What kind of chef are you?

[GordonTheGopher]

I ask this as I have a freak of a friend who uses a timer for everything. She'll use it for cooking rice, veg, fish fingers... anything. If a packet says '8 minutes' she'll set the timer 8 minutes.

I on the other hand...

Never follow recipes
Never look at the clock
Throw things together
Often cheat by adding ketchup or similar
Cook things as fast as possible
Cook big batches of stuff
Cook two or three different meals at the same time
Don't ponce about cutting my own home-grown herbs

Ok I don't create works of art but my food is hot and on time.

I see myself as a school cook kind of chef.

What about you?

Ooh I bet you've got Tara Ramseys - that is most poncey.

I did try growing basil but it got eaten.

A bit like this

I throw things together with mixed results. It is almost always edible though!

Cook books are something my MIL buys for me (I don't feed her baby enough) and I use to prop up wonky table legs.

I rarely look at the clock, even before I start cooking (so DH & I often eat at midnight late ).

I grow my own herbs, although they rarely make it into the food.

I invent new dishes all the time, depending on what the hell I can find in the cupboards. Mostly turns out great but because I just bung things in by instinct rather than recipe, it is a sod trying to recreate stuff again.

I have to use a timer as I wander off and do other things like mn and everything would be burnt to a cinder slightly overcooked.

Cook a mixture of my own made up stuff and recipes - Nigel Slater, Donna Hay, random internet recipes.

accomplished

No seriously, I love cooking with a passion and have devoted a large portion of my life to learning about it. I am accomplished but that has come through years of practice and hard work. My absolute favourite time of the day is when I cook dinner.

I am fairly competent and occasionally do a recipe from a book. I don't particularly like cooking though and LOATHE AND DETEST anyone being in the kitchen with me while I am doing it. Can't stand people sitting and chatting while I do the work. I want to be entirely alone.

Oh yes I do not like offers of help - not even for peeling potatoes...

Carenere - i wish you could come and body snatch" my bod during cooking dinner time. It's the time I resent being a mum and wife the most!

My food is not fancy but it is damn tasty. Tend to follow recipes rather than make stuff up, but am getting more spontaneous. Good with cakes (unluckily for my waistline).

I have a friend who, when we met at university, had never cooked anything that required preparation. She once asked me how to chop up a pepper! She's better now though

one who is just learning. & getting lots of valuable advice from more experienced chef's like those on MN!

I hate people being in the kitchen while I'm cooking as well, my oh drives me potty with offers of 'stirring' or chopping stuff (he likes to slice n dice . . . his words not mine )

Eekamoose I'm the same. Whenever I see Kirstles going on about knocking down a wall to make an open plan living space I want to shout "NOOOOOO! Keep the kitchen separate!". I also like to be able to shut the kitchen door because although I love cooking smells while things are actually cooking I hate the way they drift up the stairs and linger for days afterwards (and yes I do open my windows!). Makes me feel quite ill if I can smell food when I get up to ds in the night