Do you ever feel like completely changing the way you cook?

[vernplum]

I'm fairly traditional whe it comes to modifying classic recipes, so my Carbonara will have guanciale (or the closest thing to it), egg yolk, pecorino and pasta water; no bacon, no cream, no garlic, no red peppers. My Butter Chicken uses cream and fenugreek leaves; I'm not putting cardamom, or cinnamon sticks in it, because it just doesn't need them.
These days, I avoid Italian restaurants (unless someone invites me) because, without boasting, I think I can do a better job. I will, however, go to a Laotian restaurant, or a Georgian restaurant, simply because there's something new there that I may never have tried before.

I don't think I would be able to do better than good Italian restaurants myself, though I have surprised myself on occasion by making something really amazing that I'd be satisfied with if I'd paid for it outside. Some restaurants are guilty of just dumping out any old crap for sure, and I think I can do better than some of those - even when we went to Rome I was quite underwhelmed in many places (as well as aghast at the prices!) but I think that's because we ended up at places in tourist-y areas. I'm sure if I spent an extended time immersed there I'd get a very different picture that shows me I'm a world away for being even 1% capable at producing top notch Italian cuisine.

 

[vernplum]

<phew> I'm bushed from typing. lol. That's the responsibility when you start a thread (mental note - don't drink whisky and then start a thread that seems profound... stick to asking about how to slice cucumbers or something).

 

[TastyReuben]

Maybe I should say I want to be able to consistently cook food as good as the best I've eaten in restaurants. They're the pros after all and speaking for myself, they should be able to turn out better food than me because that's their job and what they've been trained to do. I know this will be largely unrealistic, but it's an aspiration I suppose.

For me, I think, I do look at it as “They’re the pros,” so I don’t get caught up in any kind of funk over cooking.

Quick story - many years ago, I attended a workshop given by a top pro guitarist, just a dozen or so of us in the class.

In talking with him afterwards, I’d said that after hearing him play, I wanted to go home and burn my guitar, as I’d never approach his level.

It’s was a half-joking remark, but he rather sharply replied that he hated hearing comments like that, and he asked, “How much did you play last week?”

I did some quick math and came up at around 15 hours.

“Well,” he said, “I play that much in two days. Sometimes, I play that much in one day. The truth is, who knows how much of this is talent, and how much is time.”

I think that can apply to your cooking conundrum - these restaurant chefs are pros, they probably cook more in a week than most of us cook in months, and certainly for more people, so of course they’re going to stand a much better chance of having elevated some dishes to something that’s a lot more difficult for a home chef.

I'll definitely check that out, but what I don't think I need right now is another cookbook (recipe or how-to) precisely because I gravitate towards the bits that will (how shall I say) confirm my biases and skip over other bits that contain useful things I'd benefit and grow from.

I have that book as well, and I can tell you, it’s not a recipe book or a techniques book - it attempts to explain how certain flavors work together and is more of a reference book…if you have an armload of some ingredient, and you’re looking for various other things that might work with it…it’s good for that.

Having read it cover-to-cover, I can say that the drawback I see with the book is that…well, at the end of the day, everything goes with anything, it seems, if you’re imaginative enough, which doesn’t help me much in the end.

 

[SandwichShortOfAPicnic]

I wrote this reply eight hours ago and I see you’ve covered a lot of what I’ve mentioned, even using the same words and sentiments so please imagine you read this eight hours ago

Stuck at the airport waiting for a delayed flight has given a long while to think on this.

Yes and no would be my answer. I definitely plateaued on the cooking front for a while. I think that’s common if you have a family to feed. I would have described myself as up to a good gastro pub level and they are dishes I enjoy on a daily basis.

I got to the point where eating out became a disappointment because I knew what was wrong with a dish, where they could improve it and sadly I would have been better off doing it myself. This also spoilt a lot of eating out with my family who would generally say “Well it’s alright but yours is better”

As nice as that is to hear it also meant eating out often felt like a waste of money.
Then when I had a meal (usually the next level expensive fine dining type stuff) and compared my skills to those of a fine dining chef I realised how far away from excellence I was.

