Ten Essential Rules for Cooking Like

a Chef

These are the most compelling and universal lessons that I

learned from cooking with some of the best chefs in the world.

Taken together, these tips should paint a clear portrait of what it

means to know what you’re doing in the kitchen.

01 Taste as you go.

If there’s one lesson to take away from this entire book, this is it.

Cooking is not about blindly adding this and that and hoping that

what you’re making comes out okay. Engage with the food you’re

making and taste it every step of the way. When it’s not to your

liking, adjust it. Chefs don’t measure how much olive oil, butter,

salt, pepper, or vinegar they add to a dish; they use these to adjust

food as it cooks. To enrich food, they add fat. To heighten the

flavor, they add salt. For a spicy kick, they add pepper. And for a

sour edge, they add acid. It’s not just a neat trick to know about;

it’s your job to use these tools to make your cooking great. Once

you understand that, your food will taste better forevermore.

02 Put ingredients on display.

Too many times, we shop with a recipe in mind and come home

with bags of ingredients to make that recipe, and whatever is left