Some people don’t care how good they are in the kitchen. They’re happy to make whatever they fancy in front of the television and do it all over again tomorrow. However, others who pride themselves on their cooking are always trying to do better. They want to try new recipes, combine unique flavors, and make sure that no meal is the same as the last. But for beginners, this can be overwhelming. They try to make all their improvements at once instead of working on one thing at a time. If you’re still new to the kitchen but are willing to improve with every recipe attempted, keep on reading, here’s how you can sharpen your skills and take them to the next level.
Seasoning
For a lot of novices, they think it’s okay to sprinkle every seasoning they can onto a meal, and it will taste good. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case, and some flavors overpower others to make a meal unrecognizable. It’s essential to learn how to fix overseasoned dishes without affecting the rest of the meal. Try diluting the flavor and balancing it with other seasonings. However, be careful you don’t go overboard and ruin the meal altogether. If you find you’ve been struggling with getting the balance right, start simple and check out this steak seasoning recipe, which is easy to pull off and will give you a restaurant-quality result that will have your guests salivating until next week.
Preparation
The issue a lot of new chefs encounter when creating is that they get their timing entirely off, and poor time management in a kitchen can lead to burning and overcooking ingredients that affect the quality of the meal. This might sound familiar to you, so consider tools to improve time management. Get a kitchen timer to keep you up to speed on what needs to go in the oven or come out. It’s most important, though, to collect all of your ingredients and chop and season before you start any cooking, as this allows you to focus solely on creating a masterpiece rather than getting distracted by preparation.
Presentation
You could make the most delicious meal that’s ever been created. However, if it doesn’t look nice, then it will take away a lot of enjoyment, at least for you. Taking care of the presentation of your dishes is a small but crucial part of cooking. If your meal looks beautiful and edible, it will likely taste that way, too. The aesthetics of your meal can trick the brain into thinking it’s more enjoyable than it is, which is useful if you’re yet to master your flavors. It also shows you take pride in your hobby, and the better your food looks, the better it will be received by your guests.
Sharpening Your Skills
Every budding chef goes through a period where they make mistakes, but this is all part of the learning process and often comes from trying to do too much. Taking your time and learning from your mistakes is essential for becoming a better chef, and the more you cook, the more you’ll improve.
This is a contributor post, which has been reviewed and edited personally by me before being published. Links to external reviews are meant to provide additional ideas to readers and do not reflect my personal opinion or review of products.
Feature photo credit: Wu Yi