Cooking is one of those things we should all learn to do. Beyond the practical aspect of preparing your own meals and those of your loved ones, knowing how to cook is good for your health, as demonstrated by serious scientific studies, but also good for your wallet. The savings made by eating meals that you have prepared yourself rather than going to a restaurant, or buying industrial meals, are far from negligible. And cooking, and this is where we should have started, is a real pleasure for the senses.
However, if there are simple dishes that anyone can make without much difficulty, Good cooking requires a certain know-how and above all experience.
We have gathered on this page some good practices, tips, and basic trickswhich the greatest chefs agree on, and which will help you to improve your cooking skills.
1. It all starts with the choice of ingredients
Delighting family and friends from the beginning to the end of a meal starts with fresh, flavorful ingredients. By choosing fruits and vegetables in seasonYou will seduce even the most discerning gourmets with simple everyday recipes: at their best, they guarantee tasty recipes. Buy them at the last minute to preserve their crunchiness or their fondant. If you can, pick them up directly from the producer and reserve your free-range chicken.
2. Having the right utensils is essential for good cooking
Treat yourself to professional quality equipment for perfect cooking. The coating of your pans influences the quality of cooking and the amount of fat used. Choose the container recommended in the recipe to avoid surprises. Keep your spoons and spatulas clean, otherwise they will interfere with the cooked food. A good quality knife will help you get presentable pieces. Remember to maintain it properly.
3. Do not venture into a recipe without fully understanding it
Read a recipe twice before you start making it. This will allow you to assess the level of difficulty and the techniques to be mastered. Check if the preparation requires a pause or a marinade. Take the meat out of the refrigerator ahead of time At the ideal temperature for cooking, you can sear it or roast it with its delicious juice. Also, cheese that has been removed from its packaging is more melting.
4. Before starting to cook, proceed with the "set-up".
The implementation consists of take out all the utensils and prepare the ingredients you will need in advance. This important step will allow you to concentrate on the cooking and the delicate parts of the recipe. If you prepare everything in advance, you won't let the oil burn, you will stir at the right time or avoid that your eggs in snow fall down for example. You must therefore peel, wash and cut your ingredients but also prepare your work surface with the necessary containers and utensils before you start cooking.
5. Keep basic condiments on hand
Make a supply of basic ingredients to complement any dish. You'll need different oils, depending on your menu. Think about herbs, edible flowers and other flavours to surprise your guests. You can make ice cubes of court bouillon, pistou, tapenade or coulis to turn a family dish into a gourmet recipe.
6. Use herbs and spices to add flavor to your dishes
Herbs like spices bring an exotic touch to your traditional recipes. You will travel without adding extra calories. The cumin bewitches the vegetables, the curry gives an Indian color to your chicken and the cinnamon sublimates the apple, without complicated preparation.
7. Don't forget to add salt
Salt gives relief to the different flavors. This precious culinary ally is often used just before tasting to avoid drying out the food. It also offers interesting textures.
8. Taste your preparations at each stage and monitor cooking
It's not enough to follow a recipe exactly: you must taste every step. This habit will help you to succeed in a soup, a consistency or a cooking. You can then adjust the seasoning. But, above all, you will learn how to become a true cordon bleu. As molecular cooking shows, a good dish is all about precision.
9. Work on both taste and texture
Little by little, your palate will become more refined and your cuisine more rich. You'll want to match pleasant textures with the flavours that suit them best. A little water will preserve the unique appearance of each vegetable during cooking. Wait a moment before cutting into your roast beef: once you take it out of the oven, the juices will spread throughout the meat instead of running down.
10. Touches of acidity awaken the taste
Add lemon juice or vinegar to your preparation allows to raise the taste of it. A duck breast with honey is bland without a touch of acidity to create the sweet/savoury effect. Citrus is also very valuable for flavoring fish and chicken, regardless of the sauce.
11. Keep the oven door closed tightly
Open the oven door regularly to monitor the cooking of a dish is one of the most common mistakes in cooking. It is important to know that by opening the oven door the temperature drops very quickly, which leads to uneven cooking of foodin addition to considerably lengthen cooking times.
That's why it's recommended not to open the oven, or to open it only once halfway through the cooking time. Instead, use the oven lights, without opening the door, to get an accurate idea of what's going on inside, and avoid burnt dishes.
12. Cultivate curiosity and don't hesitate to experiment
Finally, keep an open mind, because cooking is also a story of creativity and experimentation. Do not hesitate to contact us to test new combinations or new marriages, and to explore unknown territories by cooking with ingredients you didn't know before. All this will contribute to strengthen your passion for cooking and improve your cooking skillsfor your greatest pleasure and that of your loved ones.
If you are visiting this page, we invite you to share your cooking tips and tricks with us. Leave us a little comment!
