TODAY’S POLL

LAST POLL RESULTS

38.6% of you voted 🍳 Cooks intuitively without a recipe in yesterday’s poll: What do you think is the clearest sign that someone knows how to cook?

“It looks like magic to me when someone doesn’t use a recipe.”

“Handful of this, pinch of that, and eureka!”

“My mother and aunt could make all kinds of things without once looking at a recipe. If you asked them for the recipe, they would just rattle off the ingredients and steps to you. Nothing was written down. It was crazy.”

“First and foremost, you need to love food, so you’re excited to cook and try something new. Practice is the key. My mother cooked three meals a day for nine children. She put in her 10,000 hours by the time she was 30. She was such a wonderful and creative cook. She always had to fight us off from trying to steal a piece before dinner. The delicious aroma filling our house drove everyone crazy.”

“I HAD A FRIEND WHO NEEDED HIS MOM’S RECIPES, WHICH I IGNORED WHEN I COOKED AT HIS HOUSE. I LEARNED A LOT FROM COOKING SHOWS.”

“I use recipes to get an IDEA of what should go in the dish. I rarely follow them exactly unless I’m using an ingredient I’m unfamiliar with. DO I know how to cook? Yes! Am I a GREAT cook? Only sometimes, LOL. Perhaps I SHOULD follow that recipe. :)”

“I don’t cook, so it always surprises me when someone can just whip something up in the kitchen.”

“I have a friend who is a great cook. He can just open his fridge and cabinets and make something amazing.”

“I have a friend who, while I sit drinking coffee and chatting, will nonchalantly throw together the best meals and snacks I’ve ever eaten. I love her company, but her food is nearly as good.”

“Improvisational ability.”

“For me, it is how the food is seasoned and how the meat is marinated. You have to use the Blessed Trinity of seasonings (garlic, onions, and bell pepper), along with garlic powder, onion powder, and Creole seasoning. Using these seasonings will make your taste buds shout with joy.”

“Seasoning, seasoning, seasoning! You can cook it perfectly, but if it tastes like sh!t, then what’s the point?”

“Consistently good food, regardless of the ingredients, is certainly a sign of a good cook in my experience.”

“When one cooks ‘intuitively without a recipe,’ they are actually using a recipe they have memorized and adjusted. You just don’t witness that because it is in their mind.”

“Proof… pudding.”

“To be an accomplished cook, one needs to demonstrate the ability to follow complicated recipes; not every dish can be made without a recipe! Consistency gets my vote.”

“It was more like all of the above, but I chose cooks without a recipe. I have several friends who are excellent cooks, and I thoroughly enjoy eating their food. I’m not much of a cook myself, so I rarely get in the kitchen. I’m certain cooking skills and the desire to cook have a lot to do with how you were raised. I’ll just leave it at that, lol!”

“All of the above identify a great cook.”

“All of the above.”

“I think it’s a matter of consistently putting great food on the table, trying new recipes, and varying ingredients, cooking times, and styles.”

“I don’t cook at all, so I have no idea!”

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