Thread: Who taught you to cook?

On Sat 12 Jul 2008 02:39:11p, Kswck told us...

> Parent, other family member, friend? Or did you have to learn on your
own?
>
> Mom boiled every veggie to death. Figure ALL pork must be cooked in a fry
> pan covered with mustard and sauerkraut, till it's dead, beef so rare it
> would moo and chicken ONLY in a pressure cooker, or Shake-N-Bake.
> (Don't get me started on her soups-she believed food was to keep you
> alive...taste? 'You want that too? Why?').
>
> Learned on my own.

Initially, and at a very your age, my mother, grandmother, and great-
grandmother. All three were fine cooks. That was a foundation and
springboard for me learning and refining on my own. You never stop
learning about food.

--
Wayne Boatwright
-------------------------------------------
Saturday, 07(VII)/12(XII)/08(MMVIII)
-------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------
In silence man can most readily
preserve his integrity. - M. Eckhart
-------------------------------------------

In article <48792492$0$11634$[email protected]>,
"Kswck" <[email protected]> wrote:

> Parent, other family member, friend? Or did you have to learn on your own?
>
> Mom boiled every veggie to death. Figure ALL pork must be cooked in a fry
> pan covered with mustard and sauerkraut, till it's dead, beef so rare it
> would moo and chicken ONLY in a pressure cooker, or Shake-N-Bake.
> (Don't get me started on her soups-she believed food was to keep you
> alive...taste? 'You want that too? Why?').
>
> Learned on my own.

Learned from my mother and the Edmonds Cookbook, aka the NZ food bible.

Miche

--
Electricians do it in three phases

"Kswck" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:48792492$0$11634$[email protected]..
> Parent, other family member, friend? Or did you have to learn on your own?
>
> Mom boiled every veggie to death. Figure ALL pork must be cooked in a fry
> pan covered with mustard and sauerkraut, till it's dead, beef so rare it
> would moo and chicken ONLY in a pressure cooker, or Shake-N-Bake.
> (Don't get me started on her soups-she believed food was to keep you
> alive...taste? 'You want that too? Why?').
>
> Learned on my own.

My mother tried but I kept going upstairs to read or going out to catch
frogs with my Dad.

On Jul 12, 2:39*pm, "Kswck" <ks...@optonline.net> wrote:
> Parent, other family member, friend? Or did you have to learn on your own?
>
> Mom boiled every veggie to death. Figure ALL pork must be cooked in a fry
> pan covered with mustard and sauerkraut, till it's dead, beef so rare it
> would moo and chicken ONLY in a pressure cooker, or Shake-N-Bake.
> (Don't get me started on her soups-she believed food was to keep you
> alive...taste? 'You want that too? Why?').
>
> Learned on my own.

Mom cared more about taste and texture than that but didn't have much
skill. I learned the basics from the two ladies who ran the school
cafeteria where I had a succession of jobs, and from the short order
cooks at a couple of joints where I worked during college. Then Julia
showed me how to appreciate and try to achieve more than the basics,
Jacques taught me techniques from his shows and his books, Jeff Smith
widened my culinary horizons even further. More than from all of them
I learned techniques and ingredients for Chinese food from my Chinese
uncle whom the rest of the family considered the best cook of them
all. He was actually an organic chemist whose work included crafting
scents and perfumes but cooking was his favorite hobby. The other
night I was lightly browning some dry flour in a skillet in order to
darken it for a sauce I was going to make and had to smile because I
remembered my uncle telling me, "you don't have to do this but the
result will be better even if no one else knows why." -aem

Kswck wrote:
> Parent, other family member, friend? Or did you have to learn on your own?
>
> Mom boiled every veggie to death. Figure ALL pork must be cooked in a fry
> pan covered with mustard and sauerkraut, till it's dead, beef so rare it
> would moo and chicken ONLY in a pressure cooker, or Shake-N-Bake.
> (Don't get me started on her soups-she believed food was to keep you
> alive...taste? 'You want that too? Why?').
>
> Learned on my own.
>

