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lickmikehunt · ‎14-05-2014

In the past year I've started as a kitchen porter working in a kitchen and about 3 months in moved up to commis chef position which I've been doing since. The thing is I don't actually know the first thing about "cooking"; I cook the food on the menu of my restaurant and make well-presented salads but I'd like to know everything about cooking and I don't know where to start. My flatmate is a brilliant cook with a real passion for food and he can show me so much but it's just really overwhelming knowing where to start. Are there any good books out there for total beginners, explaining what's good for you, techniques etc. Thanks

jeffbrg23 · ‎19-05-2014

Delia Smith's three book How to Cook series was very well received when it first came out and starts right from the basics. I brought them for my brother in law when they first came out and he was impressed, although I've no direct experience of them myself.

They are also very readily available, very cheaply so you can take a punt of a few pounds on the first book to see if you get on with it

mouse4702 · ‎24-06-2014

Agree with Jeff. If pennies are tight, there's always a good selection in The W*rks, just be guided by the titles, eg Cooking For Beginners. Ebay is a good source too, once you know what book you want you can generally pick it up for a couple of quid instead of the 20 or 30 quid the big names charge. Try charity shops too - I've just picked up New Larousse Gastronomique for two quid from our local cancer shop - and that's one of the French cookery standards (despite the name it's in English!)

Much depends on the type of cookery you're interested in - I'm guessing classical cuisine rather than Hairy Biker. You can't go far wrong with anything by Robert Carrier.

Why not ask on the Family, Home & Garden board? They are slightly more domestic-minded. Good luck, and let us know how it goes

angrydrag0n · ‎03-07-2014

If you have a local library, you will be able to borrow books for free.

There is a show on the food channel (freesat - but think its on freeview as well) called the Barefoot contessa. She cooks a lot of comfort foods, but based on good fresh ingredients and traditional recipes. Its not the pretentious cooking I hate, where there is teaspoon of food and an artistically placed dribble of sauce. Shes cooking for friend and family. Even if you dont actually cook anything, its a great program for soaking up ideas. She doesn't give recipes so you would have to jot it down as she does it, though I'm guessing an internet search would bring up her tv home page and theres bound to be stuff there.

mouse4702 · ‎03-07-2014

Oooh, she's great, her. And I love the Hairy Bikers when it comes to down-home cooking

angrydrag0n · ‎04-07-2014

I have to say she has reactivated my interest in cooking, the only downside is I'm eating it!!! I am so jealous of the speciality food shops over there. The whole food scene over there seems to be exciting. Over here all fast food sort of looks the same in the end.

I do like the bikers but dont catch them that often.

mouse4702 · ‎05-07-2014

I love the way they put the focus on British regional cooking. I hate it when you buy a punnet of strawberries or green beans and find out they came from somewhere as far as Israel.

angrydrag0n · ‎05-07-2014

Yes I like the way they tackle the local or regional dishes.

Unless you live there and have tried it, you wont know it exists. Theres all the exposure in the world for high end or fashionable food presentation styles (shudder!!), But the local offerings are usually very tasty and importantly are often very low budget cookery. Some of these tv recipes look lovely but for a lot of people the cost of the ingredients are outside their finances, and I think people get the impression that you have to spend a lot on the ingredients which often isn't the case.

OH likes mexican wraps with lots of stir friend veg in it. Its one of his dishes but I prepped the chicken. I buy a non added water chicken and bone them out as its the cheapest way of getting chicken breasts. We've run out of breasts so just stripped 3 drumsticks down. I'm fussy so took a few minutes to nip out any tendons and make sure I haven't left any on the bone. Its not at all necessary but I'd already got my hands dirty so not really a hardship. Its probably the cheapest of meats, but nice flavour and very tender. I wouldn't have been quite so fussy if I was doing a whole carcass as I usually boil for stock and take any missed bits off when cold.

I've just got back into bulk cooking meats for sandwiches. OH is always hungry and can eat his way through a stack of sandwiches at any given moment. I dont buy the cheap stuff with water in, so its an economy measure but also the meat is nicer and a better variety for him as well. I have a ham, a pork joint and my first attempt at home made haslet going in together tonight on half price leccy. lol! The ham is a supermarket economy bacon joint, I boiled the last one up twice and discarded the water then roasted in foil with honey, bay and black pepper, and it beat the shop bought stuff by a mile at half price even with leccy factored in. The only snag is now I'm thinking about splashing out on a slicer

mouse4702 · ‎07-07-2014

Oooh, if you get a slicer you can make your own bacon from belly pork - tis very easy, but you of course will need a slicer once you've done it!

angrydrag0n · ‎08-07-2014

I cut the chilled haslet and bagged it. For a first attempt its not bad at all. But I did make the mistake of using pork loin trimming which was what I had and virtually fat free. I think it needs some hard fat (not as much as the bought stuff) to bring it together and there should be a proportion of offal in there as well. I will have to brave the local butcher and see whats on offer. I dont think even semi frozen it would have gone through a slicer?

The ham turned out great with marmalade instead of honey. Similar flavour but a nice hint of orange too. Considering its only the supermarkets value joint its well worth doing.

So still dithering. I think as I'm unsure I'll cut by hand and see how I'm doing. Its the clean up process and storing the thing really, and I've used catering slicers in the past and I know that what ever I buy now (tight budget) is not going cut like those. So it may be a bit frustrating? I'd buy a 2nd hand catering one in a flash if I had some where to store it.

We dont eat a lot of bacon so not sure it will be worth it. Judging by the reviews online most of the budget slicers (£50) dont cope with raw meat or home cured bacon, though whether they are cutting with the rind on no one specified. It seems for homemade bacon most of them start out with the domestic slicer then ditch those in favour of a 2nd hand catering one. And those that have a bread blade apparently marmalise thinner slices. I guess its like most things buying the better equipment saves in the long run?

mouse4702 · ‎08-07-2014

I'm going to have to try that ham. You can do wonders with a "value" joint and even if it goes wrong you've not spent a fortune. I'm not adventurous but will have to spread my wings a bit, I can see. I did the bacon, twice, but was stumped for cutting it. Tried with my sharpest knife but it was not a pretty sight.