On 28/04/2021 16:17, songbird wrote:
> Harlequin wrote:
> ...
>> In a sense, my question is about how to understand and appreciate good
>> art, rather than how to be an artist yourself.
>>
>> Does this knowledge come only with eating out and trying a lot of
>> things? Or cooking a lot? Are there any books which can help with this?
>> Does reading books on cuisines, and recipe books, help? Any good
>> websites or other resources on the Internet?
>>
>> Any answers would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!
>
> tastes and preferences vary so much from person to person
> that what i can recommend is to get out and try as many
> different things as you can.
>
> cooking skills you can watch the many shows on t.v. which
> demonstrate them and talk about food. some cooks are much
> better at explaining things than others.
>
> for now you can do things like think about what you have
> experienced and what you've enjoyed and the various aspects
> of those times.
>
> if needed keep a journal and develop a plan to try new
> things that you've not experienced before.
>
> to me, since i've been cooking since i was a fairly young
> kid and i've tried to learn how to cook new cuisines as time
> has gone on so i'm fairly open to trying new things, but
> where i'm at right now is pretty limited for time and money
> so i have to experiment once in a while and be happy with
> that. the person i live with has a very simple and restricted
> palate and special requirements so i go with the flow as much
> as i can here and then once in a while make something for
> myself that has different spices or ingredients.
>
> i do think that reading cookbooks can help to expose you
> to how dishes can look and ideas of how to present things
> but i'm not huge on presentation as much as i want the dishes
> to taste authentic enough that i would recognise them again
> (no matter how they are presented) and understand the basics
> of the different ingredients and the history is also too
> sometimes pretty interesting.
>
> if you are not already familiar with the basic kinds of
> cooking techniques and the terms that is a good place to
> start nibbling away at as you have time. reading various
> cookbooks will give you that information and exposure to
> different methods of getting the same sorts of results.
>
> nothing wrong with taking your time, enjoying the journey
> and finding out what you like and what to avoid.
>
>
> songbird

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I absolutely agree! Well said