The Principles of Cooking Well
How to suck less at food, an introduction to Marco Pierre White
I recently ran a poll where I asked my followers if they know how to cook.
The results:
33% of those who voted don’t know how to cook
34% of men don’t know how to cook
20% of women don’t know how to cook
The results likely reflect the general population. 1,879 votes is statistically significant relative to my account size (~58,000 followers as I’m writing this).
To prove I’m not pulling an Elon Musk when it comes to polling people, given most of his followers live in India — the majority of my followers are American. American millennials and zoomers.
33% of Millennials & Zoomers not knowing how to cook isn’t devastating, but it isn’t good.
It’s Never Been Easier To Suck At Cooking
DoorDash (or ‘Deliveroo’ for my UK followers) is at everyone’s fingertips now. If you want fast food or a meal prepared from a restaurant, an immigrant will bring it to you in under an hour. I believe Curtis Yarvin said restaurants are one of the few things America still does exceptionally well. Even in small cities, it isn’t difficult to find high quality food. Trader Joe’s & Whole Foods have aisles of pre-prepared meals that can be heated up in the microwave now. If you have the money, you can live the rest of your life without ever knowing how to cook.
Why You Should Know How To Cook
You should know how to cook for yourself. And I’m not talking about a potential apocalypse, I’m talking about baseline life satisfaction. Eating something delicious that you made yourself is significantly more rewarding than paying for it at a restaurant. Serving it to people you care about is even more rewarding. It’s a good skill to have whether you’re a man or a woman.
For the record, I’m extremely pro-restaurant. It’s a luxury to be served amongst friends or while on a date. But knowing how to do this for people in your home is something else entirely. Eating is more special when it was prepared by someone you know. You aren’t just shoveling calories down your gullet for energy. It’s also just flat out impressive. When someone knows what they’re doing in the kitchen, you think more highly of them. There’s zero downside to knowing how to cook well.
Whipping Something Up vs. Cooking
Whipping something up isn’t difficult. It’s just following instructions. Every recipe you can think of is online and there’s infinite YouTube videos to learn from. Recipes are actually one of the few things AI is exceptional at, given the LLMs “learned” every recipe on the internet. Those long diatribes you scroll past before finally getting to a recipe? AI read all of it.
Anyone can make a decent meal once by following instructions. But what about knowing how to cook, and cook well, on an intuitive level? Seeing a bunch of ingredients and “just knowing what to do” without needing to look up recipes? For anyone who doesn’t know how to cook, this is the level you should strive for. This doesn’t require taking cooking classes or spending hours watching YouTube videos. There’s small things you can do, from knowing how to prepare, to buying a high-quality chef’s knife, that will not only make you better at cooking but will make you want to cook more often.
I’m also going to summarize a few lessons I’ve learned from Marco Pierre White, untrained British philosopher and master chef rooted in simplicity, from his book The Devil in the Kitchen: Sex, Pain, Madness, and the Making of a Great Chef.
“Allow Mother Nature to be the true artist. Allow her to do the work. You’re just the cook. And when you accept that in life, then life changes.”
-Marco Pierre White
The ideal state is being confident enough in the kitchen to want to learn how to make anything incredible you eat at a restaurant. But this won’t happen over night. It will cost you practice, some money, and your ego.
Family Advantages
I got lucky in this area. My mother is the best cook I know (many such cases, but seriously — she is). I watched her cook as a kid and learned a lot from her. I remember rummaging through her wooden box filled with old recipes that have been passed down from multiple generations as she cooked, which one day I’ll pass onto my kids.
If you have someone in your family who knows how to cook well, ask them for recipes. Don’t be scared to call them in the middle of preparing something and ask them for tips. If they love cooking, they will be happy to help you. Food is an incredible way to bond with family.
Prepare for Preparing
Cooking is chaotic. That is part of why it feels so daunting. If the meal requires a lot of preparation, sometimes it feels too overwhelming and you just say “fuck it” and move on. Mentally prepare yourself to spend 20-30 minutes before you start cooking to have everything laid out in front of you. Measure out the oil, chop the garlic, and throw out what you don’t need. Set aside a clean space for what you need. Place everything in small bowls so they’re ready to use when you need them. If you have everything you need laid out in front of you, this makes the actual cooking portion much easier.
Don’t Skimp on Quality
In America, you get what you pay for. And that applies to everything. This doesn’t mean you need to be swindled into paying absurd prices for something basic, but you should at least be able to tell the difference between shit-tier and high quality.
I never skimp on two things: food and sleep. I choose to have the most comfortable mattress, pillows, and sheets possible because we spend 1/3 of our lives in bed. “I need to live a certain way.” But I also spend a lot on kitchen gear and high quality ingredients because I mostly cook at home. And the more you cook, the more you learn you shouldn’t skimp on quality. Here are a few things you really shouldn’t skimp on.
Chef’s Knife
I cannot overestimate how much a high quality Chef’s knife will change the way you cook. Compared to a regular kitchen knife, a proper Chef’s knife gives you more control. The ergonomics are built for comfort and speed.
I have a few different Chef’s knives. Germany and Japan are the best at making steel for the kitchen. Wüsthof is selling their classic with a pairing knife for 40% off on Amazon right now. It’s incredible. Mac is also a great brand, based in Japan. Trust me, a good Chef’s knife is absolutely worth the money. It isn’t necessary, but a magnetic knife board looks great in kitchens and is a great place to store them.
