Do you use cookbooks?

I do not use cookbooks for my cooking, too. I learnt cooking when I studied in my Secondary School. During that time, I need to copy the recipes written on the blackboard for my next cooking lesson. Therefore, I started cooking without using any cookbooks. When I have grown up, if I find some dishes I want to cook myself, I will simply read them for instructions and mark down the notes myself. This is more flexible. I know the simple cooking skills in school already and I do not like reading the whole book myself. I simply do not know the complicated dishes. Cookbooks are for those who knows nothing about cooking or for someone who wants to specialize in particular dishes. I will be happy enough to cook my food in my own style.

 

Not the "traditional" cookbooks, but I do look for recipes online. I like Yummly because it compiles recipes from different websites. I haven't really used the book itself because it is too bulky. Also, they are very expensive here in bookstores.

 

Not really. I have a few cookbooks, but I only use them as a basis and I do not follow the recipes exactly. It seems like the recipes are never made for my climate or altitude and I always end up having to make adjustments. So, now, whenever I use a cookbook, I just look at the ingredients and not the measurements and I take it from there.

 

Usually, I cook using my experience and by tasting the food. It is rare that I use a cookbook. I do own quite a few though. If I do use them, I tend to adapt the stated recipe to suit the infgredients I have available and the preferences of my family.

 

Now that you mention it, I haven't used a cookbook in a really long time. once upon a time, I ate things with a ton of ingredients that came together like a science experiment to make the food look, taste, feel, rise and smell a certain way lol. Everything has it's job and without every step, it would flop! Now that I don't eat processed foods, it is what it is and it's just a matter of putting it all together with whatever spices and herbs you like and you're all done. It's fun to play with my food and discover new combos..

 

I recently realized that my mom's beef stew recipe came out of an old James Beard cookbook.
It is hard for my family to believe but when my parents first married my mom could hardly cook. I never really noticed all of those cookbooks in the bookcases. Yet, I had lots of spare time this past week. I tried to figure out what to do with the leftovers for Thanksgiving. I had beef, turkey, and ham. Therefore, I searched for ways to make tasty meals. I came across a ham hash recipe. But I was taken aback to discover the beef stew recipe in James Beard's cookbook was my mom's recipe or vice verse.

 

I use cook books only to get and extract ideas, but I don't generally follow it thoroughly. Sometimes, I lack the ingredients and it just feels like pretty impractical to get out to just buy one item. So I make substitutions, and eventually I will find that there are much more ways and more ingredients that would fit my taste and my equipment. So in the end, my output is a little away from the original output the recipe is supposed to have.

 

I used to quite a lot actually. I did food technology classes for 2 years, and so I found it very helpful. Sometimes it can be difficult to find a good recipe online so it was always there to save me. Nowadays I've learned a lot of recipes so don't really need it that much, but I still do try some new stuff from time to time.

 

I don't know how to cook at all, so for sure I will be looking at them either in physical form or in online form when the need arises, like when I finally get to move out of my dad's house. But I'd probably check out Youtube videos first to have some "visual guidance" in learning how to cook.