Get a sharp knife, season properly and don't do too much at once: how to start cooking

The Guardian

4 days ago

Food is more than just nutrition: it can be joyful, social and exciting. But the act of preparing it can feel awfully daunting.
Many beginner cooks suffer from a fear of failure, a lack of foundational knowledge and a poor understanding of how long it actually takes to prepare a dish, says Sam Nasserian, founder and CEO of Cozymeal, a culinary services company. But 'once people learn the basics and try a few recipes, they're surprised by how easy and fun cooking can be', he says.
And there are lots of benefits to cooking at home. Namely: it tends to be healthier and cheaper than eating out or ordering in. So how does one start cooking? We asked experts.
Not as much as you think. It's easy to get overwhelmed by all the elaborate cooking gadgets out there, but experts agree you really only need a few key tools and ingredients to prepare most dishes.
Caroline Chambers, author of a book and Substack both called What to Cook When You Don't Feel Like Cooking, says you can go far with just 'a chef's knife, a cutting board, a good nonstick pan, a few rimmed baking sheets, and a few silicone spatulas'.
Nasserian also suggests a medium-sized oven-safe skillet, a small lidded saucepan, measuring cups and spoons, a colander and some storage containers for leftovers.
You don't have to go for the fanciest, most expensive gear either, says Sohla El-Waylly, author of the cookbook Start Here. When it comes to a knife, for example, 'you just need a sharp knife that you feel comfortable sharpening', she says. 'That might be the cheapest knife you pick up from Walmart.' Then, if you feel inspired later, you can level up.
Quality can make a big difference when it comes to basic spices and pantry staples, though. El-Waylly recommends stocking up on good kosher salt, like Diamond Crystal – 'It's very fluffy, light and forgiving when you first start cooking,' she says – and fresh black pepper that you crack yourself, either with a knife or a pepper mill.
'I know it sounds boring, but it's the basics where you can really screw yourself up right off the bat,' El-Waylly says.
Other useful ingredients she recommends keeping on hand are olive oil, a neutral oil (like canola oil or avocado oil) for high temperature cooking, a couple of vinegars, bags of rice and some beans.
There is a popular idea that cooking is intuitive. It might be for some, but intuition usually only comes after lots of practice.
'Cooking is a learned skill, just like riding a bike or learning to read,' says Chambers. 'If your mother or some other authority figure in your life didn't teach you the fundamentals, how should you be expected to have acquired them?'
The first thing Chambers recommends is enrolling in or watching a knife skills class (there are free ones online). 'Knife skills are the fundamental skill in cooking, and if you don't have a basic knowledge of them, you're always going to feel frustrated and slow in the kitchen,' she says.
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Nasserian is keen on knife skills too, including learning a safe knife grip. Another important step is developing good cooking habits, like setting up ingredients before you turn on the stove – also known as 'mise en place'.
Properly seasoning food is where a lot of beginners slip up, Nassierian says, especially by 'under-seasoning early and over-salting later'.
'You season throughout the cooking process, not just at the end,' says El-Waylly. 'Every time you add something to the pan, add some salt.'
Tasting the food as you cook is essential. This doesn't only help with seasoning, but also with learning how flavors develop, says El-Waylly.
'When you're working with spices and you taste something early on, you might feel like the spices taste like themselves and don't come together,' she says. 'But when you taste as it's cooking, you'll notice flavors blending and harmonizing.'
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For those who are learning how to cook, 'super low effort, super high reward recipes are essential', says Chambers. She says her tiny tomato pasta and taco salad recipes are especially popular among novice cooks.
Nasserian also recommends trying recipes that will teach you core cooking skills: a one-pot lentil soup can teach you how to time sauteing and simmering; sheet pan chicken with vegetables, chopping and roasting; a three-egg omelet, heat control; and a vegetable stir-fry, knife work and sauce rations.
'Rotate through them for a couple of weeks, and you'll have the confidence to tackle almost any recipe,' Nasserin says.
When you first try anything, you will inevitably make mistakes. But there are easy cooking gaffes to avoid.
Don't overcrowd pans, says Nasserian (this can prevent browning and make ingredients soggy rather than crispy). And if you want to sear meat, make sure the skillet is hot enough before you drop it in (as in, very, very hot).
Most of all, experts suggest starting off small and not biting off more than you can chew.
'TikTok makes it look really fun to cook an eight-part dinner party,' says Chambers. 'And it is fun! If you know how to cook.'
El-Waylly says it's important to be realistic about timing. 'A lot of recipes will have a cook time of 45 minutes,' she says. 'But if you're starting out, give yourself three hours.'
And if you're fretting about having people over for a meal, don't worry – the pros do it too.
'I still get nervous every time I cook for somebody. I don't think that ever goes away, and that's fine,' says El-Waylly. 'It means you care.'