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it stars saddam
Satan
Registered: 05/19/05
Posts: 15,571
Loc: Spahn Ranch
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Learning to cook
#8878196 - 09/04/08 05:24 PM (15 years, 6 months ago) |
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Where do I start?
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brshroomer
Moss bear hunter
Registered: 12/10/06
Posts: 970
Last seen: 1 year, 1 day
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you may start with rice...or spaghetti, something along those lines, because it's easy to make them good(practice makes them excelent though)..
buy spices and herbs, and start using them, with time you get a feel of what is 'right' and what is not...
first dishes will probably be crap, but keep cooking ;D
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Veritas
Registered: 04/15/05
Posts: 11,089
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That depends upon your ambitions. Do you want to become a gourmet chef, or simply a decent preparer of 10-15 simple meals?
If the latter, I recommend the Better Homes & Gardens cookbook. It's a classic, and I started learning from it with the 1978 edition. It includes many tasty American standards, as well as some ethnic basics, along with clear directions & photos. The reference pages give you all the info you need about hard-boiling eggs, how long to cook baked potatoes, how long produce lasts, etc...
If you want to learn to be a gourmet chef, however, I recommend an apprenticeship, whether formal or casual. I learned gourmet cooking methods from a chef who was trained at the Cordon Bleu. I was working in her restaurant as a dishwasher/waitress & expressed an interest in learning from her. She was glad to have an interested student, and allowed me to prepare food for the restaurant once she had confidence in my abilities.
It is not possible to learn gourmet methods from a book, IMO. You need someone highly-trained to correct you as you cook, and you need to watch what they do.
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LeftyBurnz
Mr. I Eat Butthole
Registered: 06/21/05
Posts: 24,570
Loc: FL
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just start trying new foods. i have tons of cookbooks, i collect them. i try to mostly pick something new each time i cook. it just takes time man.
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Brainiac
Rogue Scientist
Registered: 04/29/06
Posts: 13,259
Loc: 與您的女朋
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Pick up the book, The Joy of Cooking..
Look up Good Eats on you tube...
-------------------- Fair is Fair
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MisterMuscaria
Registered: 05/13/08
Posts: 27,646
Loc:
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Re: Learning to cook [Re: Brainiac]
#8879966 - 09/04/08 10:57 PM (15 years, 6 months ago) |
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cook something new every night, first start with recipes and then eventually you'll find yourself thinking "hmm this would be good with this", and throw something new together! That ended with terrible results when I first started, but now I get something EXCELLENT 9/10 times I make my own recipe.
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CptnGarden
fuck this site
Registered: 05/13/04
Posts: 11,945
Last seen: 14 years, 10 months
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Quote:
it stars saddam said: Where do I start?
all the makings are in the fridge those sammiches aint gonna make themselves bring me a beer too...
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Hematite
Newbee
Registered: 05/04/07
Posts: 156
Loc: Wisconsin
Last seen: 11 years, 4 months
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Re: Learning to cook [Re: CptnGarden]
#8884134 - 09/05/08 08:24 PM (15 years, 6 months ago) |
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Start out with complicated and work your way back to simple. Pick the hardest, most advanced recipe you can find and make it over and over again until you get it right.
Learn how to tell top quality ingredients from mediocre ones. Don't waste money on expensive versions of things that can be had just as good (or better) cheaply (like fresh fish) and don't settle for cheap versions of things that cost money if you want quality (like eggs).
Books and people can teach you techniques and broaden your palate, but your taste is your own and should not be governed by rules. Eat what you like and discover your own tastes, not someone else's. You can put as much sauce on your pasta as you like, regardless of how much you are "supposed" to put on or how sparingly it might be used in Italy. Don't assume you need to become a wine expert. There really is no natural relationship between wine and food and no reason why they make a better pair than food and water, food and beer, food and scotch, or food and fermented yak's milk.
