10 Cooking Guidelines That Chefs Frequently Disregard
I Reached Out to Three Culinary Experts About What They Consider "Wrong" in the Kitchen, and Their Insights Were Truly Eye-Opening
Believe it or not, you can combine fish and cheese in your recipes!
Cooking often appears to be filled with strict regulations. Avoid rinsing cooked pasta! Always use a hot skillet! Don’t forget to preheat your oven! However, there's a common saying that suggests you must first understand the rules before you can successfully break them. To explore this concept further, I consulted three skilled chefs to uncover the cooking principles they intentionally choose to ignore, which surprisingly enhance their culinary creations.
Let me introduce our culinary experts:
Oliver Ridgeway serves as the Chef Proprietor at Camden Spit and Larder (https://www.camdenspitandlarder.com/) located in Sacramento, California. He is also a prominent advocate for the city's Farm-to-Fork initiative, emphasizing local produce.
Katie Vine is the creative force behind the popular blog Dinners Done Quick (https://dinnersdonequick.com/). With more than two decades of experience in recipe development, she specializes particularly in quick and efficient air fryer and microwave meals.
During our discussions, they shared ten cooking "rules" that they frequently break:
- Cooking large cuts of meat by "searing" them in the oven instead of on the stovetop.
- Incorporating "raw" alcohol directly into dishes.
- Using the microwave to cook potatoes, rather than boiling or baking.
- Preparing roux separately instead of making it in the pan with the other ingredients.
- Skipping the soaking process for dried beans before cooking.
- Combining fish and cheese, which is often frowned upon.
- Utilizing a tortilla press for crafting flour tortillas, despite traditional methods.
- Omitting the browning step for meat in stews and soups.
- Searing meat and fish in non-stick pans, contrary to common advice.
- Adding salt to whipped cream, which is generally considered unconventional.
Which of these practices caught you off guard the most? Are there any cooking conventions you challenge in your kitchen? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!
