Chefs, who until recently were restricted to restaurant kitchens, are now admired and everyone wants to know the secret behind the delicious and visually appealing dishes they prepare.
But what many do not realize is that the secret is hours of sweat, sacrifice and years of training.
The good news is that you as an amateur cook do not have to give up precious hours of your life to produce dishes that are impressive and admirable.
Here's a list of 6 tips that will help you cook like a chef and rock dinner with your friends and family.
1. Taste the dish you are preparing
One of the most important lessons taught in gastronomy schools is that you must taste the dish you are constantly preparing throughout the cooking. In addition to educating your taste buds, experimenting often avoids unpleasant surprises and enables you to adjust the dish to your liking as it is prepared.
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Taste each element of the dish alone and then together to see the different flavor nuances when the ingredients are alone or combined.
2. Keep the kitchen, worktop and ingredients organized
Organization is key in a chef's kitchen! It starts from the choice of ingredients, especially in preparation and until serving time.
Start by listing all the ingredients you need for that dish when you go to the supermarket. The second, and most important, step is called mise in placewhich in French means the preparation of dishes and ingredients before the start of the service. During the mise in place, arrange all ingredients in the quantities required in the recipes and chop vegetables to the indicated size. Chop the onions, measure the milk, cut the tomatoes, leaving all the ingredients at hand? which helps immensely when cooking.
Another mantra that must be followed constantly is to clean while cooking. No dirty countertops, piles of pots and mess all over the kitchen. This practice is very negative, because in addition to facilitating food contamination, greatly hinders the execution of the dishes. It is a good practice to have a bowl on the counter to put the garbage (and emptying when it fills) and organizing in the sink the pans and utensils you have used, without remaining food, trying to wash them already during the preparation.
3. Invest in quality ingredients and reliable origin
Using good ingredients is one of the cornerstones of the world's most admired chefs' cuisine. So if you want to cook like a chef, give priority to locally sourced, organic, sustainable produce.
Read also: 14 tips for changing your cooking habits and preparing healthier meals
The more local the product, the less flavor it will lose between harvest and the supermarket (since transportation takes less time); are organic and sustainable produce tastier? besides having more vitamins and minerals than those produced with pesticides.
It is worth investing a little more in the ingredients because it positively affects the result, and also weighs less on the conscience once you know that food was produced in a more natural and human way.
If you are unsure what the seasons of each food are, check out this super-full Ceagesp chart that always helps you choose the ingredients when they're fresh and tasty.
4. Bet on the right utensils for every need.
No one needs to have a battalion of cooking utensils as a chef. But something essential is a good knife, which should always be kept sharp. In my blog, Food Passage, I have more details about what types of knife there are and which ones to use for each task. Another important factor is practicing your knife skills. There are several tutorials on Youtube, which give tips on how to hold the knife and the main cuts of French cuisine.
Another very interesting tool is the slicer. The blade is super sharp and you can slice everything very thin, the cut vegetables make the decoration of the dish look very professional. The only caveat of the slicer is that it is not very safe, so you have to be extra careful to use it and not get hurt.
Read also: 15 Amazing Tips to Succeed in Cooking
5. Know how to harmonize textures and food acidity in each dish
One of the things that strikes me most about the work of some chefs is the mix of different elements that combine to make an impressive dish. Two elements that are essential to successfully turning your dish into a chef preparation is balancing texture and acidity.
For simplicity, it can be said that texture comes down to having something crunchy to balance something soft. For example, placing nuts in rice or crunchy caramel on top of a chocolate mousse.
The acidity brings life to the dish, as when putting a little lemon in the fish. The best ways to add acidity to a dish is by including a little lemon or vinegar. Gradually add and experiment until you reach the point of your choice.
6. Capriche in the presentation of your dishes
Presentation is the finishing touch of a chef. The way food is presented is one of the most valuable factors as people start eating with their eyes. Search for references to the dish you want to prepare and think in advance about the shape you want to serve. Instagram is a great choice for inspiration. Some profiles that are worth following are: @greccocoppola, @projetobanquete, @tworedbowls and @marthastewart. In my Instagram profile @passagemgastronomica I always post references of dishes with neat presentations that I find in my day to day.
Inspiration is the soul of business!
Apart from all the above tips, another great secret to cooking as a chef is to be constantly open to new ideas and keep up with what other people are cooking. Inspiration is always the first step of a great dish. Fortunately the internet is a very helpful tool as it gives you access to many cool websites and blogs full of interesting ideas for our kitchen.
Also read: 24 Things You May Be Doing Wrong In The Kitchen And You Don't Even Know
Among them, Brazilians Finger Girl, Essence, Gastronomic Passage, Collective Cooking and Shaping Affection. From international sources, the recipe section of the New York Times and the foreign blogs Not Without Salt, Love and Lemons, and I am a Food Blog.
At the end of it all, can one say that the biggest secret of cooking? and as in any other activity? It is to practice. The more you cook, the more elaborate and sophisticated your dishes will get. No discouragement when a dish doesn't turn out exactly as it should, everyone goes through it and is part of the experience. So put these tips to work that will greatly enrich your dishes in the kitchen! Get to work!
20 Easy Cooking Tricks from Master Chefs (April 2024)
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