Heck yea, and cooking is also one of the seductive arts. Even if a guy isn’t a great cook but tries. Most women will be impressed because he was a man with a plan and put forth an effort to please her.
Where and/or from whom did you learn how to cook?
- Thread starter DoctorShavegood
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Heck yea, and cooking is also one of the seductive arts. Even if a guy isn’t a great cook but tries. Most women will be impressed because he was a man with a plan and put forth an effort to please her.
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- #23
My second year of college was when I started to cook things. I had a roommate and we rented an apartment. My prior roommates food habits were really bad so I decide to learn for myself. He would buy Vienna sausages by the case and poured tons of ketchup on them...nasty....blughhh!!! Being born and raised in South Texas I was exposed to a lot of Mexican food dishes....so that's where I started. Breakfast tacos go for all times of the day and night. I brought over some class mates and made them tacos (don't ever do that because you'll end up being "that" guy). One of the guys came over at lunch and I made him a breakfast taco with all the goodies in it...he said I'm from Jasper, Texas and I've never had a breakfast taco. He didn't even know what I was talking about.I don't know what Texas he's from but never eaten a breakfast taco...what???
shavefan
I’m not a fan
When I was a teenager I started working in restaurants, dishwasher, busboy, etc. I guess I showed interest in cooking and was lucky in that some chefs took time to teach me basic knife skills and other useful cooking techniques. After a while I was helping prep and a few times I was called in for backup when they were short a real 'cook' in the kitchen.
While my friends were watching sports on TV, I was watching Discovery Channel cooking shows (this was before Food Network). There was one show, Great Chefs I think it was called, that I watched whenever I could. I always was fascinated with cooking, the respite while lost in ingredient selection and technique, trying new ideas and often failing miserably. Making something useful with my own hands is motivating.
Also, there was more motivation when finding that women were quite responsive to a man that can really cook.
Edit: A side bonus of my love for cooking is that it got me into gardening also. Nothing beats home grown ingredients!
While my friends were watching sports on TV, I was watching Discovery Channel cooking shows (this was before Food Network). There was one show, Great Chefs I think it was called, that I watched whenever I could. I always was fascinated with cooking, the respite while lost in ingredient selection and technique, trying new ideas and often failing miserably. Making something useful with my own hands is motivating.
Also, there was more motivation when finding that women were quite responsive to a man that can really cook.
Edit: A side bonus of my love for cooking is that it got me into gardening also. Nothing beats home grown ingredients!
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- #25
Julia Child taught me along with Justin Wilson.
I always thought cooking was some mystical thing that had no rules. Steaming pots, pinches of dried newt, whatever. Then I watched Good Eats in the early 2000s. Cooking became chemistry and science. It was not foreign and appealed to my analytical nature.
Soon after, I was cooking, watching more cooking shows, and eventually just checking out recipe books from the library to read them for inspiration but not recipes. Happy cooking to everyone!
Soon after, I was cooking, watching more cooking shows, and eventually just checking out recipe books from the library to read them for inspiration but not recipes. Happy cooking to everyone!
When I was eight, over 50 years ago, my mother called me into the kitchen one day and delivered a lecture. "Son, y'all're a nasty little ******* and no woman's gonna stay with you long enough to cook three meals. You better learn how to cook and clean -- I'm tired of trying to get you to act like a nice boy."
So I did. Nice boys were all sissies, anyway. Then I discovered cookbooks, and still read them obsessively. I do a lot of different things: bread/pastry/pies/cookies; German, Japanese, Chinese, French, Italian, Mexican, South Asian, Vietnamese, tropical, Persian, and Scandinavian; meat, vegetarian, was vegan for a while; some days I think about the only thing I haven't tried is hakarl, Icelandic fermented shark fin. I understand it smells like the worst thing you've ever smelled, and tastes worse than that. So, not interested. [grin]
O.H.
