The Cooking Skill That Can't Be Taught

We all know someone who can cook intuitively. You ask them "how much of that did you just add to the dish?" or "how do you know when it's done?" and they answer with some variation of "I just know". Ultimately, the only way to develop that sense of intuition is to cook over and over again.
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[oggyreidmore]

When I was a teenager I used to make my "secret glaze" for grilled chicken. There was this old Nickelodeon show, "Eureka's castle", where I learned "Spicy, salty, sour, sweet makes us something good to eat." Using that concept, I used soy sauce for saltiness, honey for sweetness, vinegar for sour, and ginger for it's unique spiciness. It was delicious. I swore I was a culinary genius. I had no idea I had basically been making teriyaki sauce the whole time.

[johnbradford]

My man just taught me that which can not be taught. That’s the power of Internet Shaquille

[tim.demonbreun]

this could’ve easily been a 20 minute video, but it wasn’t. brevity & clarity off the charts.

[charlesrat]

I never understood "smells nutty". That characterization was driving me crazy, then I took a quantity food production class. While turning 3lbs of flour into a light brown roux for a Thanksgiving service I realized "nutty" to others was the smell of popcorn to me. In cooking- practice, and dare I say mindfulness really do matter.
Look forward to your videos, thanks.

[nathansimpson]

You have managed to communicate the subjective element of cooking to the autistic YouTube community, there ought to be some kind of award for this

[StevieBlunderReal]

"the peanut butter is unusable"

My brother in christ

[ProgShell]

The better I got at cooking the more I started understanding “grandma recipies” aka “how much flour should I put in the cookies grandma” “oh just about this much *grabs a handful* oh that’s not enough *spoons in a little more*”

[iabbervocium]

The other day I finally cooked a steak over charcoal and it came out absolutely perfect. The only way I knew it was done is because it just felt done. I still have a lot to learn, but reaching those intuitive milestones is really exciting.

[Marx-Lennon]

The cylindrical hole in the peanut butter at 3:16 is Andy Kaufman level genius. I see you Shaq 😉

[caglioso]

The stache may be gone, but the shadow remains. And for that, we are grateful.

[Pkeane]

My son has a ton of food allergies and learning how different Ingredients can provide similar outcomes has made all the difference in cooking for my family.

[thomrik]

Ill give you one more thing: Improvisation. Limitation breeds creativity. If you ALWAYS have every single ingredient avaliable for your standard few ol reliable recipies, youre missing out on learning so many new possible things. Same goes for equipment.
I also just woke up with a weird inclination to subscribe to his Patreon for some reason.

[BaekSangeo]

Certainly one of the biggest hallmarks of an experienced chef is someone who can taste something and immediately intuit what needs to be added/adjusted to complete it.

Like more than just being able to go "needs more salt" but also knowing if it needs some acid to spruce it up, or a pinch of sugar to balance the flavors, or some fat to make it more well rounded or maybe a specific spice to change the flavor profile etc. It's something you need to hone by experience. I think a big part of that is just being a foodie in general; hard to know how to make good food if you don't know what good food tastes like.

[NateandNoahTryLife]

Here’s another intuition exercise for everyone. Pour 3-4 bowls of cereal a day, alternating the amount of milk. It’s not easy to know whether milk or cereal goes first, it took me 23 years to learn that cereal goes first and how to add just enough milk to keep my Reese’s puffs crisp long enough for me to get to the bottom ones. Practice makes perfect, don’t get discouraged and maybe some day you can master the perfect bowl of cereal.

[leocolossi]

One of my favorite go-to quick meals (and even sandwich filling) is this sudanese salad called Salatet Dakwa that consists on peanut butter + diced tomato + diced onion + lime juice + salt + herbs. It's so easy to prep (dice vegetables, squeeze a lemon, shred herbs, mix everything and season), full of good nutrients, requires no cooking and is heavenly good. Love it so much.

Edit: added the official name of the dish

[boateye]

I was already starting to think in the way he described about categorizing food around their role in a dish since I feel myself not wanting to follow recipes as rigidly anymore. I'm glad to know I wasn't far off in thinking that way!

[sonemesis]

Before even watching - do it loads. Your brain is the most powerful tool in the universe man, insane supercomputer that gathers information, compiles it, remembers it, and applies it on a day to day basis.

Everytime I think about it I'm blown away by the strength of the human brain.

[lisahinton]

Your video is basically my entire experience as a home cook of forty-five years. Well done! This information is invaluable to a new cook, and inspiring.

I'm always learning and I learned more today with your video. Subscribing now.

[vans]

Great video, thank you for this!
Also... the peanut butter jar. lol.

[arijeanz]

i sometimes feel a bit down as a cook because between the things my family likes to eat and our budget, i don't get many chances to experiment or try new elaborate recipes, but this video reminded me of one thing: I've been cooking for my family just about full time since i was 12. Maybe I haven't been able to sample different cuts of beef or kinds of wine, but I have a fairly developed sense of intuition. I've made meals practically out of nothing. I've figured out many new meals with the same limited ingredients I have. Sure, I'm not the first person to have done this, but I did it based on my own knowledge! I think it's my best asset as a cook.