When it comes to cooking, there’s more than meets the eye. Sure, you can get by with a few basic skills and some everyday ingredients, but once you’ve mastered those basics and add in a few key principles of good cooking—such as how to balance flavors or pair produce with proteins—you’ll be amazed at how much your own dishes improve.
The fundamentals below will help you build from where you are now into a better cook. I promise!
Have Good Tools on Hand
If you’re going to be spending more time in the kitchen, it’s important that you have good tools on hand. The right tools can make cooking easier and more enjoyable–and they’re not just for cooking!
They can also help keep your kitchen healthier and safer.
Here are some tips for choosing healthy tools:
- Choose ones that are easy to clean. It’s tempting to buy those colorful silicone spatulas that look so fun at first glance, but if they aren’t easy to wash (or worse yet, don’t have a removable handle), then they may end up being more trouble than they’re worth. Instead opt for stainless steel or nylon utensils with rounded edges so nothing gets stuck between them while washing them by hand or running through the dishwasher cycle multiple times each week (which is recommended).
- Think about storing potential messes in mind while shopping too–if there isn’t already an appropriate spot inside your cupboard/drawer space where everything fits nicely together without overlapping onto neighboring items then consider getting another container instead of trying something else out just because someone told you about how awesome it was when she used theirs once during dinner party we hosted back when we lived together after college graduation…
Start with a Solid Foundation
- Use the right equipment.
- Have a good knife.
- Use the right tools for the job.
- Clean your equipment after each use and store it properly so that it’s ready to go when you need it again later on in your cooking session, or even just for another recipe later on in this one!
Learn How To Build Flavors
The next step is to learn how to build flavors. Flavor building is the process of combining different ingredients to create a new flavor, usually by cooking them together. This can be done by adding ingredients or using different cooking methods, which we’ll get into later on in this article.
Flavors can be built through either adding more of an ingredient or by changing its temperature, consistency, or texture–for example: adding salt will make food taste salty; reducing liquid will concentrate flavors; chopping herbs releases their oils; simmering soup allows flavors time to meld together as they cook
Understand the importance of balance.
Balance is an important concept in all aspects of life, but it’s especially crucial to cooking. A balanced meal includes a variety of nutrients and flavors that work together to create the perfect bite. Balance can also be found in food preparation: balancing flavors while cooking, or balancing raw ingredients with cooked ones so they don’t spoil quickly before you’re ready to eat them.
And then there’s balance when it comes to serving and presenting food–the way you arrange your dish on a plate or platter can make all the difference between an unappealing presentation and one that looks delicious! Finally, when it comes down to storing your food properly so that it stays fresh longer…you guessed it–you need balance!
Use Fresh Produce to your Advantage
- If you are new to cooking, the first thing to understand is that each type of produce has a different life cycle. The nutritional value may change over time as well, so it’s important to know how to use your produce in each stage of its life cycle.
- For example, if you buy an avocado at its peak ripeness (the meat should be dark green), it will stay fresh for five days after being picked from the tree or bush. If you wait until after four days have passed and then cut into your avocado without peeling off its skin beforehand, there’s a good chance that it’ll go bad within 24 hours because there won’t be enough antioxidants left in there anymore!
- The same goes for tomatoes: if they’re not harvested while they’re still green but rather allowed to ripen on their own before being sold at markets across America (or elsewhere), then we risk losing many vital nutrients due to oxidation during storage periods which may last up until four weeks long depending on what kind of climate conditions exist locally versus those found further away from where these foods were grown initially.”
Keep Learning, Keep Experimenting
Knowing the fundamentals of cooking will revolutionize your kitchen life.
You’ll be able to make better choices, be more creative, and save money. You can continue your journey by:
- Read cookbooks.
- Watch cooking shows.
- Take cooking classes, especially if you have a specific goal in mind (e.g., “I want to learn how to make bread”).
- Visit restaurants in your area and talk with the chefs about their approach to food and dining out experiences, which can give you insight into how others are thinking about these things as well as ideas for new dishes or ways of preparing things at home that might not occur naturally through your own experimentation alone!
It’s easy to get overwhelmed when you’re starting out, but with practice and patience, you can become a pro in no time.
Check out this course on healthy cooking to help kickstart your creativity
When it comes to cooking, there's more than meets the eye. Sure, you can get by with a few basic skills and some everyday ingredients, but once you've mastered those basics and add in a few key principles of good cooking—such as how to balance flavors or pair produce with proteins—you'll be amazed at how much your own dishes improve.
More LessThe most important thing is that you keep learning and trying new things! The more techniques and ingredients you learn about, the more creative your cooking will be.
So what are you waiting for? Get busy in your kitchen today!
