Poll: Do you know how to cook?

[Shirastro]

First of all lets hope that this topic doesn't make the poll monster hungry...

...Anyway.
It's been several years since i live alone, and don't have my mother to cook for me. At the beginning i mostly took take outs or made sandwiches at best.
But over the years i slowly started to learn how to cook, first some really simple dishes, to some more advanced ones today. I have a lot to learn still but i'm getting there.

What i found most surprising is just how much i actually enjoy cooking. Food just tastes so much better when you prepare it personally with care and love. Of course me enjoying cooking has a lot to do with the fact that i cook mostly just for my self, or selected few from time to time (no children to think about) and i'm not stuck in a "housewife" position where i HAVE to cook.

I also like learning about different cuisines from all over the world. From Italian pasta, to some Chinese rice/chicken dish, to Mexican.

So how about you? Do you know how to cook? Do you like it and what's your best/favorite dish to make?

P.S. i should probably point out that i'm a dude

 

[Kaltazraza]

I can cook, if I'm shown how to, I can make it somewhat similar.

 

[TitanAtlas]

Not a perfect cooker, can't do couple simple stuff. But i am a mean Meat cooking machine. If it is meat, i can cook it to perfection...

Other then that i can make salads, like pizza.

 

[Otaku World Order]

I know my way around the kitchen for the most part. I've even done Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners in all their wonderful chaos a couple of times.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

I can cook instant pot noodles with the best of them.

It's an art really.

 

[NoNameMcgee]

I am a good cook and cooking is something I love doing. Always trying new recipes, broadening my horizons, not getting stuck in that rut people get into where they know how to make a dozen proper meals and just make them repetitively for weeks.

I also watch cooking shows and read cooking sites, and i'd really love the money to vamp up the kitchen with new appliances and things. So I'd probably consider cooking a hobby rather than something I just need to do every day. I don't cook every day actually since I don't live alone, so that probably helps with keeping it interesting and not getting to the point of routine.

I actually considered doing a college course in it, but then I remembered I'd worked in a kitchen before and its just too damn hectic and stressfull for me.

 

[StrixMaxima]

I love cooking for my family and friends. My risottos are sort of a local legend. I also love lean cuts of meat + vegetables + different kinds of pepper. I experiment with this combo all the time.

 

[KiloFox]

i'm male as well, and i know how to cook quite well. when i was in high school i had a designated day it was my turn to cook, and the stipulation was that i had to cook something different each week. (granted this wasn't set in stone, i could make the same thing again, but it was kinda frowned upon and i had to wait at least a month) but i got really good at cooking a variaty of dishes and i'm pretty darn good. my mate can't cook worth crap so i do all the cooking for him.

 

[TehCookie]

I can cook for me, anyone else to tried my cooking would probably die. It's not that I'm a bad cook, I just have a really weird sense of taste.

 

[crudus]

I have been praised for my cook prowess by my friends. In reality that is all I care about, because those are the only people I cook for.

 

[somonels]

Nothing fancy but, yes, I'd say I can cook adequately.

 

[Diminished Capacity]

Not much of a chef over here.

I can prepare/assemble certain things, but that is the extent of my abilities. Like adding sauce and cheese to chicken, or making pancakes from a mix.

 

[Scarim Coral]

Err sort of. While I can make fried rice and pasta but I don't know how to season the meat or cook fish unless I want a plain meal.

 

[Nimcha]

I kinda have to, else I won't eat. So I learned myself a few things over the years. I'm still alive and healthy so I'd say I'm adequate enough!

 

[Magicmad5511]

I cook well enough. Give me a recipe and step by step instruction and I can do that. Either that or simple stuff like spaghetti and meatballs or something in a packet.

Basically nothing complex really but I can cook well enough to survive if I lived by myself.

 

[Zantos]

I can cook fairly well. I'd hardly get a job in it, but as far as myself, friends and family go I can do some pretty good things.

 

[MasterOfWorlds]

I started helping around the kitchen when I was about 4 or so, and really started cooking meals when I was around 9-10. I've cooked my family meals every night we haven't gone out to eat ever since middle school, except for special occasions where my dad cooks and I help.

My dad was a classically trained chef who went to the Culinary Institute of America, and my mom comes from a large Southern family, so I know how to cook fine dining all the way down to good ol' cracker cuisine. I've created a few dishes and sauces over the years (I'm 20 now) and everyone seems to like what I cook so long as I don't put something in it that they don't like to start with.

 

[Gnarynhar]

As long as there are decent instructions I can manage, and depending on what I'm making, I can experiment a little.
Things like cooking a leg of lamb makes me nervous though. The seasoning bit I can do fine though- I'd gotten my mother a couple of Jamie Oliver cookbooks, and one had this treatment for a leg of lamb that leaves you with meat so tasty I never had gravy on it.

I used to bake a lot too. When making cookies, I'd double the ingredients every time so I didn't eat all the dough.

There are plenty of cooking basics books out there if you can't cook. Pick something simple, get the hang of making it and then experiment a little.