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Cooking Failures

 


One time when I was a kid, maybe 9 or so, I was trying to make something in the kitchen. It might have been a chocolate frosting for something. Anyway, the directions said to melt the chocolate. So, I put the chocolate in a Pyrex bowl and set it on the burner and turned it on. The chocolate was starting to melt when all of a sudden, the bowl broke. Pieces of Pyrex and chocolate all over the stove. I was following the recipe, but when my mother came in, she explained to me that you never put the bowl directly onto the burner. You are supposed to put the bowl in a pan with some water and heat the water. Well, the recipe did not say that.

Another time I was making cookies. The recipe said to “cream the butter and sugars together.” I tracked down my mom and asked her how much cream to put in it. “Cream?” she said. “There’s no cream in it. I showed her the recipe, and she explained to me what the verb “cream” meant.

A lot of recipe writers assume you already know how to do certain basic things in the kitchen. This knowledge is a precursor to actually being able to properly follow the recipe. On the Great British Baking Show, they always have a “Technical Challenge” where the bakers/contestants don’t know what they will be asked to bake. They are given a recipe, but it is a bare bones recipe. One of the items on the recipe might say “make a hot water crust pastry.” They don’t tell them how to make a hot water crust pastry, so if they don’t know how to make one, they are in trouble.

When I was in school, all the boys were required to take a shop class, and all the girls were required to take Home Economics. I assume those basic cooking knowledge skills were to be obtained in Home Economics. Not being a girl, I never took Home Economics. I had to pick up that knowledge in other ways, from my mom, my wife, or through trial and error. The first time I tried making bread, I missed the instructions about letting it rise a second time. My bread turned out like a brick. But I never made that mistake again.

Maybe that is the risk of trying to follow an old recipe or a recipe handed down from your ancestor. They expected the followers to know the basics. Girls were taught the basics as a part of their upbringing. I suspect that Home Economics is no longer required (if it is even offered). So, people who want to learn how to cook and bake have to learn on their own or with family members, or, if they want to pursue this professionally, go to a culinary school.

Cooking or baking is a skill set that I have been developing in myself over the years. I am certainly no expert, but I enjoy doing it and there is a sense of accomplishment in getting something right. Finding mentors or reading up on techniques can get me part of the way there. But there is no substitute for trying it out, for making mistakes. If you serve something you made to someone, they don’t need to know how many times you got it wrong before you got it right.

It is nice to have the benefit of shared knowledge. It connects you with those who came before. It is also nice to share the knowledge with those coming after you. It completes the circle.

Star Liner

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