How do you cook without using recipes?

Question

Some people just have that inherent skill, but I want to learn it. I wish I could just go up to a stove, get random ingredients that I KNOW will taste good together, and make up something out of the blue.

Answer 1

Practice, practice, practice. Start cooking from recipes, eventually you develop your own tastes for what you think would go together well.

Answer 2

I started out using recipes and reading recipes. I saw what seasonings work well together and which ones didn't. I'd try a recipe and I'd think, "I would have liked that cookie better if I had used almond extract instead of vanilla." Or if I didn't have an ingredient I would try and substitute for one I had. I would try different spices too. Sometimes I would love them and now they are regulars in my pantry. Other times, I'd use them once and not be able to tell a difference.

Read recipes. If you want to make a new recipe, read several recipes of the same kind. See what the basic ingredients are and then see what other people had switched for their own special recipes. Adjust the recipe for your tastes.

Keep trying. In the beginning, you might eat a lot of strange dishes, but in the end, some of your favorite meals could come from mistakes. Don't be afraid to ask people what their easy meals are and see if you can modify those.

Now, I only use a recipe to see how long to bake a cake or to see what ingredients I need. Then, I'll just adjust the flavor as I go along. Taste it constantly as you cook it (not raw meat or eggs), but taste it as it starts cooking, see if you need to add a dash of salt or a pinch of pepper or a sprig of basil. Have fun!

Answer 3

Start with cooking with recipes. Also, sit down and read some good cookbooks. Some of my favorites are the Better Homes & gardens cookbook, the Pillsbury's Best is great, and I have an old one that's a standard, the New York Times Cookbook by Craig Claiborne. Another old standard is "The Joy of Cooking" and the food network chefs have all published cookbooks, too. You'd be surprised how much of a feel for cooking you can get just reading (and trying out) different recipes. Watch the Food Network on TV and watch their videos on their website (www.foodnetwork.com.) After a while, you know what you like and can experiment, and get a "feel" for what goes well together. But first you need cooking and baking basics. My Mom taught me, and I'm lucky, I feel like I have ALWAYS cooked. Once you start cooking a lot and especially reading and watching other people cook, you can start experimenting. You might also want to look into taking a brief cooking class in your local community college or some High Schools have night courses.

Answer 4

No one really has an inherent skill to cook, I think. It's just a matter of being willing to experiment and to learn as much as you can. Read cooking magazines and books and you will learn a lot and get a lot of ideas. Fine Cooking and Cook's are particularly good at explaining different ingredients and techniques. Most importantly, just get in there and do it and you will learn what works for you and what your own strengths and weaknesses are. You don't always have to follow a recipe EXACTLY. Leave out things you don't like and add in things you do. As you move forward, you will know what will work in a recipe and what won't and you will be able to formulate your own recipes from everything you have learned about cooking..

Answer 5

I don't really think it's an inherent skill. I feel that if you cook often enough, you will become really familiar with your ingredients, what compliments, what brings out the flavour and what is good to use to counteract some taste or smell. I also think that you have to love food! If you love food, you will be the sort who will seek out places to try new tastes and smells, and from there you will learn too. :)

Answer 6

I pretty much cook with no recipes. My motto is if you put complimentary ingredients into something it has to taste good. Do a little experimenting and season to taste. Don't be afraid to try. Some of the best dishes are made by accident.

Answer 7

Well what I do is i look at a bunch of different recipes for the same thing for example if i want to make fried chicken i look up several different recipes for fried chicken...i look at the ingredients in each (they are not all the same) and different cooking times in each and types of oil. I create my own recipe from bits and pieces of others. I learned some cooking tips from my mom and stuff growing up. Most things have been passed down for me but thats my way of creating something different but not really being a copy cat.

Answer 8

JD, that comes with practice, which includes trial and error...many, many errors!

You learn from experience what works well together.
You learn from experience what the best way is to cook your food and for how long.

I love to cook, and I enjoy being creative. I still have disasters in my kitchen (the most recent being setting my kitchen on fire when sauteeing with the wrong oil).

I started cooking by picking up some easy cookbooks from the library. A few years later, I now have a magnificent collection and I still use them very regularly.

www.CookingLight.com

The Frugal Gourmet Cooks American.

Answer 9

Experience and experimentation. Try different things, learn from your mistakes (and successes!), and make sure you know the basics of cooking. For example if you know the science behind making a basic sauce, you can do all sorts of things to vary it. Recipes limit people, chances are if you think something will taste good, it will, or if you think it tastes good, then other people will too!

Answer 10

I think it just comes down to experience.

You have to experiment a lot and try new things to get an idea of how certain ingrediants are going to interact, etc. It's obviously not a skill you can gain overnight, but if you're interested in cooking it's a fun process. Just jump right in!

Answer 11

One way is to memorize recipes. The way I got to be able to do it is by making food a lot, so I know by smelling what something tastes like (usually) Also, don't be afraid to lick your fingers (washing them frequently, of course) But that doesn't help when making raw meat or something :P Also learn to estimate amounts with your eyeball, go with what looks good. It'll take practice. Hopefully your victims--er-- critics will be gracious when you mess up, cuz you''ll prob mess up a couple hundred times ;)