Where/How did you learn to cook?

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I'm just starting to learn. I used to bake with my mom a lot when I was a kid, but the cooking was pretty much always taken care of.


I'm inherently lazy, so cooking with effort is significantly outside my normal motus operandi, even though I always WANTED to be able to cook. When my gf started watching Food Network Canada regularly a few months ago, I got hooked. I decided it was time to just start working on what I wanted to be able to do - cook a lot of interesting, tasty, and healthy dishes.

Another reason I started learning was because of the lifestyle change where I'm no longer eating McD's regularly (or at all, for that matter). I've become a lot more interested in what I'm consuming, so cooking seems to be the best way of doing that.

My problem I hate not knowing how stuff will react. I don't just like tossing stuff in a pan and seeing what happens. I want to understand all about heat and flavours and cooking methods and prep and all that other junk, so I've been reading this site religiously, I've been watching Food Net Canada non-stop, and I've started reading various "reference" books on cooking so that I can learn as much as possible.

Learning is good!
 
I was born with a passion for cooking. I remember wanting to help Mom in the kitchen since I was 3. I'd rather watch her cook than watch cartoons on TV. Weird! I learned all the Mexican dishes from her (with no measurements I might add) then some in my high school home economics class. I have picked up more international dishes through cooking shows (Food Network), recipes and tips I get on my cooking clubs. I'm flattered when someone asks me to teach them how to cook.
 
I learned to cook from my grandmother. She was such an awesome cook and even as a young child I remember standing there watching her and "helping" her. My mom had diabetes and as I got older.. she was always not feeling well so it was up to me.. in high school to cook the family meals. Therefore, I become a pretty good cook and my interest in cooking has increased over the years and now it is my greatest passion.
 
I started cooking when I moved to Virginia. I had 2 male roomates and we took turns cooking. One day I found The Mafia Cookbook in an issue of playboy, and made a marinara sauce and veal marsala. That was how it all began. I picked up a few recipes here and there. Then in 1996 or so I decided to make a cheesecake for this girl I was seeing. I ended up not making one for her, but did make some for a party at work. They were the pre-made pie crust varieties. Then I got ahold of a cookbook and found out that the real cheesecake is not really much harder. A few years ago I got The Ultimate Cheesecake cookbook by Myra Chanin and Joey Reynolds. There are some great tips in that book, btw. Recently I have really gotten into grilling and love it.
 
After years of watching my mother, a graduate of the culinary institute of Switzerland, I kind of grew into it. After working in professional kitchens for 6 years, my food and beverage director at the time saw potential, and voted me in for an internship sponsered by the CIA and ACF. So I did it, would of been a fool not to. Was awarded "one of the top up and coming chefs" award by restaurant and hospitality mag shortly there after, and have loved every hot, back aching, stress filled, time consuming, customer pleasing moment of being a chef for the last 10 years.
 
i taught myself bechamels & hollandaise & many various other sauces, from mango to mayonnaise, gravies, proper veggie preperation & cookery, soups, freshly-prepared ravioli & other pastas, salads, casseroles, meats, meatloaf, burgers, seafoods, proper eggs, roasting techniques, seasonings, etc., very early on. as early as 7 or 8, sauces by 15 or so. steak was later on, as were lamb & cornishhen, different sorts of fish, etc.- near my 20th & beyond.
roast pork w/ sauerkraut & roasted red potatoes (& plenty of black pepper), ham & cabbage soup, etc., it usually was a combination of watching my Dad & my Grandfather cook.
now i'm learning other, advanced techniques & variations of my previous cooking, plating/presentation, recievieng/working towards 6 certifications, working with Chef instructors that i adore.
 
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I was a "prep chef" for my mother as I was growing up. Since we ate 99.99% Asian food when I was growing up, I got a lot of opportunities to cut veggies, meat and cook rice and noodles. The kids would get all of the veggies and protein prepared and when it was ready, Mom came in and did the actually cooking or stir frying. I learned how to cook non-Asian food through recipes, friends and TV shows.
 
I learned to cook from my Mom and the first thing I remember learning to cook was corn bread and I had to stand in a chair to reach the table to stir it up. Both my grandmas also were great cooks and let me help when I was little as did an couple of Aunts that lived close by. My kids learned to cook the same way and we're teaching my 6 yr old great neice as well. She loves to help.
 
My grandmother taught me the fun stuff, pastry, scones, cookies, cakes.
My mum taught me the important stuff, roast chicken, vegetables, stir fries, baklava, tempura etc And taught me how to use a recipe book.
At school I further developed my skills.

I'm so grateful I grew up around the kitchen and cooking has been a constant source of pleasure for me.
 
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