Both grandmothers, but mostly my grandmother on my Mom's side. She
taught me how to make homemade noodles (the skill skipped a
generation--my Mom couldn't do them if her life depended upon it) and
gravy. My dad was also a cook (short order, mostly, in diners and
various restaurants), but he didn't cook much at home. He would
sometimes bake for special occasions. Learned to love cinnamon rolls
from eating his. Picked up a few things from him. My grandfather on my
Mom's side was a butcher. Learned a lot about meat and knives from him.
Picked up a lot of the rest of my love of food and kitchen skills by
watching and reading some of the greats like Julia Child.

Other more recent influences have been Alton Brown, Mario Batali, Ming
Tsai, and Lynne Rossetto Kasper.

Kswck said...

> Parent, other family member, friend? Or did you have to learn on your
own?
>
> Mom boiled every veggie to death. Figure ALL pork must be cooked in a fry
> pan covered with mustard and sauerkraut, till it's dead, beef so rare it
> would moo and chicken ONLY in a pressure cooker, or Shake-N-Bake.
> (Don't get me started on her soups-she believed food was to keep you
> alive...taste? 'You want that too? Why?').
>
> Learned on my own.


I caught on to a couple of my favorite dishes Mom cooked by watching
carefully.

Pop Pop was suave carving the turkey. I paid strict attention.

Inherited cookbook volumes became my best cooking resource. Foolproof!

Andy

"Kswck" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:48792492$0$11634$[email protected]..
> Parent, other family member, friend? Or did you have to learn on your own?
>
> Mom boiled every veggie to death. Figure ALL pork must be cooked in a fry
> pan covered with mustard and sauerkraut, till it's dead, beef so rare it
> would moo and chicken ONLY in a pressure cooker, or Shake-N-Bake.
> (Don't get me started on her soups-she believed food was to keep you
> alive...taste? 'You want that too? Why?').
>
> Learned on my own.

I taught me to cook. In my birth family's tradition, men don't cook except
when working as cooks or chefs in a professional capacity. Men cooking at
home is just a no-no. When I moved to a rooming house in another city to
attend college, I barely knew how to boil water. The guys I lived with
helped with the basics, but I quickly wanted to try fancier stuff and bought
cookbooks (there were almost no cooking shows on TV back then). Which
explains why I'm something of a retard when it comes to cooking compared to
most people here.

Kswck wrote:
>
> Parent, other family member, friend? Or did you have to learn on your own?
>
> Mom boiled every veggie to death. Figure ALL pork must be cooked in a fry
> pan covered with mustard and sauerkraut, till it's dead, beef so rare it
> would moo and chicken ONLY in a pressure cooker, or Shake-N-Bake.
> (Don't get me started on her soups-she believed food was to keep you
> alive...taste? 'You want that too? Why?').
>
> Learned on my own.

All of the above plus experience in commercial kitchens. Any time anyone
made a meal for me that I enjoyed, they were asked for the
recipe/technique etc. If it was an awful meal, also took note *never* to
do that!

Arri wrote on Sat, 12 Jul 2008 17:44:33 -0600:


> Kswck wrote:
>>
>> Parent, other family member, friend? Or did you have to learn
>> on your own?
>>
>> Mom boiled every veggie to death. Figure ALL pork must be
>> cooked in a fry pan covered with mustard and sauerkraut, till
>> it's dead, beef so rare it would moo and chicken ONLY in a
>> pressure cooker, or Shake-N-Bake. (Don't get me started on
>> her soups-she believed food was to keep you alive...taste?
>> 'You want that too? Why?').
>>
>> Learned on my own.

I guess I drew up knowing how to make breakfast fried stuff and probably
learned from my mother. She wasn't a bad cook and used the freshest
ingredients but tended to cook vegetables to death.

