We've got a lot of great cooks/chef's around here. What, where and how did you get to be??
Where and/or from whom did you learn how to cook?
- Thread starter DoctorShavegood
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simon1
Self Ignored by Vista
That's easy...Mom...when I was a kid. She was a stay at home Mom and thought I needed to know how.
And then there are the Aunts, Uncles, and other relatives for country cookin' and bbq. Uncle Leon in Uvalde was good on using coals for bbq when I was a kid. He found a little rattlesnake bound up in a hay bale he pulled apart one time while I was tending coals in a galvanized washtub with sand in the bottom...still alive.
And then there is my brother-in-law, God rest his soul, that grew up in Salado, Texas in the early part of last century. He knew BBQ smoking, the classic kind. They made smokers out of 55 gallon barrels they cut in half.
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- #3
55 gallon barrels was all the old country had. You're probably going to have to stick around this thread for moderation.
kelbro
Alfred Spatchcock
Grew up in a Czech household very close to Mexico so tons of good eatin' growing up. Married a woman 40 yrs ago who could barely scramble an egg so I had to learn!
My job for the past 30 yrs requires a lot of global travel so I've sampled many different types of food and observed all kinds of cooking methods. I've picked up things here and there but most of my learnings have been from just experimenting.
The folks here also spark a lot of ideas for combinations that I would have never considered.
My job for the past 30 yrs requires a lot of global travel so I've sampled many different types of food and observed all kinds of cooking methods. I've picked up things here and there but most of my learnings have been from just experimenting.
The folks here also spark a lot of ideas for combinations that I would have never considered.
Totally self-taught. I like eating, so I need to be able to cook OK. I watch YouTube, celeb chefs such as Rick Stein, Jamie Oliver, sometimes watch Masterchef and I have a bunch of books by the likes of Anthony Bourdain, Thomas Keller and my go to is Leith's Kitchen Bible.
Had some health issues and had to watch what I eat so I taught myself by watching cooking shows.
Was a horrible cook before and now I get complements
Was a horrible cook before and now I get complements
My mother and grandmother were fabulous cooks, and I learned a bunch by just getting in their way as a kid. They both employed cooks to help in the kitchen, but they were the true cooks.
I lived in a wonderful house right after college, and I did a ton of the cooking. My only cookbook was Julia Child Vol. 1, so my housemates and I ate well as I plowed my way through her recipes.
I lived in a wonderful house right after college, and I did a ton of the cooking. My only cookbook was Julia Child Vol. 1, so my housemates and I ate well as I plowed my way through her recipes.
I was raised by parents who love to cook and are mighty good at it. Both of them were raised by great cooks. All those folks let me help out (or, at least, tolerated me messing them up). When I moved into my first place that wasn't a dorm room, my parents got me a set of pots and pans and a rice cooker, my Mom wrote down a bunch of recipes for me, and I went off from there.
When I got to age when I was too cool to watch Saturday morning cartoons, I switched over to cooking shows on the Houston PBS affiliate. I couldn't tell you why I liked them so much, but I just did, and I still watch some today (although I tend to record the ones I watch, these days).
When I got to age when I was too cool to watch Saturday morning cartoons, I switched over to cooking shows on the Houston PBS affiliate. I couldn't tell you why I liked them so much, but I just did, and I still watch some today (although I tend to record the ones I watch, these days).
My Mom cooked only to feed us. It was fine, but nothing to get excited about, unless she went all out for holidays/birthdays. My Dad was the inventive cook, always trying something new (sometimes good, sometimes bad; I'll tell the story of the fish pie one day). I did learn a few dishes from them and still cook several of them today.
When I moved out on my own my parents gave me the book "Cooking for Dummies" by Bryan Miller and Marie Rama. Despite it's "..for Dummies" lineage that book taught me quite a bit about food prep, meal planning, and technique. It's where I learned to properly chop on onion!
I also learned a lot from the Food Network, when the shows were just a host talking and cooking. I watched bunches of shows and they really helped me with technique and how to think outside the box.
tl;dr: "Cooking for Dummies", Food Network, and a lot of trial and error taught me how to cook.
When I moved out on my own my parents gave me the book "Cooking for Dummies" by Bryan Miller and Marie Rama. Despite it's "..for Dummies" lineage that book taught me quite a bit about food prep, meal planning, and technique. It's where I learned to properly chop on onion!
I also learned a lot from the Food Network, when the shows were just a host talking and cooking. I watched bunches of shows and they really helped me with technique and how to think outside the box.
tl;dr: "Cooking for Dummies", Food Network, and a lot of trial and error taught me how to cook.
My mom, dad, and mom's mom: my grandma.
