Quora Answers to What is the best way to learn to cook?

What is the best way to learn to cook? 3 answers on Quora

My best recommendation is to find a friend, relative, whoever who likes to cook and stand at their side while they do it. Ask them to explain why they do something, or how. Watch what they do. Then do one yourself. They don't have to be a professional and perhaps even should not be a pro. When you watch someone cook you learn by doing, which I think is one of the most important ways to learn anything.

What you will find is that most cooking is an art form, not a science. Sure there is a lot of science involved in cooking, but anyone who watches me soon learns I gauge ingredients by eye a lot of time, especially if it is something I cook very often. I start off with recipes, following them pretty religiously, but then often branch off into my own adaptations.

Be aware, too, that certain cooking shows are not good for learning how to cook The time constraints involved in recording a show often cause them to give you bad time references for how long something needs to cook or mixed. Emeril Live used to drive me nuts because he would often leave out entire ingredients or steps, which you only discovered when you looked at the recipe.

On the other hand, I really liked Mario Batali's show, Molto Mario, as it was shot in near-realtime, or a as least as close as possible. You got a feeling for how long things took to mix and cook, even if he later had to jump ahead to a pre-prepared item.

My strongest memories of my parents are the time we spent together in the kitchen. My father can cook up a mighty fine skillet or turkey hash after Thanksgiving. I trace a lot of my love of cooking back to my childhood.
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What is the best way to learn to cook?