It is believed that the basis, the foundation of any culinary magazine, book, or website, are recipes. Nothing else, in principle, may not be – but recipes, please. Want to know my opinion? Tired of it! Honestly, who needs them? Life is so short and killing it in search of recipes is a thoughtless wastefulness, fortunately, in order to cook something tasty, they are not required at all.
Skillful hands, a sharp knife, common sense and a good frying pan are needed, but recipes are not. Do you want to know how you can do without prescriptions? .. This article is not for housewives or householders who have to get up to the stove from under a stick every day. It is for those who truly enjoy the cooking process, seeing it as art and a pleasant hobby, but not a duty. Welcome!
First, you need to learn a simple rule: if you can’t cook something according to the recipe, you won’t be able to do it without it either… This is an axiom. For truly free improvisation, you need to master the basics, such as how to properly chop onions, thicken the sauce, beat the whites, “seal” the meat, how frying differs from stewing, and anchovies from sprat, how much water is needed to cook pasta what are capers, zira, al dente and so on. In short, in order to learn how to cook without a recipe, you just need to learn how to cook, at least a little, for a start.
Rule number two: proceed from products, not recipes… This is a very wise principle that should be adopted even by those who do not plan to abandon recipes in the near future. All these grocery lists are certainly useful, but you know as well as I do, as it usually happens: that doesn’t exist, that doesn’t exist, but that one doesn’t like it with its appearance and smell, and the pre-built plan collapses into tartar. It is much better to build your lunch or dinner around an especially fresh fish or a particularly appetizing leg of lamb that you like, and buy those spices and herbs that you may need with it.
Rule three: use proven product combinations… Any dish is like an orchestra, and the taste of your symphony depends on whether the products can play with each other. Here you will not be able to do without classics that have passed the test of time. In a note about classic food combinations, we have listed several dozen such combinations together – feel free to refer to this list from time to time.
First, you need to learn a simple rule: if you can’t cook something according to the recipe, you won’t be able to do it without it either… This is an axiom. For truly free improvisation, you need to master the basics, such as how to properly chop onions, thicken the sauce, beat the whites, “seal” the meat, how frying differs from stewing, and anchovies from sprat, how much water is needed to cook pasta what are capers, zira, al dente and so on. In short, in order to learn how to cook without a recipe, you just need to learn how to cook, at least a little, for a start.
Rule number two: proceed from products, not recipes… This is a very wise principle that should be adopted even by those who do not plan to abandon recipes in the near future. All these grocery lists are certainly useful, but you know as well as I do, as it usually happens: that doesn’t exist, that doesn’t exist, but that one doesn’t like it with its appearance and smell, and the pre-built plan collapses into tartar. It is much better to build your lunch or dinner around an especially fresh fish or a particularly appetizing leg of lamb that you like, and buy those spices and herbs that you may need with it.
Rule three: use proven product combinations… Any dish is like an orchestra, and the taste of your symphony depends on whether the products can play with each other. Here you will not be able to do without classics that have passed the test of time. In a note about classic food combinations, we have listed several dozen such combinations together – feel free to refer to this list from time to time.
Taking this opportunity, I want to say hello to those grumblers who really don’t like it when something other than recipes appears on this blog. Open the recipe directory and you will see that there are over three hundred of them now, so you will always have something to do. For me, my blog is valuable primarily as a platform where I can express my position and communicate.
And last of all – as an opportunity to please people I don’t know, many of whom (O tempora! O mores!) Have never heard of the rules of the Russian language and elementary politeness. The lyrical digression is over (although, I remember, even Arthur Conan Doyle was very worried, when he was considered the author of detective stories, completely ignoring the rest of the books), let’s move on.
Nightmare news: it will not be possible to completely abandon the recipes… When preparing salads or, say, side dishes, you can juggle the proportions until you find the best combination. In baking, this simply will not work: it is worth slightly changing the proportions in what you think is the best side – and an excellent recipe for a cake or bread in practice will turn into something that has not risen, heavy, and indigestible (although, perhaps, still edible ). Just in case, I will clarify – this applies not only to baking, but also to some other cases, for example, home-made beer – or cheese making.
No less horrible news: knowledge of traditional recipes is highly desirable… Despite the fact that modern chefs are constantly experimenting, inventing new dishes, each of them is still based on unsophisticated folk cuisine – Russian, Italian, Japanese, French. Knowledge of the principles by which national dishes are prepared will be useful to you in order to prepare your own masterpieces. Firstly, each such recipe has been perfected for centuries and thousands of housewives, from whom there was something to learn. Secondly, truly folk recipes are usually not overloaded with various tinsel – it’s easier to figure out what’s what, and you can always add your own touch. Thirdly, it is simply delicious.
Nightmare news: it will not be possible to completely abandon the recipes… When preparing salads or, say, side dishes, you can juggle the proportions until you find the best combination. In baking, this simply will not work: it is worth slightly changing the proportions in what you think is the best side – and an excellent recipe for a cake or bread in practice will turn into something that has not risen, heavy, and indigestible (although, perhaps, still edible ). Just in case, I will clarify – this applies not only to baking, but also to some other cases, for example, home-made beer – or cheese making.
No less horrible news: knowledge of traditional recipes is highly desirable… Despite the fact that modern chefs are constantly experimenting, inventing new dishes, each of them is still based on unsophisticated folk cuisine – Russian, Italian, Japanese, French. Knowledge of the principles by which national dishes are prepared will be useful to you in order to prepare your own masterpieces. Firstly, each such recipe has been perfected for centuries and thousands of housewives, from whom there was something to learn. Secondly, truly folk recipes are usually not overloaded with various tinsel – it’s easier to figure out what’s what, and you can always add your own touch. Third, it’s just delicious. To be continued.