A mutual of mine posted recently that many people say a beginner should ‘Just Practice!’ and indeed that’s the #1 way of getting better at something.
But often a beginner doesn’t practice – not because they’re lazy – but because they don’t know how.
So! Here are some ways to practice cooking, to get better at it!
HAVE A SHARP KNIFE! SHARP! SHARP! You should be able to gently drag the blade across a ripe tomato and it cleanly cuts with no ragged edges! A good chef’s knife is more valuable than basically any other cooking tool. Investing in a single good knife is WORTH IT.
Practice chopping something basic, like celery or a half a cucumber. Figure out how to hold both of your hands – Knife hand with its proper grip, grabbing hand with the knuckle leading, so you don’t have to worry about chopping your fingers off. – Your thumb scootches the food to the knife. Go slow and deliberate. Try to make each of your celery slices the same side. Try to keep the slices straight, then keep them consistently angled.
Practice how to prepare different plants- Find tips on how to peel a potato quickly, how to dismember a pepper quickly. How to take a rind off a melon.
Practice boiling an egg. Like, boil eggs 1 at a time, and keep track of the time so you can see how boiling strength and time effect the end result.
Try a new technique! Follow the instructions from a recipe directly.
Fry something in a pan
Saute some onions
Boil some specialty noodles, like angel hair. Compare it to spaghetti – they require different cook times for a reason.
Melt some chocolate – slooooowwwwly. Heating slow or fast can change the structure of a food. Heating chocolate too fast and too hot will make it crystalize and turn gritty.
Try a new recipe!
Find a recipe where you know how to do everything except 1 step. Read about that 1 step, and carefully follow directions.
Quiz yourself on spices and herbs! Try to identify what spices are being used in your food when you go out. Dill? Paprika? Red pepper? Train yourself in the spice cabinet – smell and taste the different spices and herbs. Find a dish with a specific spice in it, and cook it so you know how it tastes when cooked into chicken or broccoli.
Remember! No one instinctively knows how to cook – We all learn from observation and trying new things, and doing it over and over again until it’s muscle memory.
Just like Athletes are good because they put in the practice and the passion.
Just like Artists and Writers are good because they put in the practice and passion.
You can become a good cook. Even if you’ve burnt noodles or exploded a turkey before. There is no cut-off limit. Everyone can learn.
ImagineCreateDevour 
