Blog 7: Lessons from the Kitchen

Our Halfway Point: Lessons From the Test Kitchen

1. Plan ahead

Typically, when I'm cooking, I've learned that planning ahead is always a good idea. When I first started cooking dishes in this class, I went along with the menu, not really taking out all of the ingredients and causing it to be more chaotic than it had to be. Taking everything out, and having all the materials I need for cooking is always beneficial as it makes cooking more enjoyable and can make the food better too.

2. Know what you like

From the beginning of class, I've been making Jewish foods, something that I can personally relate to. Ever since I was a kid, I've been eating the most generic Jewish foods, mostly on holidays, but this class changed that. Since I've been in this class, I learned about many new dishes that I haven't tried/made. What I've learned from this experience is that there are types of foods and ingredients that I just don't like, so when I look for a recipe, this is taken into account. The reason I do this is that if it's something I don't think I'm going to enjoy, I wouldn't put as much effort into it. This can be related to life in general as well as you typically want to enjoy what you're doing in life.

3. Try the challenging recipe

There are many foods that I've made so far that have been a challenge to make. For example, the brisket. I've never made brisket in my life. For me, cooking meat is not something I do very often. I'm not very familiar with how to cook it and usually leave it to someone who can actually make it good. But as I've progressed in this class, I've learned that I should challenge myself, not only with food but in life. You can challenge yourself with anything, and cooking is just one way.