Blog | 5 May 2020
5 ways to improve your cooking skills
Enjoy cooking and creating your own meals, but just need a few more tips or skills to master that pastry dish or cutting julienne carrots? Here’s a list of a few ways to help you improve your cooking knowledge and skills that little bit more for your next dinner party with friends.
- Have the right tools: having the right knife, frying pan and just overall kitchen equipment can make the world of a difference. Research and find the best brands that suit you and you feel comfortable using. Not every chef knife works for everyone and it may take some time and shopping around till you find the right equipment that you feel comfortable using. But once you find it, you will notice the difference in your knife skills and the end result in your cooking.
- Understand your ingredients: when it comes to choosing a recipe and buying the ingredients, it is always best to know what is in season and even knowing if the produce is ripe and ready for cooking. Even just understanding your ingredients in what works well together and understanding flavours. Take time to taste your food before serving and understanding the difference of needing more salt, acid or sweetness.
- Look into and invest in short course cooking classes: looking into short courses or day lessons, on either learning kitchen basics or something new altogether. Doing these courses allows you to ask questions, build hands on experience and go home feeling like a master chef. Getting together and doing it with friends and family also makes for a fun social day out. If you can’t afford a day course look into cookbooks or youtube videos that provide a range of skill building. Most cookbooks will have a section but finding books that really break down the methods and provide education rather than just the recipe is an alternative to a course.
- Start with the basics: learning basic cooking is fundamental to every recipe and just actually understanding the process in how food is cooked and should be prepared. It also helps you learn how not to do things and learn kitchen jargon. Starting with cooking a perfect steak, baking bread, poaching eggs or making a stock can make the world of a difference in learning taste and timing.
- Practice, Practice, Practice: experiment and try new things and repeat and repeat it. Exactly like the saying practice makes perfect. Find something you’ve always wanted to make and cook it until you feel like you have mastered it. There’s no harm in failing, just get back in and try again. Cooking takes time and understanding ingredients and methods isn’t always as simple as you may think. Take your time and you will eventually be moving on to making harder and more complex recipes.