Until I shared a house and also all the chores with 3 others, I'd never
really tried to cook apart from barbequing steaks and corn in the nearby
national park. My future wife was not very complimentary about my steaks
:-) However, I'm a chemist of sorts so I bought a book and my first meal
in the shared house was not unsuccessful.
--

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

Email, with obvious alterations: not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not

On Sat, 12 Jul 2008 17:39:11 -0400, "Kswck" <kswck@optonl[email protected]> wrote:

>Parent, other family member, friend? Or did you have to learn on your own?

My Mothers Mother.

Great cook, and my Mom learned from her, just not enough.





--

Lumber Cartel (tinlc) #2063. Spam this account at your own risk.

This sig censored by the Office of Home, Land & Planet Insecurity...

Remove XYZ to email me

Kswck wrote:
> Parent, other family member, friend? Or did you have to learn on your own?
>
> Mom boiled every veggie to death. Figure ALL pork must be cooked in a fry
> pan covered with mustard and sauerkraut, till it's dead, beef so rare it
> would moo and chicken ONLY in a pressure cooker, or Shake-N-Bake.
> (Don't get me started on her soups-she believed food was to keep you
> alive...taste? 'You want that too? Why?').
>
> Learned on my own.

my birth mother was a professional cook before the madness took over
completely, so the genetic touch was there. my step-mother and your
mother were sisters in the kitchen. i learned from watching others,
being taught how to cook mexican food by the first mother-in-law and
from then on it was hit or miss, experimenting, watching friends, and
reading cookbooks.

harriet & critters hiding from the heat.

Kswck wrote:
> Parent, other family member, friend? Or did you have to learn on your own?
>
> Mom boiled every veggie to death. Figure ALL pork must be cooked in a fry
> pan covered with mustard and sauerkraut, till it's dead, beef so rare it
> would moo and chicken ONLY in a pressure cooker, or Shake-N-Bake.
> (Don't get me started on her soups-she believed food was to keep you
> alive...taste? 'You want that too? Why?').
>
> Learned on my own.
>
>



I learn something from nearly every person who cooks for me or
lets me assist. Learning can be defined as a positive thing
("Do it this way") or a negative one ("Yuck, don't EVER...")


gloria p

Kswck wrote:
> Parent, other family member, friend? Or did you have to learn on your
> own?

I ventured out on my own with not a clue about how to cook.
My mother did all the cooking and I was only permitted to
do potato peeling, like that.

I really like to see when people cook with their kids, I think
it's a great idea all around. They get a head start on life as
far as being able to take care of themselves, and maybe they
will eat different foods if they make it. It's a good interest to
cultivate.

My first mil taught me a little bit, she was a fabulous cook.
Italian. I learned crazy stuff from her, like you could cut up
an apple or an orange, whatever was in the refrigerator, and
put it in a tossed salad. Wow. Laugh if you will, but really
that's the first time I started to think about food in a different
way. Food-wise I'd led a pretty sheltered life, except that I was
the only person I knew of my friends, etc., who'd ever had
sushi.

nancy

"Wayne Boatwright" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected] 6.120...
> On Sat 12 Jul 2008 02:39:11p, Kswck told us...
>
>> Parent, other family member, friend? Or did you have to learn on your
> own?
>>
>> Mom boiled every veggie to death. Figure ALL pork must be cooked in a fry
>> pan covered with mustard and sauerkraut, till it's dead, beef so rare it
>> would moo and chicken ONLY in a pressure cooker, or Shake-N-Bake.
>> (Don't get me started on her soups-she believed food was to keep you
>> alive...taste? 'You want that too? Why?').
>>
>> Learned on my own.
>
> Initially, and at a very your age, my mother, grandmother, and great-
> grandmother. All three were fine cooks. That was a foundation and
> springboard for me learning and refining on my own. You never stop
> learning about food.

My mom, who was always a fabulous baker has gotten to be a better and
better cook as the years have passed, my mother-in-law, whose roots are
Southern and has some really great signature dishes, and the home-ec
classes we had to take in junior high. Yes, those home-ec classes were
great!

