Would you say that the key to cooking is knowing which ingredients would go well together?

[cookingislife]

knowing what would go well together and know what works.

 

[Aunt Bea]

IMO cooking is like any other craft/art/profession, you practice the basic/boring/rigid techniques until they become comfortable and you are able to see the possibilities in what is available.

The food editor and author Dorothy Parker referred to this as the art of foodmanship.

 

[thymeless]

Different cultures value different combinations. Sometimes harmony, sometimes contrast, sometimes symbolism sometimes superstitions.

 

[Marlingardener]

I would say the key to cooking is really liking to cook, so in spite of setbacks and total failures, you persevere, and find out what works for you and what you and anyone you cook for, enjoys.

 

[Silversage]

I think the key is tasting and adjusting as you go.

 

[taxlady]

Practice, practice, practice and learn from your mistakes.

 

[dragnlaw]

Or then you could just be like me... practice, practice, practice... and still don't learn from my mistakes - I just do them again, again, and again.