So I set about trying to move up a level. I kept my hearty gastro pub style because my lot are BIG eaters and once or twice a week I’d take things up a few notches.

I discovered a few things. Two KKD has already mentioned. Taste and adjust, taste and adjust, usually until you’re at the point where you’ve tried the components so many times you’re only serving yourself the completed dish to satisfy yourself that it worked.

The other as KKD has mentioned the is to watch your cooking time and temp like a hawk. Keeping those variables in tight parameters that allow the ingredients to finish at there absolute optimum.

Also have you considered the possibility there may have been MSG in those dishes?

I discovered that every single ingredient needs to be the absolute best. There is no 'that'll do'
Discover your paprika is sub par or your tomatoes aren’t flavourful then they’re not going to make for the best results so I abandon whatever’s planned until I have the best of every ingredient.

The enhancement of ingredients is another factor. If you know for example smoking the cream cheese or fish yourself for 24 hours with precisely the right type of wood will give it an extra edge then you fully invest in doing it.

The extra input on all your ingredients takes everything up to that extra level. This approach is time consuming and it can make a dish take days to prepare to its most perfect point.

When in that cooking mode I invest a large amount of time in perfecting the techniques and experimenting with precisely the right ratio’s to either strengthen the ingredients appealing characteristics (eg making tomatoes taste more tomatoey) and make sure they compliment the other components well.

So yes I have the skills to produce a high end or even a fine dining experience. Spending a lot longer considering the presentation of the dish and what garnishes, crockery or style suits that.

What I can also say it’s it takes a lot of time and you have to be patient and fully invested in pulling it off. It’s why I don’t balk at paying more in a good restaurant if they’ve gone those extra miles and given me a ‘Wow’

After having understood how to break it down and build it up with expending the energy and producing things that thrill. I got very bored of it
I rarely do it nowadays (very special occasions mostly) but it has given me a wealth of knowledge I can use to improve or compliment the ingredients that has bolstered my favoured lazier gastro pub style.

The consequence is my family now have high standards when it comes to food and other people won’t cook for me.
I secretly quietly am also always striving to hear the conversation at the table to stop at the first or second mouthful and to hear ‘omg what did you do to this?’

Yer I think you’re in a little bit of a food funk, I think most of us have that at one time or another. I just rest, eat crap food and wait for inspiration to strike again.

I also have a note called ‘recipes I’d like to try’
If I’ve eaten something, read a recipe, seen a beautiful picture or watched something on YouTube that makes me want it then it goes on that list with an explanation.
Funnily enough previous me seems to know exactly how to press my buttons

The good news is theres no glass ceiling when it comes to cooking. I’ve seen the things you cook, read your carefully written recipes with sensible ingredient advice and know your proportions are correct so if you wanna go up a notch you IMO defo have the ability to do just that.

I certainly want to eat at your place!

 

[karadekoolaid]

I discovered that every single ingredient needs to be the absolute best. There is no 'that'll do'
Discover your paprika is sub par or your tomatoes aren’t flavourful then they’re not going to make for the make for the best results so I abandon whatever’s planned until I have the best of every ingredient.

I will second that with a huge round of applause!
Personally, that means selecting the ingredients onesself. I refuse to buy ingredients "online" because I want to see and touch them beforehand. That's probably down to the "fussy git syndrome" I have.
Perhaps things are different here, because if I'm buying, for example, fish, then the purveyor will tell me exactly when it was caught, and I can see the bright eyes and shiny skin. That's what I want. Same with vegetables; I don't want any old aubergine or carrot; I want medium, thin aubergines and small carrots, not those overblown fibrous things that are tasteless.
I also think that perfecting one's cooking comes with experience, which is why pro-chefs are so good at it. Make the same dish 50 times and there are always going to be little tweaks to the recipe which will improve it. Once you have the "perfect" ingredients, the "perfect"seasoning and the "perfect" timing, it all gets so much easier. A good risotto, for example: I'll pore over the stove, stirring every 30 seconds, adding the stock when it needs adding, and watching the damn thing like a hawk. I want the creaminess of the rice to come through and I want the rice just, barely cooked. Stuffing the whole lot into a microwave means losing control.

