What's your "Cooking Personality"?

Question

The post about "How much does 4 Weigh?" got me thinking.... Everyone cooks differently, and I realized while reading and replying to that post, I'm a pretty sloppy cook! And, when replying to a post a while back on making potato pancakes, I realized I never bother to drain all the liquid out of the potatoes as everyone says you ought to do, so maybe I'm also kind of lazy. :)

I can rarely be bothered with much frou-frou -- I like to get it in the oven, put it on the plate, and EAT IT. When people ask me for a recipe for something I've cooked for them, it always has parentheticals like, "1 teaspoon xyz (but I think I used more)" etc. Because I'm always throwing in more or less at whim.

And when I read recipes I'm always sitting there thinking, "Nah, I'd never do that, too much trouble!" Yet I love to cook and spend a good deal of time doing so.

(This doesn't include birthdays. For birthdays I'll do all the frou-frou!)

What's YOUR cooking personality?

Answer

I use recipes about 10% of the time, instead doing what I call "recipe creation" , making my own (I'm in the process of writing a recipe book) ...I like to experiment with different ingredients that may not usually be done and put together flavors which I think work well together; also love to pair savory & sweet.

Answer

My flavor style is intuitive (no recipes), but I follow the best cooking/prep practices of the key ingredients in the dish.

As examples, there are better cooking methods than others for everything -- cabbage, shoulder roast, potatoes, rissoto. 

I believe that if a cook doesn't follow the best practices of cooking, than it doesn't flippin' matter how intuitive or unique the flavor set... it's still failure.

Answer

I've been a "toss into the pot" cook since I was 10 and cooking for a family of 7. Watched a lot of Julia as a kid and took heart that if it sounded good and she had success with it, then, try. Still love watching the masters at work.

Never really worked as a passion in any kitchen of the restaurants I worked in, but I did do a few stints in there. My real passion for cooking is for family and friends. Been known to work for days on a meal.

I agree with all of you so far. You need a lot of adventure, a love for the art and a knowledge of what works for each individual ingredient.

They talk about a nose for perfume - I feel there are foodies that can put the dish together in their heads and actually taste the dish before it hits the plate. 

To Quote the Queen: BON APPETIT!

Answer

I respect recipes but I rarely use them for more than a guide when preparing food. The only exceptions are old country recipes. I try to follow them as closely as possible the first time I make them, than make notes for adjustments I might make the next time I venture into that venue. My wife, a person who rarely strays from the recipe, doesn't understand why I'd use a recipe at all if it's used only as an idea or guide. But I initially learned to cook with lots of left overs, and that required creative license; she learned in a more formal environment.

Answer

I have a hard time conforming. (Not that I don't conform in certain aspects of my life where it's in my best interest to do so, but it's not naturally comfortable for me.) I think it shows up in my cooking. Like other folks here have mentioned about themselves, I either cook without a recipe or generally only look at cookbooks for inspiration and then end up changing the recipe in some way.

Usually, it works out just fine, because one thing I do believe in is technique. I'm not saying I have the best technical knowledge in the world--hardly, LOL--but I do try to utilize good technique as best I can. I think that's what saves my "ingredient adventures" from being absolute disasters.

I don't routine and sameness. It drives me crazy, and I think that shows up in my cooking. I can probably list on one hand the dishes or items I've made (or at least made, exactly the same way) more than once during my marriage (six years). There are certain things I like, but I'll use them as a springboard, sort of, and change out a key ingredient or several lessers ones, so that nothing is really ever the same.

The one exception would be one or two Christmas cookie recipes that I do make every year, for sentimental reasons and tradition. I will also make sure to follow a sensitive cake recipe or, say, recipes for patisserie creams, so forth. Other than those two things, no. I always end up tossing a few extra things into quick breads, muffins, pies, change the flavorings, whatever.

Also, my natural tendency is to be a messy cook, but I try to keep that under control and remind myself to stop and "clean as I go". I get overwhelmed by sensory overload and it helps me to be *more* creative when I force myself to be neater than I was genetically programmed to be. :-)

Very interesting question, visciole. I've really enjoyed reading everyone's responses...and you sound like a fun person! :-)

Answer

In my early days of cooking, I read cookbooks constantly, not for recipes but more for technique, the science of how things happen in the kitchen, and as a guide for understanding ingredients and how they "work" in a dish.
My interest in herbs, my first culinary love, started the ball rolling. I turned my passion for food into a career, went to culinary school and worked professionally for many years. I came out of it with a solid education in technique, along with some very bad knees. 
Now, I cook by intuition and feel, don't follow rules, rarely use recipes (but collect them anyway, for reference just in case) and let my creativity flow. I still read cookbooks, but I'd really rather look at photos of food. I find I can "taste" a dish by just thinking about it. I rarely make the same thing twice, I'm constantly searching for a higher understanding of what cooking as an art is, I think about food, talk about food, write & dream about food...

