Learn to Cook

Every recipe starts with prep, and prep starts with a knife. Learn to hold a knife properly, the claw grip for safety, and the three cuts that cover 90% of kitchen work: dice, slice, and julienne.

If you can cook eggs well, you can cook. Scrambled, fried, poached, and boiled, each teaches a different fundamental: heat control, timing, and knowing when to leave food alone. Gordon Ramsay considers scrambled eggs a litmus test for any chef.

A thick-cut steak, properly rested, is one of the great pleasures. The technique is simple: screaming hot pan, good seasoning, butter baste, and patience during the rest. Thermometer optional but revelatory.

Cooking over fire is primal, satisfying, and a completely different skill to kitchen cooking. You're managing heat zones, dealing with smoke, and working with less control, which is exactly the point. Simple food tastes incredible over flames.

Proper BBQ is not grilling. It's low temperature (110-135°C), indirect heat, wood smoke, and patience. The result is fall-apart tender meat with a bark and smoke ring you can't get any other way. Start with pulled pork, it's the most forgiving.

Flour, water, salt, yeast. Four ingredients, infinite satisfaction. A simple white loaf teaches you about gluten development, fermentation, and oven behaviour. Once you can bake bread, you understand cooking at a deeper level.