Ricky Buchanan ([info]rickybuchanan) wrote,
@ 2008-08-17 14:21:00
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Entry tags:cooking by feel

Cooking By Feel
I learned to cook mostly without a recipe book around. We only used them for cakes and other things rarely made, that I recall. So "cooking by gut feeling" is something I'm familiar with. But it's not something that's easy to learn if you've never been able to spend time with somebody who cooks like that - it's something usually taught one-on-one.

Blissfully, somebody in the [info]pollanesque community is writing a series of posts about cooking by feel. An introduction for those who "can't cook" or are scared of deviating from recipes. She's updating the posts as commenters add information, and there's lots there that I didn't know. Highly recommended if you want to cook, can cook, or might want to cook in the future.

The posts so far, in chronological order:



I do hope the series continues!

Ricky

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[info]acelightning
2008-08-17 04:48 am UTC (link)
i'm another person who learned to cook "by feel" at a very early age. (i had to kneel on a kitchen chair in order to reach the top of the stove, but at six years old i could turn out an edible breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, and tea.) i also do a lot of baking - and, once you understand the basic principles, you don't necessarily have to follow recipes there either. i've been experimenting a lot in my baking lately (for example, Inside-Out Sticky Buns).

basically, i agree completely with what's in those entries ;-D

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[info]little_sista
2008-08-17 09:51 am UTC (link)
Hi Ricky
I too learned to cook by feel I actually never really learnt to cook by book untill I went to TAFE for a degree in hospitality and catering.
I guess I was lucky I was taught by my aunt and mum when I was extremely young.

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(Anonymous)
2008-08-17 06:34 pm UTC (link)
I'm so glad you linked to these!

I too am still learning how to cook. Most of my friends think I'm a good cook, but my room-mate knows better - My shameful secret is that I usually follow recipes religiously.

Without a recipe, I can make a handful of things: potato salad, minestrone, pasta with sauteed veggies, stir fries, banana cookies, some basic curries....but it's really difficult for me to branch out! And if I make a recipe and find that it's not quite to my taste, it's been difficult for me to figure out what the missing ingredient is.

Although lately, the newest thing I've learned is that when I make something and I feel like it "needs something," fresh citrus juice is often the answer. Pasta dishes, soups, and salads are immediately perked up when I squeeze a lemon into them, and Mexican and Thai dishes benefit greatly from freshly squeezed lime.

I've also learned that in cooking, there's really not a good substitute for fresh garlic and ginger. I've tossed my garlic powder and pre-minced garlic, keep the ginger powder around just for baking, and go to the trouble of mincing it fresh when I need it. It's more work but I swear it can elevate meals from mediocre to amazing.

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[info]kejlina
2008-08-17 06:37 pm UTC (link)
woops, i totally forgot to log in!

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[info]belle_marmotte
2008-08-18 02:21 am UTC (link)
I'm another one who has never used a recipe book in her entire life. A lot of it comes from being coeliac and having to make stuff up, after being diagnosed long before there was gluten-free stuff in the supermarkets.

I can cook a wide range of things from Thai to good old Irish stew and pretty much everything (gluten-free) in between. I am blessed with some weirdly genius olfactory and taste senses (ME-related perhaps?) that have made it easy to 'deconstruct' anything I've tasted and create it myself later.

My problems arise when people ask me for my recipes. I never know what to say. 'Oh its a bit of this and some of that' doesn't really cut it for people wanting to recreate it!

I'm currently teaching my non-cooking other half. Thankfully he gets the 'by feel' technique, as he's no fan of the written word and his deafness makes him more amenable to the visual/taste method of my approach!

It's been interesting to read other cooking by feel-ers responses here. Now I'm off to check out those links!

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cooking with recipes
[info]cedar51
2008-08-23 11:07 pm UTC (link)
i have ooddles of nice books which I do use from tiem to time....but only when I want to be sure something will work.

i had, must find it again, one book that gave you the real instructions like how to cut up a chicken and stuff like!

i do much of my day to day fuel-4-me stuff by feel...i sometimes just start with a basic kumara and then add whatever takes my fancy. One pot cooking as I grow tired if I have to think too much.

i add whatever garnishes at the end....am fond of finely grating paresman cheese - sometimes the food looks unappetising but often they have the best flavour

a lot of my recipes, have notes added where I inadvertently buggered up the original reading!! I'm very good at muddling the amounts :-))))

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