So I did. Nice boys were all sissies, anyway. Then I discovered cookbooks, and still read them obsessively. I do a lot of different things: bread/pastry/pies/cookies; German, Japanese, Chinese, French, Italian, Mexican, South Asian, Vietnamese, tropical, Persian, and Scandinavian; meat, vegetarian, was vegan for a while; some days I think about the only thing I haven't tried is hakarl, Icelandic fermented shark fin. I understand it smells like the worst thing you've ever smelled, and tastes worse than that. So, not interested. [grin]
O.H.
Haggis? I've heard many Scandinavian cultures have similar fermented stuff. But in Iceland, it's volcanically heated artisanal stuff.
My first cooking experience? Well, it's a bit of a sad story but it turned out fine so bull through it. My mom passed when I was a child and I remember trying to cook for the first time shortly thereafter. I put spaghetti and frozen peas in a pot with water thinking it would become pasta. It did not. I ate it anyway. Dad was a great guy - he didn't leave me hungry - just to be clear about that - I just tried cooking while he was gone at work even though I was not supposed to use the stove or oven and I was left with ample instructions and provisions.
Anyway, it was my first memory of cooking. I'm a decent cook now - and in fact - I cooked for both the University I attended and a nice restaurant in that town to help pay for college. That was a few dog's ages ago. I am no stranger to de-glazing a pan or concentrating a roux, but mostly I like making simple things. I'm a country boy.
But my first memory of cooking was staring at spaghetti and peas on a plate and missing my mom. It's a good memory in a perverse way. The longer a person is gone, the more you treasure any strong memory of them whether good or bad. If I could time travel, I'd go back and give that kid a hug even before killing Stalin and spying on the Grassy Knoll or photographing JFK & Marilyn doing the nasty or any of the other standard time-travel tropes.
Anyway, it was my first memory of cooking. I'm a decent cook now - and in fact - I cooked for both the University I attended and a nice restaurant in that town to help pay for college. That was a few dog's ages ago. I am no stranger to de-glazing a pan or concentrating a roux, but mostly I like making simple things. I'm a country boy.
But my first memory of cooking was staring at spaghetti and peas on a plate and missing my mom. It's a good memory in a perverse way. The longer a person is gone, the more you treasure any strong memory of them whether good or bad. If I could time travel, I'd go back and give that kid a hug even before killing Stalin and spying on the Grassy Knoll or photographing JFK & Marilyn doing the nasty or any of the other standard time-travel tropes.
@Scrape&Splash, that is one of the most touching things I've ever read. Thank you.
My Dad was a chef. My Mom was the ultimate Italian Mom and was a heck of a cook in her own right.
Between the two of them, they taught me.
Between the two of them, they taught me.
Loved spending time in the kitchen helping my mom cook. Mash the potatoes, stir the gravy, carve the roast. You got to eat hot potatoes off the masher, taste the gravy as much as you wanted and eat crispy bits off the roast.....had a good start before I even sat down to dinner. The cook rules....membership has its privileges.
Haggis is Scottish. Traditionally sheep heart and liver, lard, onions, black pepper and oatmeal packed into a sheep's stomach and boiled for three or four hours. Now, if that doesn't sound like something you'd eat, you may not be of Scottish heritage. [grin]
It's a cross between a pate and a sausage the size of a pork roast. I generally leave lungs out of mine. We may not have Rabbie Burns any more but we DO have diesel exhaust. I prefer to get my exhaust fresh instead of boiled.
There are also divergent, fusion, and just plain weird haggi as well as vegetarian and vegan versions. I once attended a Burns celebration in a bar in South Dakota -- the haggis was made into little sausages like cocktail smokies. Three or four beer in they started tastin' real good.
Not sure about hakarl because I have no intention of eating it, but I'd understood it was shark meat that had been fermented to deactivate some toxin naturally in the meat. I kinda have this idea that if something's likely to kill me if I eat it, then I'm not going to say, "Gee, I wonder if letting it ROT FOR SIX MONTHS will make it edible?"
Life's too short as it is. Lots of other fermentable things out there that taste just fine, thanks.
O.H.
If I recall correctly, it's uric acid. Sharks, skates, and rays retain a good bit of that in their blood to equalize osmotic pressure with the salt water. Otherwise, they woud dehydrate. But, that's why the meat is so packed with ammonia after the fermentation.
