being a good cook

[scarlettchasingroses]

do you think that being a good cook is something you inherit or something you learn?

i think its a combo of both....my mom is a GREAT cook and so is my grandma, so i know i get some of my cooking skills from them and i also know i get some of my cooking skills from just learning while i'm going,

i know that my sister tries to be a good cook, but it just doesn't always work out, perhaps its because she's constantly skipping directions in recipes or omitting ingredients because she doesn't read a recipe throughly.....

anyway...what do you think?

[FrozenMoonbeam]

Yeah, I think it's definitely a mixture, maybe of a lot of things...

there's the skills you learn from people - my mum taught me heaps about the wee tricks and the like of cooking. That's the stuff that gets passed down

there's the stuff you just learn like what flavours go with what, what ingrediants cause what consistencies, what things to substitute when you don't have a particular ingredient, that sort of thing. It's very trail and error, but if you are a good cook you do eventually learn (and never stop) and eventually you don't need recipes all the time - you can make up your own.

And finally, I think a big part of it is intuition. Some people just can cook, they have a passion for it. other's just can't. It's not always (or not just) about specific measuremetns and stuff, there's a less clinical side to great cooking that you can't really learn.

gah, that's my opinion anyway....been doing too much study today to get my brain formulate what i really want to say but, hopefully you get the idea :) )

[scarlettchasingroses]

i totally get the idea...and i have to agree with you on what you said

[fritz]

Mmm, ya gotta cook to taste. I fail to measure lots of stuff. I learned lots looking over Grandmas shoulder.
I get the gist of it too. ;)

[scarlettchasingroses]

there are certain things like bread that you have to be exact with measurements.....

[fritz]

Yeah, but spaghetti sauce is a whole different ballgame. ;)

[dd3stp233]

Cooking is an art as well as a science.

[scarlettchasingroses]

Yeah, but spaghetti sauce is a whole different ballgame. ;)

true...true

[FrozenMoonbeam]

It's kind of like being good at music - You can learn all the chords and what sounds harmonious together but unless you have that natural spark you will only ever be good, not great.

[scarlettchasingroses]

that's a great way to put it, frozen

[crummyrummy]

I hope it can be learned. I am trying