 

[SandwichShortOfAPicnic]

I will second that with a huge round of applause!
Personally, that means selecting the ingredients onesself. I refuse to buy ingredients "online" because I want to see and touch them beforehand. That's probably down to the "fussy git syndrome" I have.
Perhaps things are different here, because if I'm buying, for example, fish, then the purveyor will tell me exactly when it was caught, and I can see the bright eyes and shiny skin. That's what I want. Same with vegetables; I don't want any old aubergine or carrot; I want medium, thin aubergines and small carrots, not those overblown fibrous things that are tasteless.
I also think that perfecting one's cooking comes with experience, which is why pro-chefs are so good at it. Make the same dish 50 times and there are always going to be little tweaks to the recipe which will improve it. Once you have the "perfect" ingredients, the "perfect"seasoning and the "perfect" timing, it all gets so much easier. A good risotto, for example: I'll pore over the stove, stirring every 30 seconds, adding the stock when it needs adding, and watching the damn thing like a hawk. I want the creaminess of the rice to come through and I want the rice just, barely cooked. Stuffing the whole lot into a microwave means losing control.

Well yes to all of that.
Apart perhaps from the online shopping. Just because here the ingredients I buy online come from a central distribution centre and sometimes yes they miss the mark but it’s rare. It is waaaay fresher than going to a normal supermarket.
Their systems are down to the bone in ruthless efficiency, so it’s in the door and out the door. I’m often staggered how long the dates are on foods from somewhere like Ocado who use algorithms, AI and robotics to maximise every last drop of time and space.

Do I enjoy that approach? Not really. I dearly love to wander and look and smell and buy accordingly but for some things they just have the edge.

 

[kaneohegirlinaz]

A very good point karadekoolaid : repetition repetition repetition using the same recipe, the same pot, the same ingredients and the same cooktop, as a pro chef/cook would do
Three very good points I take away from SandwichShortOfAPicnic above post: I never order a dish that I can make at hone; "eating out as a waste of money"- I strive to NOT do that, I'll research were we're going far before hand; is there MSG in that dish from the restaurant you liked so much, HMMM
For me, my dream cooking experience is to stay for a month in an Italian Villa with local markets right door and cook like a Nonna, an Italian Grannie, not an American-Italian. I know that there are tours like these, but I'd rather be more like the novel LOVE, EAT, PRAY - I see myself as Julia Roberts, but cooking more

 

[JAS_OH1]

I never order a dish that I can make at hone; "eating out as a waste of money"- I strive to NOT do that, I'll research were we're going far before hand.

Me too. I will order things I love that are difficult, messy, or time consuming (or all 3) to prepare, though.

For me, my dream cooking experience is to stay for a month in an Italian Villa with local markets right door and cook like a Nonna

Sounds good to me!

 

[badjak]

I'm a laid back cook.
Pretty decent, but I struggle to follow a recipe, even my own recipes
So, I can "design" a good dish but I could never cook it day in day out. I definitely would be the worse line cook ever

 

[vernplum]

I have that book as well, and I can tell you, it’s not a recipe book or a techniques book - it attempts to explain how certain flavors work together and is more of a reference book…if you have an armload of some ingredient, and you’re looking for various other things that might work with it…it’s good for that.

Having read it cover-to-cover, I can say that the drawback I see with the book is that…well, at the end of the day, everything goes with anything, it seems, if you’re imaginative enough, which doesn’t help me much in the end.

Sounds like one I might get from the library. Still, I'm always looking for new flavour combos so I'll def be checking it out.

 

[vernplum]

Yes and no would be my answer. I definitely plateaued on the cooking front for a while. I think that’s common if you have a family to feed. I would have described myself as up to a good gastro pub level and they are dishes I enjoy on a daily basis.

I got to the point where eating out became a disappointment because I knew what was wrong with a dish, where they could improve it and sadly I would have been better off doing it myself. This also spoilt a lot of eating out with my family who would generally say “Well it’s alright but yours is better”

A few years ago I decided to up my game and that's when I joined CB. I definitely benefited from being around (albeit online) other cooking enthusiasts and I felt a good levelling up over the following period. I felt satisfied that I was making decent food and didn't challenge myself further. Now that urge is here.

