How would you like to go from ordinary cook to extraordinary master of flavors in a very short time? Sometimes, taking the time to prepare nutritious foods for your family may not be enough – especially if they don’t eat the healthy food you give them.
The art and science of cooking can take years to perfect. Thankfully, though, some simple tricks can help you strengthen your culinary skills dramatically in a very short time. Soon, you’ll be an expert in identifying exotic flavors that you’ve never tasted before and cooking with these flavors to perfection.
The three most important components of cooking are flavors, timing, and presentation. If you master these three elements in your food preparation, you’ll look like a master chef even if you’ve only recently begun to learn to cook. And, your food will please the palates of all of your family and friends.
Try these tips to quickly go from a beginning chef to one that commands respect in the kitchen and at the dining table:
1. Find your secret ingredient.
Every cook has a secret ingredient, or at least a favorite combination of spices. When you find yours and become comfortable with it, the dishes you create will begin to sing with flavor.
At first, take your time and experiment with different spices in different dishes. You’ll quickly learn which taste combinations work well together and gain confidence fast as your palate and food knowledge grows.
2. Find your timing. In cooking, timing is everything.
Cooking a dish for too long or short of time can spoil the taste. So can adding ingredients at the wrong time. At first, follow recipes closely. As you grow in your food knowledge, you’ll begin to see that a recipe is a guide that can be tweaked to add your own personal touches of flavor.
When baking, seek to stick as close to the recipe as possible at all times until you’ve gained a lot of experience in the kitchen. Unlike other forms of cooking, baking requires exact measurements to ensure that your dessert comes out tasting good. In baking, there’s a small margin for error.
3. Use high quality ingredients.
The food you prepare will only taste as good as the ingredients you select. The biggest way to increase your credibility as a cook overnight is to limit the use of frozen ingredients in favor of fresh, local produce and meat.
4. Present your dish as a masterpiece.
An often overlooked part of cooking is the appearance of the dish. Your family and friends will eat your food with their eyes before it reaches their mouths. If the presentation is pleasant, you create a dining experience that none will soon forget.
One way to make your dish appealing to the eye is to garnish it with fresh ingredients like coriander, parsley, or mint leaves.
For dishes that use a sauce, neatly position the dish in the middle of the plate or bowl. Then, draw a circle around the outside of the dish with a sauce for a beautiful preparation.
If you begin to use these tips today, you’ll surprise yourself. Quickly, you’ll go from being ordinary in the kitchen to being an extraordinary chef who can confidently prepare dishes that please the palates of everyone you love. Have fun!