How did you learn to cook?

sallyrsm

I learnt some from my Mum, some from my Dad, some from lessons at school...my Mum is a good cook but hates cooking, Dad was good at things like Chili and Spaggy Bol and a roast dinner, but it took him ages .... he was also a panicker when it came to getting things ready at the same time..... school I learnt things like pizza, scones, cakes, fudge...since then I've learnt from books and telly and stuff. mainly school taught me to follow a recipe and things like that.
My Mum as I say, hates to cook, but we used to joke that her Yorkshire Puddings had to have a red light on top to warn low flying aircraft how high they might rise.
She is great at stews done in pressure cooker, stuff like that.
she basically taught me not to be scared of food, to give things a whirl.. if you hate it, just don't cook it again! I love her dumplings and things, and she, like the rest of our family, have perfect pastry hands. My Mum rocks. I wish she didn't put herself down so much... she's great. Not just at cooking. She is the perfect Grandma to my son, and even though we fight, she's my best friend. Wish she'd made more cakes when I was a nipper, though!!!

superpup

I learnt nothing from my Mum. Can't remember anything cooked from scratch apart from a pile of mashed potato with either corned beef or cheese chucked through it. Oh, and boiled eggs on toast. Dad and I were always afraid to say we liked something (read 'edible') as you got that every day until you cracked. She's no better now. She gave me cauliflower cheese on toast recently, with packet cheese sauce. _pale_ Her roast potatoes could be considered offensive weapons.

I lived with my Dad and Stepmum in my teens and left home at 16. My Stepmum cooked at bit but we didn't really get on then. I taught myself how to cook with books. I used to see my Nan cooking at weekends when I was much younger but it was always very basic stuff, meat cooked on low all morning in the oven, potatoes and veg done at the same time in the pressure cooker.

I just love food so I had no choice but to learn to cook. My youngest daughter is a confident cook, the eldest not so much but getting better. Will have a go at most things now and will experiment more.

I've found this thread really interesting, keep 'em coming

sp x

Bargain_Rzl

I was brought up around my mum's (basic but filling and edible) home cooking and would often make the pud to go with Sunday lunch, but never took a lot of interest in cooking.

Similarly when I did HE at school, I didn't dislike it but couldn't really be bothered with it.

My mum bought me some cookbooks when I went to university - but I don't think I ever used any of them at the time, living instead on Kwik Save economy burgers, beans and rice :eek:

My interest in cooking was sparked when I had a part time job in a greengrocer's, and used to get cheap/free veg to experiment with. However it's only really developed since finding the Old Style forum - and blossomed fully since investing in a dishwasher Ironically, those neglected student cookbooks my mum bought me are now in constant use!

thriftmonster

My Mum taught me the basics - but then from about the age of 10 she would stand back and just let me cook what I wanted from books - thanks Mum. One of the first things I made was cheese souffle because everyone said how hard it was and I wanted to prove them wrong. And it was fine. So I got even more confidence then.

Now I have a cookbook addiction and a UKtv food addiction - although I rarely follow the recipe exactly, except in baking

clutterydrawer

I'm intrigued by this - I meet a ridiculous number of people who claim they "have to buy ready meals because I don't know how to cook" but always think, surely it can't be that hard to pick up the basics. I have visited friends at uni who literally couldnt even make a pasta sauce.

however this has made me wonder how i learnt myself and I don't even know - we had no lessons at school and i don't recall my mum teaching me.

Soooo...how did you learn....and do you think people's lack of culinary expertise is to blame for poor health and budgeting, and what should be done about it? Or are they just really lazy and using it as an excuse?

horsechestnut

My late mother couldn't cook at all! On a Sunday we used to carve the beige lumpy gravy!!!
I learned to cook at school (O Level Domestic Science) and there is seldom a day goes by that I don't say a silent "Thank You" to Mrs Yvonne Davies.

ifonlyitwaseasier

i can remember my mum and grandma just showing me, and i make up a few things myself as i go along,
i have a few (lots) of cookbooks and several recipes that i write out by hand into a notebook as they are used more often.

i have a friend who has taught herself, with a little help and advice, as their mother uses ready meals and thinks that they are eating healthily

ioiwe x

astonsmummy

Self taught. :rotfl:
Nah I dont really know tbh, I suppose watching me Nan and Mum cooking, and just getting on with it.

Pink.

Hi clutterydrawer,

I learned by a combination of watching my mum and teaching myself once I got married. There's an earlier thread on how everyone learned to cook so I've added your thread to it to keep the replies together.

Pink

frugalswan

I taught myself to cook, and that's an on-going process. I didn't really get the chance to do anything while I was at home, because my Mum liked to make sure we always had a meal on the table when we got in, even when I was getting home from work aged 22 before I moved out. So, I never really got the chance. When I moved out six or seven years ago, I began to teach myself how to cook from books and from experimentation; if it tasted good, I'd do it again. And again. And modify it slightly with what was on hand. That sort of thing, anyway. And I realised that people like good food and it could make me popular ... I know. A bit sad, really. It turned into a bit of a passion and I keep a blog now, and I feel truly accomplished.



x Frugalswan x