Bony saltwater fishes have a mucous coat on the outside and a sort of RO salt pump mechanism to deal with that, but cartilagenous fishes just hold their pee.
Ain't nature fascinating?
Aha! Didn't mean to hijack the thread, but thank you for clearing that up.
And yes, yes it is.
O.H.
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- #37
Remember now Doak @TexLaw is an Evil Genius.
+1 for haggis... I actually really like the stuff. I am not Scottish (born in the US) but usually attend the local highland games and like pipe and/or drum bands. I have never had haggis at home but when in Scotland I will seek it out.
I think my parents taught me to cook via the Red Green method prior to the RG show. They said any sane girl wont find you hansom so make sure she finds you handy... I guess that meant things like cooking, lite construction, auto mechanic, shearing sheep, and fabrication with metal, wood and other random materials.
For cooking, I have spent alot of time reading to learn about basic techniques, tastes, etc and then experiment like crazy. The food labs book helped up my game quite a bit. I also try to help/watch my MIL when she cooks (she can whip together an amazing multi course lunch with about ten minutes notice). Plus she makes the best Chinese food ever.
I think my parents taught me to cook via the Red Green method prior to the RG show. They said any sane girl wont find you hansom so make sure she finds you handy... I guess that meant things like cooking, lite construction, auto mechanic, shearing sheep, and fabrication with metal, wood and other random materials.
For cooking, I have spent alot of time reading to learn about basic techniques, tastes, etc and then experiment like crazy. The food labs book helped up my game quite a bit. I also try to help/watch my MIL when she cooks (she can whip together an amazing multi course lunch with about ten minutes notice). Plus she makes the best Chinese food ever.
Mom is a pretty good cook and I spent plenty of time watching and helped her with some prep work for meals growing up.
Dad did most of the grilling on the BBQ. I always enjoyed what was cooked up on the grill and had an interest in grilling and BBQ.
So by my mid teen's I started to help Mom out and do some grilling for dinner. So when Dad came home dinner would be done or close to it.
Seemed like I caught onto it fairly easily and enjoyed it.
By the time I got into my early 30's I realized I how much I missed Mom's home cooking and learned from her on how to cook a few meals that I liked.
By that time Mom had became even more interested in cooking. Seemed like she would come home with all kinds of cookbooks. And watched the food network more than any other channel on TV.
I enjoyed watching the food network as well. So when we watched an episode about a dish either of us liked. I would get on line and print it out.
With Mom's help and support I got around to making some of those recipes in the stove and grill.
Realized cooking was a good skill to have. I can't afford to eat out all the time and some meals you just can't find around here, even in restaurants.
Then when I started watching pit master BBQ competitions on TV. I new I wanted to cook and eat like that. So I bought a smoker and learned that cooking style.
Like Mom, I started buying cook books and now have a good size collection of them. As well as cookware and kitchen utensils.
Dad did most of the grilling on the BBQ. I always enjoyed what was cooked up on the grill and had an interest in grilling and BBQ.
So by my mid teen's I started to help Mom out and do some grilling for dinner. So when Dad came home dinner would be done or close to it.
Seemed like I caught onto it fairly easily and enjoyed it.
By the time I got into my early 30's I realized I how much I missed Mom's home cooking and learned from her on how to cook a few meals that I liked.
By that time Mom had became even more interested in cooking. Seemed like she would come home with all kinds of cookbooks. And watched the food network more than any other channel on TV.
I enjoyed watching the food network as well. So when we watched an episode about a dish either of us liked. I would get on line and print it out.
With Mom's help and support I got around to making some of those recipes in the stove and grill.
Realized cooking was a good skill to have. I can't afford to eat out all the time and some meals you just can't find around here, even in restaurants.
Then when I started watching pit master BBQ competitions on TV. I new I wanted to cook and eat like that. So I bought a smoker and learned that cooking style.
Like Mom, I started buying cook books and now have a good size collection of them. As well as cookware and kitchen utensils.
One of my favorite cookbooks isn’t one that can be found in a store or online. It’s a collection of recipes that my mom put together. Some of them are recipes that my grandma had fixed and written down and some are ones that my mom found and made
