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According to a recent survey by Yoon, a mere 10% of Americans actually enjoy cooking. Of the other 90%, most reported either a hatred for cooking or an indifference. All of this points to one clear fact – we’re no longer a nation of foodies. As millennials, in particular, fail to display any real desire to take to their kitchens, this leaves us on the brink of a food crisis.
A move away from home cooking is particularly worrying in light of lasting repercussions for our health, happiness, and even our ability to socialize. Worse, this general lack of food love is often a result of entirely inaccurate bad experiences.
The reality is that, while we would never cast aside all music off the back of one bad song, an astounding amount of us assume that one or two bad experiences in the kitchen mean that we’re not suited to the chef’s lifestyle. In reality, though, bad cooking often relates more to a chef’s methods than their inherent ability to enjoy the alchemy of bringing a recipe together. Here, we’re going to look at four ways that your method, rather than a lack of cooking love, could be behind your hesitance to get back in the kitchen.
Mistake # 1 – A poorly planned kitchen
A good chef never blames their tools, but they can certainly blame their kitchen. As with anything, the environment in which you’re working makes a huge difference to performance overall. Small kitchens are perhaps the worst in this sense, preventing the space and relaxation that anyone needs to create an enjoyable, and ultimately delicious, cooking experience.
Equally, kitchens that require a great deal of back and forth due to a generally poor setup can add a level of tedium that no one wants when they’re trying to kick back with a good recipe. If this all sounds familiar, then it’s quite possible that enjoying cooking at last will be as simple as reorganizing, or even renovating, your kitchen with ease and ultimate cooking comfort in mind.
Mistake # 2 – Overly complex dishes
If you look at the dishes in your favorite restaurant, you’ll likely be amazed by how simple they are. After all, these are the best taste sensations you’ve ever experienced and yet, in most cases, the ingredients are minimal. This is first-hand proof that dishes don’t need to be overly complex, yet many of us assume that we need to go all out to ensure delicious results in our own kitchens. Not only is this unnecessary, but it’s guaranteed to stress you out every time you set foot past your kitchen’s threshold.
Worse, multiple elements and complex processes too often fail to come together in satisfactory results. To overcome this setback, it’s best to pare things back, simplifying your recipe folder with tasty but straightforward dishes like this baked rigatoni, which packs all of the meat, veg, and carbs that you could hope for in a few surprisingly simple steps. By leaning more heavily on recipes like this, you ensure that cooking is more meditative than maddening. The chances are that you’ll produce far better results off the back of this shift, too!
Mistake # 3 – Juggling multiple meals
When we have entire families to cater for, it’s easy to slip into cooking multiple dishes each day. This turns cooking into a mountain rather than a joy, and it could soon see you having nightmares about the cooking process. To overcome this, it’s essential to put multiple meals to rest at long last, instead settling on meals that everyone can enjoy, and that you can enjoy cooking. This may seem like a tall task, but it’s surprisingly simple once you get stuck in. Selecting dishes that are easily adaptable, such as curries and pasta sauces, is an especially fantastic way to simplify the cooking process.
Equally, if some family members refuse to eat certain foods, blending or chopping that food type really small to start with could see them getting stuck in and getting past their aversion as a result. All of this enables you to breathe in the kitchen, reducing the work you have to put in, and increasing the chances that you’ll enjoy any time you do spend cooking more as a result.
Like all things in life, cooking obviously isn’t for everyone. But, if you think these mistakes might be behind your general dislike of anything kitchen-based, a few simple changes could be all it takes to turn you into a chef after all.