- Thread starter
- #11
No one taught me to cook. I watched Granny cook fried oysters and mom cook pinto beans. Mom also made a really good crock pot roast with potatoes and carrots. I don't cook that because we ate it every Sunday after church for 18 years of my life.
Everything else I just learned on my own. A perfect omelette takes practice....I'm on it.
Everything else I just learned on my own. A perfect omelette takes practice....I'm on it.
I don't think anybody is willing to take responsibility for my cooking.
I'm so glad to have had so much influence from so many places.
I'm so glad to have had so much influence from so many places.
Myself.
Lived alone by 16 and loved food, so i tried all kind of things.
Of course i got inspired by TV,books, friends etc but mainly it was my curiosity.
Lived alone by 16 and loved food, so i tried all kind of things.
Of course i got inspired by TV,books, friends etc but mainly it was my curiosity.
Mostly I’m self taught. I remember watching my grandma on my mom’s side of the family some but wish I’d paid more attention to some of the stuff she made and wasn’t able to visit her that often because it was a 6-7 hour round trip to go see her. And my mom didn’t do much cooking except around the holidays
Learning how to cook and preparing a meal are a different sport altogether. I can cook most things my 80 year old mother can but I cannot execute a meal for a dozen people with everything timed to a window for the meal. It's an incredible skill she's acquired from basically cooking for the family since she way a young girl. You might get 1 dish coming out every 20 minutes in my kitchen.
From my Mom, of course. She loved to cook and passed that love on to me. My wife says my parents were foodies before there was any such thing as foodies. We ate everything we could, Italian, Chinese, Greek, Kosher, Mexican, German, Swedish, from Betty Crocker to Julia Child.
I worked at a snack bar in college. It had a grill, pizza station, sandwich station and beverage station. Started out washing dishes, graduated to prep work and worked my way to the grill. Since I was a reliable employee and an early riser, I also got assigned to meeting the morning delivery a couple of times a week and putting away the stock. I learned a ton about the restaurant business and a lot about cooking. When I was a young lieutenant, my compadres were astounded at the things I cooked that were, frankly, no brainers.
I learned some basics from mom. Beans and cornbread, fried and baked potato. Stuff like that, shes an Okie.
Had a live in girlfriend for 10 years. Her mom was Pennsylvania Dutch who married an Italian. She took me under her wing in the kitchen. I actually missed her more than my girlfriend when we broke up. I use to mow her lawn once a week and she would make veal piccata that was amazing. Just for mowing her lawn.
life as born again bachelor involved lots of grilling but I liked Asian food so I dabbled. I feed fishing buddies on trips and got good reviews with stick to your ribs Rustic food.
Then I proposed to a beautiful American born Chinese woman. after she said yes. I asked her grandmother,” Can you teach me how to cook some recipes you want the next generation to enjoy? Apparently that was the perfect question for the matriarch of the family. She taught me about a whole other world of cuisine. From pickles to soups, veggies, meats, noodles. It was quite an adventure for me. She is gone now but my mother in law still tells people that I have mastered some traditional dishes. I miss her a lot also.
Im teaching my boys to cook. My teenage son is most interested because he’s a bottomless pit when it comes to calories. His hunger is his motivation.
Had a live in girlfriend for 10 years. Her mom was Pennsylvania Dutch who married an Italian. She took me under her wing in the kitchen. I actually missed her more than my girlfriend when we broke up. I use to mow her lawn once a week and she would make veal piccata that was amazing. Just for mowing her lawn.
life as born again bachelor involved lots of grilling but I liked Asian food so I dabbled. I feed fishing buddies on trips and got good reviews with stick to your ribs Rustic food.
Then I proposed to a beautiful American born Chinese woman. after she said yes. I asked her grandmother,” Can you teach me how to cook some recipes you want the next generation to enjoy? Apparently that was the perfect question for the matriarch of the family. She taught me about a whole other world of cuisine. From pickles to soups, veggies, meats, noodles. It was quite an adventure for me. She is gone now but my mother in law still tells people that I have mastered some traditional dishes. I miss her a lot also.
Im teaching my boys to cook. My teenage son is most interested because he’s a bottomless pit when it comes to calories. His hunger is his motivation.
I've always encouraged my boys to cook. A cook always eats well, never gets bored, and is everyone's friend.
garyg
B&B membership has its percs
My grandma - in seventh grade, while the new high school was being finished, us junior high guys were on half day schedules - afternoons for us. Nan was a farm girl, cooked every day and since I was hanging around she showed me the very basics. I'm still amazed at the timing we had 20-30 people over Thanksgiving and everything was set out at once
