshul and her precious little crotch droppings have speshul exemptions because only they could possibly have a reason for not cooking the best possible food.

OP if you’re going to be a complete wankspangle at least be consistent.

Op go on the recipe threads and suggest some nice food to cook. Don’t keep it all in. I happen to be a marvellous cook 😉 but a lot of the time I can’t be arsed because I have other commitments probably like most people

I agree, but not with the figure of 97%.

Most of my friends can cook, and I can too! I enjoy cooking.

You have had some pretty twattish responses, but if people think its condescending to want to eat good food then that is their choice. It is just reverse snobbery.

In Italy nesrly everyone eats well because there is a food culture where people love food and it is high on their priorities. We don't have that culture here.

Dh and I both love cooking, but the OP's idea of good food seems to be to avoid vegetables as far as possible, which isn't what all cultures or cuisines would regard as the route to good food. I'd be happy with her pheasant and black pudding diet (if I could afford to live somewhere where I could afford pheasant) for a few days, but after that I would start yearning for a nice vegetable curry.

Oh, I also voted yabu despite being able to cook. I have to - I’m a vegan and while premade things are more widely available now, they haven’t yet reached the point of not being shite. Undoubtedly you think a vegetable-based curry or stew is not cooking, though.

I see the OP has wandered off with bosom firmly hooked or whatever part of the body makes her feel suitably superior. I don't really care. This rubbish is ridiculous.

I'd be your wet dream OP if you ever read this ,I make everything from scratch. From cakes to mayonnaise, literally even cheese on occasion. Stock , bread the whole shebang. I will admit to buying packs of butter but that's it. Oh and I buy flour rather than grind it from the wheat...apologies for that. Even I think you are a sad individual who is empty you had to find something to judge others on.

It doesn't make you feel sad at all...that's the warm glow of superiority that you haven't got the spine to admit so you've twisted it into a societally acceptable response.

Firstly I do all of that because I enjoy it. That's it. Some people don't, what's the problem? If their family is fed and doing ok they are as good (probably better ) than you.

Its complete and utter rubbish that it would make everyone's life better. My DP for example couldn't give a flying wotsit about food. It's totally fuel for him. He would experience absolutely no better feeling for having homemade cake versus shop mix. I know ,I've tried it.

I do hope you at least take a moment (I mean you won't, you are clearly so entrenched in your need for something that you think makes you special you won't get this in the slightest) to realise you decided to look down on ,condescend to people you have absolutely no right to. It makes you a deeply unpleasant person. Do enjoy that smug feeling ,but I'm hoping there is a tiny tiny little voice there somewhere wondering if perhaps you have been a giant dick and worse wrapped it up as caring about others because you don't have the spine to admit you are judging people.

There are 100's of good reasons people cook differently and they don't deserve your ire or condescension.

Definition of to cook: prepare (food, a dish, or a meal) by mixing, combining, and heating the ingredients.

Nothing to do with understanding flavours, what different ingredients work together or any fancy techniques; it's literally putting things in a pan together and heating them.

@ShrikeAttack

I will say, before I go, I do think I'm being wilfully misinterpreted. I'm not advocating complicated recipes using niche ingredients. I do that because I enjoy it. I just think, whatever you like to eat, and whatever you can afford to eat, you may as well eat the best version possible. Because you're worth it!

Your brunch is exactly the same as any other brunch. Why is it that you can cook sausages and bacon, but 90% of other people can't?

Do you genuinely believe that 9 in 10 people can't cook a sausage?

It's more likely that 1 in 10 can't cook a sausage.

Yes, you must try and eat the best version possible. But if I can (say) only afford cheap bacon, it doesn't mean I can't cook it.

I'm not entirely sure why you think better food automatically means it's cooked better?