Excellent overview! Incidentally, I always find the "white people love mayo" meme weird since Korean and Japanese people love mayo more than any white person I've ever met. The way mayonnaise is deployed in Koreanized "western" food would put a Southern Living editor in tears. (It also has broad usage in Mexican sandwiches, but Mexicans are like 60% European ancestry or something.)
agreed. very basic but one of my favorite ways to eat vegetables is to air fry them and swipe them through Kewpie mayo. Added bonus that you need just a tad... less than 2 tsp of mayo is adequate for a large quantity of green beans.
Always dig your cooking posts. I got started with a similar book called Twelve Recipes, by the former head chef of Chez Pannisse. It's as simple as it gets -- the first two recipes are literally "toast" and "eggs," but it's written in a very crafty way where each dish evolves from the next and it teaches you a strong foundation of intuitive knowledge. Some of it is almost too simple, but the simplicity also teaches you to budget for nice ingredients. I'd recommend it to anyone who can't cook, like "can barely scramble an egg" can't cook.
There is a food YouTube channel by Ethan Cheblowski. He talks about this. He runs an alt youtube channel where he posts his daily cookery focused on ingredients based cooking instead of recipe based cooking.
He has a good newsletter too! Every week he has a "protocol" where you can swap out a variety of ingredients and techniques to create different basic dishes.
Every so often I'm tempted to learn a little bit of cooking or occasionally worry that my own hobbies are too sedentary but then I remember this one guy I used to know who was a severe end stage diabetic because if he was left alone he would spend all his time cooking and eating and his friends were constantly having to find ways to distract him, and then I think nah I'm okay.
(The real tragedy was that he wasn't even a good cook.)
Ethan Chlebowski has been talking about the limitations of recipes too, which is why he started a seperate YouTube channel, Cook Well w/ Ethan Chlebowski
links taking you straight to Thriftbooks, incredibly based
personally I'm an Abebooks guy (generally cheaper prices, you can better see which reseller you're buying from, and most important to me: fantastic manga selection), but I respect how hard you cut to the chase
Love this! I’m Harrison, an ex fine dining industry line cook. My stack "The Secret Ingredient" adapts hit restaurant recipes (mostly NYC and L.A.) for easy home cooking.
This is a great list. Do you know the book Ratio? That was the first one I found when I was trying to shed "recipe brain:" wanted cookies, had all the ingredients for them, but didn't want to look at a recipe and googled "what is a cookie?"
This is a great post and exactly what I was looking for in my 20s! I was always so annoyed that none of the cookbooks I read actually explained how to cook. Nowadays I don't actually do any cooking so it's less personally important but I'm glad you put this out there for the next person.
I felt so seen reading this—“recipe brain” is such a real thing. I’ve definitely found myself standing in front of the fridge like it’s a portal to another world, waiting for dinner to reveal itself. I love the idea of flipping through cookbooks just for the sheer joy of it, without the pressure to perform. Adding a few of these titles to my list—thank you for the gentle reminder that cooking can still be a source of wonder.
Excellent overview! Incidentally, I always find the "white people love mayo" meme weird since Korean and Japanese people love mayo more than any white person I've ever met. The way mayonnaise is deployed in Koreanized "western" food would put a Southern Living editor in tears. (It also has broad usage in Mexican sandwiches, but Mexicans are like 60% European ancestry or something.)
they are right about mayo. mayo is delicious
agreed. very basic but one of my favorite ways to eat vegetables is to air fry them and swipe them through Kewpie mayo. Added bonus that you need just a tad... less than 2 tsp of mayo is adequate for a large quantity of green beans.
Always dig your cooking posts. I got started with a similar book called Twelve Recipes, by the former head chef of Chez Pannisse. It's as simple as it gets -- the first two recipes are literally "toast" and "eggs," but it's written in a very crafty way where each dish evolves from the next and it teaches you a strong foundation of intuitive knowledge. Some of it is almost too simple, but the simplicity also teaches you to budget for nice ingredients. I'd recommend it to anyone who can't cook, like "can barely scramble an egg" can't cook.
i love the chez panisse extended universe
There is a food YouTube channel by Ethan Cheblowski. He talks about this. He runs an alt youtube channel where he posts his daily cookery focused on ingredients based cooking instead of recipe based cooking.
He has a good newsletter too! Every week he has a "protocol" where you can swap out a variety of ingredients and techniques to create different basic dishes.
Ha, I didn't read your comment, I posted about his channel too, seems great minds do think alike, even in the comments!
his chicken thigh recipe slaps & i make pickled onions regularly via his method
Every so often I'm tempted to learn a little bit of cooking or occasionally worry that my own hobbies are too sedentary but then I remember this one guy I used to know who was a severe end stage diabetic because if he was left alone he would spend all his time cooking and eating and his friends were constantly having to find ways to distract him, and then I think nah I'm okay.
(The real tragedy was that he wasn't even a good cook.)
Ethan Chlebowski has been talking about the limitations of recipes too, which is why he started a seperate YouTube channel, Cook Well w/ Ethan Chlebowski
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCICdNqyJqyHB3_uDVtmFhPA
This is the video that started things off
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHRSfdf_3lI
Great minds and all that.
Chinese Cooking Demystified is a great Youtube channel that made a sorta related video about how Chinese homecooks construct meals: https://youtu.be/Ns8AtQVwrLY?si=ZnAki_XaRzjGZoGU
links taking you straight to Thriftbooks, incredibly based
personally I'm an Abebooks guy (generally cheaper prices, you can better see which reseller you're buying from, and most important to me: fantastic manga selection), but I respect how hard you cut to the chase
ooh will try abebooks
Yes, please. Cure everyone's recipe brain. It is understandable, since people don't really learn to cook. But goodness, it is a bit draining.
Love this! I’m Harrison, an ex fine dining industry line cook. My stack "The Secret Ingredient" adapts hit restaurant recipes (mostly NYC and L.A.) for easy home cooking.
check us out:
https://thesecretingredient.substack.com
This is a great list. Do you know the book Ratio? That was the first one I found when I was trying to shed "recipe brain:" wanted cookies, had all the ingredients for them, but didn't want to look at a recipe and googled "what is a cookie?"
oooh will read
This is a great post and exactly what I was looking for in my 20s! I was always so annoyed that none of the cookbooks I read actually explained how to cook. Nowadays I don't actually do any cooking so it's less personally important but I'm glad you put this out there for the next person.
I felt so seen reading this—“recipe brain” is such a real thing. I’ve definitely found myself standing in front of the fridge like it’s a portal to another world, waiting for dinner to reveal itself. I love the idea of flipping through cookbooks just for the sheer joy of it, without the pressure to perform. Adding a few of these titles to my list—thank you for the gentle reminder that cooking can still be a source of wonder.