With exceptions here and there, no one in my family cooked. Learning to
cook was therefore an act of rebellion. (One grandmother made
hamentaschen with us. My mother sometimes made a meat & tomato sauce.
Other than that, it was broiled meats, salads, and frozen vegetables.
Not bad, not what you would call cooking.)


I learned from cookbooks, trial and error (lots of hideous and humorous
errors), the Culinary Institute, Jim, and more cookbooks.


--Lia

Kswck wrote:
> Parent, other family member, friend? Or did you have to learn on your own?
>
The cooking gene definitely skipped a generation in my family. I do
remember my mom and aunt showing me a few things, but I think my love of
cooking comes from my grandmother. She didn't specifically show me how
to cook, but I know I observed her quite a bit. I've noticed that my
cousins are also much more culinarily (I'm pretty sure that's a made up
word) gifted than their parents.

I was interested and wanted to learn. I did learn a lot from the chiefs
on PBS. My efforts were encouraged and appreciated which then spurred
me on to more. So I guess I fall more into the learning on my own side.

--
Queenie

*** Be the change you wish to see in the world ***

"Kswck" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:48792492$0$11634$[email protected]..
> Parent, other family member, friend? Or did you have to learn on your own?
>
> Mom boiled every veggie to death. Figure ALL pork must be cooked in a fry
> pan covered with mustard and sauerkraut, till it's dead, beef so rare it
> would moo and chicken ONLY in a pressure cooker, or Shake-N-Bake.
> (Don't get me started on her soups-she believed food was to keep you
> alive...taste? 'You want that too? Why?').
>
> Learned on my own.
>

At home, I could fry an egg, make a burger and other simple survival types
of cooking but had no interest aside from that. It was some years later that
I really started to get interested. Frugal Gourmet and Romagnoli's Table
were the two that really got me interested so I took the time to learn basic
cooking and some of the science behind it.

Out of necessity I've been doing the majority of cooking the last couple of
years so there definitely was a payoff in time spent learning. Wish I had
watched my grandmother more though. I certainly miss some of her meals.

"Kswck" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:48792492$0$11634$[email protected]..
> Parent, other family member, friend? Or did you have to learn on your own?
>
> Mom boiled every veggie to death. Figure ALL pork must be cooked in a fry
> pan covered with mustard and sauerkraut, till it's dead, beef so rare it
> would moo and chicken ONLY in a pressure cooker, or Shake-N-Bake.
> (Don't get me started on her soups-she believed food was to keep you
> alive...taste? 'You want that too? Why?').
>
> Learned on my own.

A little of D. All of the above.
My mom taught me some things, my grandma taught me some things, my aunts
taught me some things and I taught myself alot of things.

I've aldo attended some of the cooking classes at Great News....but mostly
because the menu looked interesting and I wanted the recipes! lol

kimberly

When I was five I begged my mother to let me cook. She said anyone who
wants to be a good cook must know how to read. So I taught myself to
read. When I could sort of stumble through stuff she made me read the
directions on the Jello box. When I could do that (albeit) with
coaching, I made , , , Jello. It was all smooth sailing from there
(well, mostly).

My mother was a good and adventuresome cook. I remember Chinese food
from a cookbook by some nuns from Peking/Beijing borrowed from the
library. She spent years trying to recapture the English foods my dad
grew up on - lemon curd tarts, Yorkshire Pudding, Boiled dinner with
suet pudding, beef and potatoes . . .

I made my first entire meal at between eight and nine years old.
Venison Swiss Steak, baked potatoes, green beans and butterscotch
pudding. Then I used to wait until the grown ups were gone and go
into the kitchen and experiment. No wonder they would never give me a
chemistry set for my birthday.

Later on she turned me on to Julia (I bought the books!) and the
Frugal Gourmet, but my strongest skill is walking into somebody else's
kitchen and improvising a meal from whatever I can scrounge up -
occasionally a disaster, but almost always edible.

Now I am retired due to disability, I live alone and HATE to cook for
one. If you're ever in North Dakota . . .

Lynn from Fargo