Cooking Tips usually focus on how to improve your performance in the kitchen. But what do you do if you´re simply a disaster in the kitchen and have been banned by your family from ever again attempting to cook? Do you give it up as a hopeless cause, or is there a glimmer of hope for even the most hapless would-be cook? If you´re a culinary disaster waiting to happen, try these cooking tips to help you turn into a competent chef …
First of all, you should be prepared to experiment. And we all know that experiments can fail. That´s the whole point. If you want to lose your reputation as a hopeless cook, you need to be prepared to make a mess of things sometimes. That´s how you learn what works and what doesn´t.
Take a really basic class where you can start from scratch and pick up lots of simple but effective cooking tips. There´s no need to worry that you will make mistakes and look like an idiot if you pick a class aimed at complete beginners. Everyone will be in the same position as you, so sign up, roll up your sleeves and get cooking!
Do you have a roommate or partner who´s at least a competent cook? Ask if you can watch how they do things when they cook. You can pick up a lot of cooking tips just by watching how they go about putting a meal together, for example how long certain ingredients need to be cooked and in which order.
Yes, sadly you can´t become a decent cook by magic overnight, it takes a lot of practice. That means going in the kitchen, with all its terrifying paraphernalia, and playing with ingredients. Look at it as like performing in a play – it takes lots of rehearsals before you start to get it right. Cooking is no different; nobody is born knowing how to cook. It´s something that you have to learn, and that takes practice.
Not only can you learn about practical cooking by watching someone else ´live´, you can also watch them on screen. There are so many TV cookery programmes, and now you can also view Youtube clips or video recipes on cookery websites. The beauty of the latter two is that you can watch them repeatedly and replay anything you didn´t catch first time.
If you find yourself having agreed against all common sense to host a dinner party, don´t panic. Buy ready-made dishes from the supermarket! You can always hide the packets, although most people understand that many of us lead a busy life these days, and using prepared dishes is considered to be an acceptable way of saving time these days. So you can always use that excuse to hide your lack of competence in the kitchen!
Yes, if you can´t afford to hire a chef, marry one. Surprisingly, some of them do actually enjoy cooking at home as well. Even an enthusiastic amateur would do just fine – if it means that you don´t need to cook then it doesn´t matter whether they´re professional or not.
These cooking tips may not transform you into a gourmet chef, but that´s not a problem. Most hopeless cooks would be happy just to produce an edible meal that doesn´t resemble charcoal, and there are few people who really are beyond improvement. So follow these hints and let us know if your cooking improves. Can you offer any cooking tips that helped you learn to put a decent meal together?
Top Photo Credit: weheartit.com