The Cook’s Kitchen

Mark Bittman is perhaps best known for his very popular How to Cook Everything book and his column in the New York Times.  In a recent piece in Woman’s Day magazine, he shared what he felt every cook should know:

- If you can control heat, you can cook.  It doesn’t matter if a stove’s electric or gas, it’s just a way of transferring heat to a pan.  Knowing how to do this comes from experience more than anything else.

- Undercooking is preferable to overcooking.  You can always put something back if it’s undercooked; if it’s overcooked, you can’t.  Don’t be afraid to cut into a piece of meat or fish or chicken to check it while it’s cooking.

- Shopping for the right ingredients is important.  You have to know what things should look like, where to shop, and how to store things.  Again, that comes with experience.  The fancier stuff, whether you’re able to dice or mince well or badly … well, being able to wash dishes is more important.

Photo from markbittman.com