As in most areas, kitchen capabilities start with some basic building blocks – fundamentals that every home cook needs to know. Ok, so you know where the kettle is and how to turn it on, but to know instinctively how to make a white sauce, a bread dough or a sponge mix is a basic but brilliant skill to master.
After all, stone soup was really just a basic recipe that grew as the evening wore on! We all recall the tale where a talkative tramp scored big time with the credulous cook, with the promise of a nutritious soup created only from water and a stone. It’s the subtle additions that really turn a rudimentary method into a masterpiece, and this can be you! ‘The recipe? Oh, it’s just a basic béchamel with a bit of this and that’ she says, nonchalantly serving out a second helping.
But how is it done? Overcome that mental block with learning a few recipes by heart. Look at the ingredient ratios and methods of your most successful dishes; so you can whip up light, airy muffins or cook a crispy-skin roast chicken without batting an eyelid. Ratios are important for two reasons; firstly, they are guiding principles you can use without needing a recipe, and secondly, understanding them will help you rescue potential baking fails.
Here are our top tips to get the principles down pat, and a few inside secrets.
- Quick breads such as lemon or zucchini loaf use the ratio of 2 parts flour to 2 parts liquid to 1 part egg to 1 part fat.
- Biscuits favour a ratio of 3 parts flour to 2 parts liquid to 1 part fat.
- Adding extra salt to your cooking water exponentially increases the flavour and retains nutritional content. Aim for enough salt to make your water taste like the sea.
- High temperatures cause rapid evaporation of liquids – makes sense, right? So, it also makes sense to keep your proteins moist by adding extra liquids to the pan, in the form of stock, juices, wine or even just water, and basting regularly during the cook.
Once you’ve mastered the basics, bring the younger generation into the kitchen. They may not be ready for the finesse of a filigreed French layer cake just yet, but learning the cement-like properties of royal icing is just as important as your times tables, isn’t it? Start them on the white sauce or sool them onto the science of breadmaking and they will develop the hand and eye of a practised cook in no time. You’ll be surprised just how fast the aforementioned gâteau will eventuate!
Master the basics well and you will basically be the master!
