Do Not Panic: You are in control

• You will have failures
• Failures may lead to discovery
• You will learn how to correct problems
• Rule #1: Stop doing more damage — take the pan off the heat!
• No time for crying in cooking
• When you can't fix it
• The recipe is not your master

Taste from beginning to end

• Taste early
• Don't be thrown off or discouraged — often the starting point tastes nothing like the ending point.
• Taste often
• For sauces and soups, keep going until the taste blooms • onions suddenly becoming sweet • tomato sauce becoming round • soup suddenly tasting “complete”
• Salt is everything

There are two temperatures

"In a restaurant kitchen there are two temperatures: Hot and Very Hot."

— Some chef in some book I read

Okay there are more than two temperatures — the point is that just like cooks don't spend time fiddling with measuring spoons to differentiate between 1/8th tsp and 1/4 tsp, they also don't stare at the temperature dial trying to get the precise spot the recipe mentions.

Over time you realize there are only a few temperatures you care about, and given your stove and how it works, you learn exactly where to turn the dial.

For example, here are the heat levels (not temperature) I find myself using:

• Very Hot (max temp)
• Medium, plus or minus a bit based on the situation
• Very Low (min temp), adjusting a bit as needed

I never think about the actual temperature unless it matters, such as oil temperature for frying or the internal temperature of meat like chicken to ensure it's fully cooked. In both cases, I'm measuring the result not really thinking about exactly where the dial is set. To adjust the result, I turn the heat up or down a bit as necessary.

So stop thinking about temperature and start thinking about heat.

Watch (and listen!) for state changes

Replace skill with tools

- Knife skills - Sous Vide - AI

Rites of passage

You're not a real cook until these happen to you.

• Set off the fire alarm.
• Use salt instead of sugar.
• Drop the dish on the floor.
• Pick it up again if no one's looking.
• Get a little tipsy sampling the "cooking" wine.

What to do next

Ignore half of my advice here. I would have back in the day.

Continue your cooking journey for 10-30 years.

In the technology of your time, open a file and title it "Notes to a New Cook".

Begin writing...