You can't cook unless you can take pleasure in food, and squeamishness is the enemy of taking pleasure in food. Never trust a cookbook with a gumbo recipe that does not include okra, that tells you to cook lamb medium well, that has a seafood section that doesn't cover mackerel or squid, that ever uses the phrase "garlic or garlic powder," or that skimps on ingredients for health reasons (skip recipes for health reasons, not ingredients). Never trust the opinion of anyone who uses the term "fishy smell" pejoratively, unless the same person also exhibits a revulsion to cucumbers, the only authentically "fishy" smelling thing that I can think of, other than fish.
Don't get too attached to any one ingredient. If you find yourself putting garlic in everything, try cooking without any garlic for a month or so to break the habit.
Don't use recipes written or circulated by physicians.
Edited by Hematite (09/05/08 08:27 PM)
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Brainiac
Rogue Scientist
Registered: 04/29/06
Posts: 13,259
Loc: 與您的女朋
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Re: Learning to cook [Re: Brainiac]
#8884193 - 09/05/08 08:39 PM (15 years, 6 months ago) |
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&eurl=http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=Good+Eats&ie=UTF-8&oe=UT
-------------------- Fair is Fair
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it stars saddam
Satan
Registered: 05/19/05
Posts: 15,571
Loc: Spahn Ranch
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Re: Learning to cook [Re: Veritas]
#8889276 - 09/07/08 12:58 AM (15 years, 6 months ago) |
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Thanks for all of the helpful responses everybody, especially you Veritas, you little hottie.
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Veritas
Registered: 04/15/05
Posts: 11,089
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Little? We're the same height, sir.
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LeftyBurnz
Mr. I Eat Butthole
Registered: 06/21/05
Posts: 24,570
Loc: FL
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Re: Learning to cook [Re: Veritas]
#8895982 - 09/08/08 12:16 PM (15 years, 6 months ago) |
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and how tall is that?
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Veritas
Registered: 04/15/05
Posts: 11,089
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Re: Learning to cook [Re: LeftyBurnz]
#8896010 - 09/08/08 12:21 PM (15 years, 6 months ago) |
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5'7"
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LeftyBurnz
Mr. I Eat Butthole
Registered: 06/21/05
Posts: 24,570
Loc: FL
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Re: Learning to cook [Re: Veritas]
#8896031 - 09/08/08 12:26 PM (15 years, 6 months ago) |
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man. im only half an inch taller than you. i hate being so fucking short.
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Veritas
Registered: 04/15/05
Posts: 11,089
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Re: Learning to cook [Re: LeftyBurnz]
#8896046 - 09/08/08 12:31 PM (15 years, 6 months ago) |
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Yeah, it seems like it is much more of an issue for guys. Girls can be so height-ist. I admit that I prefer tall guys.
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LeftyBurnz
Mr. I Eat Butthole
Registered: 06/21/05
Posts: 24,570
Loc: FL
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Re: Learning to cook [Re: Veritas]
#8896059 - 09/08/08 12:34 PM (15 years, 6 months ago) |
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i love short women, but probably only because im so short.
on a side note, you should pm me a picture of you veritas, ive always wondered what you look like.
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Veritas
Registered: 04/15/05
Posts: 11,089
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Re: Learning to cook [Re: LeftyBurnz]
#8896093 - 09/08/08 12:43 PM (15 years, 6 months ago) |
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Done.
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LeftyBurnz
Mr. I Eat Butthole
Registered: 06/21/05
Posts: 24,570
Loc: FL
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Re: Learning to cook [Re: Veritas]
#8896145 - 09/08/08 12:54 PM (15 years, 6 months ago) |
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i should also note, i used to be very sensitive about my height, i was always one of the shorter guys growing up, but the day i started learning about bruce lee, my height worries faded.
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snoot
look alive ∞
Registered: 01/30/05
Posts: 9,641
Loc: 45º parallel
Last seen: 9 days, 6 hours
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Re: Learning to cook [Re: LeftyBurnz]
#8943461 - 09/17/08 09:59 AM (15 years, 6 months ago) |
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start in the kitchen. have fun.
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∞ I am incapable of conceiving infinity, and yet I do not accept finity. - Simone de Beauvoir -
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