I remember I was about 13 years old watching my mother cook dinner. It hit me then that one day I would have to cook for my own family, and I didn't have a clue how to do it. Mom tried to teach me but it was like a foreign language to me and I rejected it.
A few years later I remember being hungry for a late night snack and there was nothing to munch on. SO I opened the fridge and there I remember seeing mushrooms and ranch dressing. "Fried mushrooms and ranch are good at Trail Dust Restaurant," I thought, so I nuked the mushrooms in the microwave with a coating of ranch. Hallelujah it was good! And from scratch kinda instead of a box!
Then I wanted to learn more. PBS was playing Great Chefs of the West and Great Chefs of the World, which depicted executive chefs cooking inside their own restaurant kitchens (with a box of Uncle Ben's Rice conveniently sitting on a shelf in the background, but that's another asdfasdf). So I basically learned by watching the pros in their own environment.
Then came the cookbook addiction. One good thing came from this myriad collection of cookbooks and magazines, but it wasn't the recipes or techniques. No, it was the pictures. Food porn is a great inspiration for cooking a meal. Should it look colorful? Shiny? Steamy, dry, wet, crispy, brown? Should it take up a lot of the plate, or just a small circle in the center? Garnish or no? We eat with our eyes as well as with our mouths and noses.
After that I learned how to keep perishable ingredients on a regular rotation, as well as a cast of pantry items upon which I usually rely. From basic aromotic vegetables & spices, all the way to fancy oils & vinegars. At any given time, I better have some dried porcini mushrooms, truffle oil, caviar, good cheese, bacon (YES BACON), good wine, and some rustic, crusty bread. What can't you do with those?
Now you can't keep me out of the kitchen; it's my office, my refuge, my home. I can't believe I was once afraid of cooking! Get out, I'm making risotto and the rule is no more than 2 people in the kitchen at a time.
edit: oh derp, forgot to mention I went to culinary school. But it's worth mentioning that self motivation, great cooking shows, and on-the-spot-training are worth more to me than that little piece of paper.
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