How to Cook Like a Pro

Jacq: I don’t know what I was expecting when I started culinary school, but almost all of the lessons start off the same way: You are handed a recipe, you make it to the best of your ability, following the instructions exactly, then the rest of the class samples your dish. At first, I thought it was kind of a waste. After all, as an aspiring chef, shouldn’t I be focusing on making up dishes and using my creativity? But as I went along, I realized there is no magic trick to becoming a good cook. You learn by doing. Working with trusted recipes is the best way to learn technique and gain an understanding of flavor. At school, they emphasized a few points to keep in mind when cooking from a recipe, so I wanted to share them here with you.