How did you learn to cook?

trailingspouse

Did your mother or someone else at home teach you? Or school cookery lessons? Or did you work it out for yourself as you went along?

I still roast a chicken the way my mother taught me. Ditto cooking veggies. But some things I've had to work out for myself (Mum never did a stir fry or made a curry for example). My sister-in-law showed me how to make a white sauce - I knew how to do it, but it always went lumpy until she showed me!

Effyb4

My mum never used to let me in the kitchen. I had to learn everything from cookery books or the television, when I got married. Now I'm able to cook most things and consider myself a better cook than my mum was.

WantToBeSE

I learnt from my ex partner. When we had my oldest son I wanted to learn so that I could wean him on healthy foods.
But my parents were both the type to chuck quick stuff in the oven and call it dinner. My Dad was an alcoholic who drank all of his wages away, so we had to survive on my mums meagre wages.


Anyway, I digress. So, my ex taught me the basics (how to cook rice, pasta, cous cous and a tomato sauce) and then I realised that I really enjoyed it and just learnt the rest myself.
When we split up, I told him I'd miss his cooking most of all, so he carried on teaching me what he could

GreyQueen

I learned basic cooking and baking from my Mum. Still can't get beyond a Victoria Sandwich Frisbee, tho.

School cooking was pretty naff, such as an hour to make 6 fairy cakes.

I pick up recipes at random and kick them around until they beg for mercy. I cook some things very well; peeps have been known to run from one end of a very long office to t'other end to get my h.m. pizza.

Overall, I'd describe myself as a good plain cook. I'm not particularly interested in cooking, it's more a self-defense thing because I like eating properly.

darrensurrey

Experiment. I've eaten some awful homemade dishes.

january_23

Mixture of parents, grandparents, TV, books etc. Internet is what I use most now if I want to try something new.


I find it sad how some people don't get taught by their parents how to cook. I have a friend that didn't even know how to make pancakes until I showed her! That floored me as she was fourteen at the time.
In contrast by the age of ten I was able to cook whole meals from srcratch; such as a Sunday roast, lasagne, shepherds pie etc. I'm not old either as I'm 25.

carlislelass

Basic cooking was learnt at school plus Mum

room512

I used to do baking with my Nanna and Mum from a very early age. Then progressed onto cooking at school (did an O' level and A' Level) and also used to help Mum make the evening meal. Then when I was about 15 she went to work full time and I was in charge of the evening meal so she would leave the main constituent part and I'd get home and find a recipe that used it. It must have cost her a fortune as I never just cooked meat and two veg, it was always something more adventurous. (she never moaned though and I'm great at following recipes!)

missprice

Trial and error, eaten some rank stuff that I made because it sounded OK in my head, but came out very wrong.

Am a better cook now cos I have a personal washer uperer, this makes a huge difference. Cos I loathe washing up.

My poor kids lived on simple food when they were little, til I had more money to spend on better foodstuff.

Am a pretty good cook now and willing to experiment to a point.

SailorSam

When i lived at home i didn't know anything. Not just cooking but everything, i'd never lifted a finger. I'd never heard of a hoover or i didn't know which end of a paint brush you needed to hold, so i started doing different night school classes 5 nights a week after i got my own place.
I remember a Chinese cookery lesson with this little Chinese man telling us how to cook rice. But he didn't tell us how much and we were all looking at each other. After a few minutes someone asked "How Much" He held his hands out cupped in front of him and said "This Much"
All the time we were there he never weighed a thing. And i still cook like that now, just pour things until it looks right.

camelot1001

The basics from my Mum, but that was quite plain cooking, also took cookery at school. Worked things out for myself beyond that, I can follow a recipe but usually do my own thing which usually turns out ok.