Recognizing tradition in the culinary arts
I have now realized that making meals and being a cook are not the same things. I used to slavishly follow recipes for many years, but then I began to realize that cooking is not merely about following recipes. Learning the culinary arts means knowing about how to blend ingredients and using different cooking methods.
Of course, I still collect recipes, but I can now do my own experimenting. I am now able to adapt with substitutes if I don't have the original ingredients. One of the most important things I learned is that there are a set of ingredients that I should never run out of.
These set of ingredients form the basis of the culinary arts for cuisines from Mexico, Italy, Spain, China or wherever. For instance, you should never be without garam masala, the blend of spices we all know as curry if you want to cook Indian food.
You will be able to learn well through trial and error. It doesn't matter if you commit a few mistakes as long as you learn from them. You can take cookery classes if you prefer a more structured approach to the culinary arts. Personally I want to go on one of those cookery vacations. This way I'll be able to combine a sightseeing vacation with learning cooking skills.
In these day and age, there is no excuse for not learning how to cook because there are so many cookery books and articles in magazines. We are now in the culture of the celebrity chef. In fact, there is an entire TV channel dedicated to the subject of food. However, a lot of us are watching the programs, but we're actually cooking less.
People are now too busy working and have stopped making meals from scratch. The emergence of ready meals and processed food means that the culinary arts are being neglected in many kitchens. Contemporary schools are also not teaching the next generation about nutrition and how to cook proper meals.
I'm aware that British food has a bad reputation because I am from the UK. I admit that we tend to over boil vegetables and everything was a bit unadventurous. However, I think that situation has improved in my country. We have been enlightened by the influence of the culinary arts from other countries and our desire to eat at restaurants. The state of the British food scene has never been better in my opinion.
We have also recognized the culinary arts of our own traditions in addition to embracing the food from other lands. There are also some great dishes from the English regions, Scotland and Ireland. All we need is to re-learn how to present them properly.
