A great chef isn’t born, it’s something you can become after years of practice and patience. Sadly, there is no magic formula that will immediately transform you into a cooking pro, but the good news is that it is never too late to start. It’s important to cook for pleasure and be willing to experiment with flavors, but even if you don’t have a strong passion for cooking, you can still improve your culinary skills and make the most of the time you spend in the kitchen. Here are some tips to use on your road to becoming a better chef.
Cook what you love
It often happens that people who don’t cook often finally decide to prepare something for dinner and choose a particular recipe only because it’s the 
healthiest meal or because they’re on a diet and are reluctant to make something with a little more fat. This approach is wrong. If you are a beginner in the culinary world, your first dishes should be something you enjoy eating and you find delicious. It doesn’t matter if it is an all-chocolate cake or lasagna with extra cheese, it’s important that you love it. If you’re satisfied, the guests will be satisfied too and their praise will be a motivation for you to carry on. With first meals, it’s essential to prepare something that you want to eat.
Engage in cooking often
It’s easy to say that you’re bad at cooking if you can’t remember the last time you held a pan in your hand. In order to improve your skills, you need to practice often. The best chefs in the world earned this position because they spent a lot of their time preparing dishes. Only through practice and repetition, you will be able to learn, so engage in cooking your meals over and over again until you master the technique. The basic parts of the cooking process are always the same, like heating your pan and adjusting the seasoning, and the more you do it, the more confident you will feel about it. If you start cooking more than two times a week, you will notice your progress immediately.
Gear up
A great chef can’t work without their tools, so in order for you to excel in the kitchen, you’ll need the right gear. Sharp knives are crucial for all of your cooking tasks and they make your job a lot easier. Additionally, the right tools make your dishes more appealing and having quality Glenn Tebble Homewares or the best pots and pans for a gas stove will enhance the taste of your meals and complement your culinary style in the best possible way. You taste with your eyes long before you taste with your mouth and quality kitchen equipment will make sure that both tastings are delicious.
Gather up an audience
If you’re cooking for just one person, it’s highly likely that you won’t be motivated to do your best in the same way you would be if you were to cook for a bigger crowd. Make the challenge greater and invite several people over. That way, you’ll have more people to please and you’ll learn better in the process. Don’t underestimate the power of an audience as it can encourage you to excel and really be on top of the game when preparing meals.
Think outside the box
As you begin to cook more often, you’ll become more sure of your skills and you’ll want to experiment with the food you make. Thinking big and bold when it comes to cooking will perfect your skills and make the cooking all the more pleasurable. Finding the balance between going too much over the edge and stopping at the right time is certainly the hardest thing to do, but this is the trait that excellent chefs have in common.
You won’t become a great chef overnight, but if you put in a little more time and effort, you’ll be able to improve your culinary skills to a great extent.
Tracey Clayton is a full-time mom of three girls. She feels she knows a thing or two about raising happy, healthy and confident kids, and offers helpful advice in her parenting articles on HighLifeStyle. Her motto is: “Live the life you love, love the life you live.” You can find her on Facebook and Twitter.
Be the first to comment