How did you learn to cook?

afterglow_2

i liked making stuff when i was a kid, and was brought up vegetarian so learnt a lot about food, even foraging for berries, wild garlic, mushrooms, etc, so had quite alternative introduction to food!!
then ended up working in a pub kitchen, and a mongolian restaurant to pay my way through my photography degree,
and after a few years as a photographer have ended up as a chef!!!

nesssie1702

I was lucky enough to grow up in the "big house" of an estate, as my Dad was the factor and Mum the Head Housekeeper. Mum is a Cordon Bleu trained cook, so learnt a lot from her, as well as learning from various cooks in the estate kitchen.

I was often found sitting on the cooks stool helping her roll out pastry and lending a hand.

As a result, I'm one of those who rarely follows a recipe and just generally chuck it in as I go along.

OrkneyStar

Partly watching my mum (basics like soup, stews etc), recipe books (library and bought) and magazines (Bella cookbook was a fave!), tv progs, trying things and improvising, MSE tips to make new cakes etc.
I am an adventurous cook and like to try my own recipes a lot of the time tbh.

SunnyGirl

I learnt from being with my Mum & Dad in the kitchen, home cooked from scratch meals were always on the menu at our house, by doing 'o' level domestic science at school & reading mags, library books & buying cookery books. The one way I haven't learnt anything is from celebrity chefs LOL!! Also I think that neccessity is the mother of invention as they say & when you are short on funds you have to come up with something edible - well most of the time!!

skint-student-nurse

i learnt to cook from my mum and by doing it at school. i did catering as a GCSE ( i didnt even try and i still got an A!) but i started to train as a chef when i left school and hated it! still love cooking though and my daughter helps in the kitchen a lot and i hope she will learn how to cook from me.

hayley11

I'm still learning how to cook :rotfl: But what I do know, I learnt from my mum, she doesn't cook anything fancy really but she does cook nice meals and I can cook all the meals she can. People always find it hard to believe my mum can cook as well as she can because she's totally blind, some ignorant bloke on the phone even called her a liar once because she said she couldn't speak because she was cooking and she needed both hands :eek: :mad:

I'm hoping now i've got my slow cooker, I can start experimenting a little bit more and learn to cook new things

danksshady

I learnt from my mum and dad as they both worked full time so as a teenager I used to cook tea if I was home first
My mum always cooked everything from scratch - ready meals were a big no no
mum is also a whizz at baking - she made 48 dozen mince pies this year for family and friends who won't eat them from anywhere else

sunflower76

My mum always encouraged me to cook as a little 'un so I guess I've always had the enthusiasm. When I moved out at 16 I had a ridiculously small kitchen in a ridiculously small flat and didn't really 'cook', just survived. W

hen I moved into my first home I couldn't afford to cook anything but rubbish (pre MSE obviously!) and it wasn't until I was 22 / 23 when I realised that food should be a joy. I then started to buy more quality food but it was still ready made in the majority of cases.

When I moved house and got a spanking new kitchen I decided that I should stop abusing it with ready made food and should cook properly all of the time. I bought a few recipe books and got stuck in and found that because I already had the background knowledge from my Mum I could do pretty much anything in there.

Because I've now practised so much I just know what goes together and can make a meal from pretty much anything but I am still learning and am always happy to try something new.

I'm now more selective in the recipe books I buy because I like certain styles (and I buy too many!) and I also subscribe to delicious magazine which I don't often cook from but read for inspriation. I also see recipes on here and other websites and just have a go. I think the main thing about being able to cook is being able to rescue a dish you've attempted that's gone horribly wrong!

Sorry, that's a bit of a ramble; I think what I'm trying to say is that learning to cook is a journey rather than something that you can pick up like a new language etc.

daleigha

im self taught - decided a few years ago that i wanted to make stew, so a girl in work gave me the recipe - i made it, really enjoyed it and loved the fact that it was made by my own fair hand, and that started my love affair with home cooked food!! at the start i was so careful and followed recipes to the button (it took me forever to make meals!! :eek: ), but now i just guess measures and if im missing something i add something else or leave it out totally!! i love being able to look in the cupboards and conjure up something for dinner from next to nothing!!

i would love to be better at baking, but my 'dont measure and fling it all in' attitude doesnt really work for baking!! but i did make yummy scones last week, so i am improving!!

xx