Style: 'hearty meals' for sure. My wife described a lot of what I cooked as comfort food. I've certainly strived to put stuff on the table that was nutritious and filling as much as possible. I think I want to start refining things though.

MSG: Possibly - in its various forms - parmesan, mushrooms, Ajinomoto, etc.. I'll be looking into how I introduce the right amount of umami.

Ingredients: I already have access to good meat, fish, veg, etc. but am always looking around for new and exciting things. But I'll still try to make the most of 'normal' things too - to save money, and also, because a lot of them are very good already without me having to buy artisan things. Imports cost a lot here though, so I reserve those for the special occasions.

Perfecting Techniques: I don't think I've yet been on the journey you describe. I mean, yes a bit, but haven't come out the other side yet. I'm actually quite excited that I've set my mind to try to improve and have been flipping through my books quite avidly. There are 'recipes I want to try' and 'techniques I want to test' as well.

Thanks for your considered reply and encouragement.

P.s. is it evident I don't know how to do that thing were you interleave quotes? I'll add that to my list of 'techniques I want to test'.

 

[vernplum]

I also think that perfecting one's cooking comes with experience, which is why pro-chefs are so good at it. Make the same dish 50 times and there are always going to be little tweaks to the recipe which will improve it.

Yep - repetition makes things gooderer.

That is, repeating things correctly as well. Reminds of that time recently when I set out to make biryani and my wife got a bit miffed that she had to eat it 3 or 4 times in a week... Chefs/cooks in restaurants don't have that constraint lol.

 

[JAS_OH1]

A few years ago I decided to up my game and that's when I joined CB. I definitely benefited from being around (albeit online) other cooking enthusiasts and I felt a good levelling up over the following period. I felt satisfied that I was making decent food and didn't challenge myself further. Now that urge is here.

Style: 'hearty meals' for sure. My wife described a lot of what I cooked as comfort food. I've certainly strived to put stuff on the table that was nutritious and filling as much as possible. I think I want to start refining things though.

MSG: Possibly - in its various forms - parmesan, mushrooms, Ajinomoto, etc.. I'll be looking into how I introduce the right amount of umami.

Ingredients: I already have access to good meat, fish, veg, etc. but am always looking around for new and exciting things. But I'll still try to make the most of 'normal' things too - to save money, and also, because a lot of them are very good already without me having to buy artisan things. Imports cost a lot here though, so I reserve those for the special occasions.

Perfecting Techniques: I don't think I've yet been on the journey you describe. I mean, yes a bit, but haven't come out the other side yet. I'm actually quite excited that I've set my mind to try to improve and have been flipping through my books quite avidly. There are 'recipes I want to try' and 'techniques I want to test' as well.

Thanks for your considered reply and encouragement.

P.s. is it evident I don't know how to do that thing were you interleave quotes? I'll add that to my list of 'techniques I want to test'.

If you're on your phone, you just tap underneath the part of someone's copied text when you hit reply and start typing and it will break it up. i guess on your desktop you just use your mouse cursor to do the same.

Try it with my post.

 

[JAS_OH1]

Yep - repetition makes things gooderer.

It does.

That is, repeating things correctly as well. Reminds of that time recently when I set out to make biryani and my wife got a bit miffed that she had to eat it 3 or 4 times in a week... Chefs/cooks in restaurants don't have that constraint lol.

True.

 

[vernplum]

I'm a laid back cook.
Pretty decent, but I struggle to follow a recipe, even my own recipes
So, I can "design" a good dish but I could never cook it day in day out. I definitely would be the worse line cook ever

I have nothing but respect for those guys. I'm slow and inefficient and can only really cook one thing at a time; two if one of them only has to sit in the oven for 3 hours. And my back gets tired after a while.

Mind you, I enjoy my 'slow and inefficient' time in the kitchen, but I'm the opposite of you - I plan and prep a lot beforehand.