Answer

I am a relaxed, intuitive cook. I love new recipes and use several a month. I never would've thought about the question re how much does 4 weigh, or what do you consider small, medium...etc. I go by look and feel, then taste. Cooking is fun and relaxing for me.

Answer

I like good, flavorful standards. I will try 10 recipes to get the one that becomes my classic. ...and then I tweak and abandon it recklessly. If I compared my approach to a known personality it would be Alton Brown. I want to know *how* things are done, how to get reliable good results and then not to get too precious with anything that's always meant to be food.

OTOH, I am excited and inspired sometimes by what people can do when they approach food as an art. I don't belong in a white linen restaurant and I don't care to. I want to eat in the jeans I live in so when there's something I want to try I'm going to do it in my kitchen and enjoy it in a relaxed way. 

I try to do everything from scratch at some time in my life because I want to know *how* it's done and I want to know that *I* can do it. There are some meals and some things that I will always to from scratch: Thanksgiving and bread; YES, tomato sauce, NO.

Mostly, I think of myself as an explorer. I'm exploring my tastes and skills, the world of possibilities. the range of variations and why some things are just about perfect in the ways we expect them to be.

Answer

I am an intuitive home cook and rarely use recipes. I can put together a meal with what ever is available. Due to this style of cooking I rarely make the same thing exactly the same way twice. Not always a bad thing but lack of consistency will kill a restaurant. When trying a new dish or cuisine I will do a little research and find what are the major ingredients and how they are use. I try to learn a little bit about what makes Thai food taste the way it does for instance. I will try just about anything once and have no fears of tackling a demanding project. 

I like food to look as good as it taste so enjoy plating my dishes when it's just me and the fam. I am reluctant to plate a guests meal and will often serve food family style when entertaining. 

MatiniGenie wrote "I feel there are foodies that can put the dish together in their heads and actually taste the dish before it hits the plate."

This is true and what I do most often. Must be the same part of the brain for music because I can play music by ear and hear it in my head before my fingers hit the strings to reproduce what I'm hearing. I can't read music and have no idea what notes I'm playing but can hear it in my head and I can have a good feel for how a dish will taste before putting it together.

Answer

I have loved to cook for as long as I can remember and was lucky enough to have a mom who let me experiment in the kitchen. Dinner is an important meal around our house and I enjoy providing great meals for my family and friends. 

My love of cooking has lead me to starting my own personal chef business to cook for other families also. I also teach cooking classes to teach others the joys of cooking. I like to instill a cooking confidence in my students so they feel comfortable in the kitchen.

I read cookbooks like novels and am comfortable in my cooking skills to adapt many recipes to suit our family's tastes and what I have on hand. I generously offer my recipes so others can see how easy it it to make delicious food at home.

http://www.dinnersforayear.blogspot.com

Answer

I "play" in the kitchen, like a kid plays in the sand. I might use recipes but many times use them as a guide. I love reading cookbooks and recipes but one thing that is kind of funny because my Dad is the same way (and Mom did all the cooking growing up) is that although I collect recipes - I'm more apt to try new ones than keep doing the same ones. It really has to woooo me big time for me to keep making it. Most of the time, I'll finish a dish and say "hmmmm, next time....." while hubby is like "What?? this is fantastic just as it is". I think I like the thrill of something new more then anything.

Answer

I guess I'm the black sheep of the board. I almost always use recipes and I stay pretty faithful to them. I guess I have a Platonic image of what a dish is supposed to be like, I consider the recipe to be the blueprint for that ideal, and I try to hit it dead center.

That said, I tend to prefer my dishes to be considerably spicier (and hotter) than what most recipes call for, so when a recipe calls for two minced jalapenos, I will use four. When two crushed cloves of garlic are stipulated, I will use three. Also, when spices are called for, I rarely measure them out, but just guestimate. And I suspect my tablespoon is somewhat larger than a real tablespoon. :)

Answer

I'm a visionary cook. Not to say I'm a prophet or anything like that (hee!). But I have an idea of what I want to make and enough experience and skill to carry out the vision and make adjustments. I do a recipe enough so I have confidence in the technique it's teaching me and I apply it to other dishes. For example, I've made chocolate chip cookies enough I have the recipe in my head. So when I make chocolate chip cookies, I often do things like put in hazelnuts and frangelico instead of vanilla. I have a basic sear and baked chicken recipe that I just sear it on both sides make a hearty pan sauce (like a tomato sauce or a cream sauce) and stick it in the oven to make sure cooks all the way through. I'm fairly confident in my ability to fix flavors (adding a touch of honey, salt, fish sauce etc). However, I am a hesitant and trepidatious baker because once it's in the oven you can't adjust.

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What's your "Cooking Personality"?

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