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Cooking for dummies because we need to.

Cooking has to be learned, sounds stupid, but unfortunately it's true. If a painfully long series of images of messed up dishes flash through your head, we're both in the same boat. But keep your head up, even without an ounce of talent you can still manage it. So let me show you some simple but effective tips…thanks to my 7th grade home economics teacher, the internet, and my personal failures…

1. Preheat the oven and get the pan REALLY hot.

If you like to cook and cook well, you're probably scratching your head right now (… but hey, what are you doing here anyway? 🤷‍♀️) Could also just be a personal, very embarrassing gap in your knowledge… But the light on Oven next to the temperature control tells you when your oven is preheated and you shouldn't ignore it. If it goes out, go in with the food and not 10 minutes before because you are hungry NOW. *sigh*

PS: The same goes for pans, you have to wait until they're hot anyway, so don't throw your food in cold oil or butter.

2. Don't deviate from the recipe if you have no idea.

Especially not when baking! Freestyling is for professionals or at least people who don't want to burn pasta water. Quantities are there for a reason and if they are not that important, the recipe will probably say “to taste” instead. And even if it's annoying, the ingredients should really go into the bowl or pan in a certain order.

3. You're probably adding way too little salt.

Despite the recipe, you often have to season according to your feeling. If you don't have that, it's likely that you're not comfortable with the salt. A dish can take a lot of it. Salt enhances the flavor of other ingredients and reduces that of bitter ones. If you are unsure, add half a teaspoon at a time and taste each time.

4. Fry spices in oil and keep an eye on them.

Adding spices at the end can actually be rather wasteful because you need more of them to make it pop. Adding them to the onions at the beginning of cooking or directly to the oil is a good trick for more intense flavor. But be careful: spices burn quickly, so don't let them out of your sight.

5. If you can't find an ingredient in the supermarket, Google what you can replace it with.

I'm sure you know that one day you're really in the mood for this one dish and Aldi doesn't have sugar snap peas. That's a shame, but not the end. Instead, Google what you can replace the ingredient with or print out a handy list.

6. Learn a few standard recipes and have the most important things in stock.

Having to find a recipe for cooking is like going to the gym: an almost insurmountable hurdle. But if you master a few basics, you'll soon know them by heart and can always do them instead of ordering food. It's best to have the ingredients in stock: rice pudding, long-life milk, applesauce. Zack, done.

7. Kitchen gadgets can be of great help. (It's not in the name for nothing.)

It makes a difference whether you just have a spoon from Grandma or a spatula, a ladle, a real peeler, etc. And because all of this stuff costs a lot of money, I would recommend you try your luck in our Simply Tasty competition Try Pinterest! Not only can you win the entire Tasty range of kitchen helpers, but you can also win a Fackelmann voucher for €1,500. You can find the conditions of participation here.

8. Speaking of useful gadgets, get a rice cooker if you have the money.

Rice is so much harder to cook well than pasta. I really hated it before I got a rice cooker. The problem becomes unnecessary if you don't have to do anything and you are provided with instructions for the water-rice ratio. Which, by the way, is important!

9. And wash the rice beforehand!

Unfortunately, the rice cooker doesn't do that for you, but luckily you can still do the washing. By the way, you should wash rice to remove impurities, but also to prevent the rice from sticking or becoming rubbery. A few exceptions: milk and risotto rice, for example, remain unwashed.

10. Don't be too hasty when throwing away cooking leftovers. Maybe you can still use them.

In fact, we have a whole list of tricks for cooking with kitchen scraps.

11. Make a note of different cooking times.

At some point you won't need it anymore (unless your memory is as bad as mine). To get started, it will definitely help you to have a cheat sheet when grilling or cooking. You can find a table with cooking times here, for example.

12. Don't put everything on one oil.

There's always that one person who uses olive oil on EVERYTHING: salads, vegetables, sautéing meats, desserts… just kidding. But seriously, good olive oil is great, but it shouldn't necessarily be used for everything. If you have to heat the pan strongly, other fats are better, such as rapeseed or sunflower oil. The aromatic substances in olive oil evaporate when temperatures are too high. So save it for something else.

13. Sharpen your knives!

Any trained chef would probably tell you that, but: spiciness. Your. Knife. With dull knives you work yourself out unnecessarily and you can still injure yourself with them. Probably even easier than with sharp ones… at least you don't have to use your whole body weight with them.

14. Place a damp rag under your slippery cutting board.

Thanks again to my home economics teacher from back then. She probably felt sorry for me at some point or was simply afraid that I might lose a finger.

15. When cutting onions, leave the root on.

Let's come to the highlight of my home economics performance from school: an A for chopping onions. (Yeah, just laugh. I'm still proud of it.) In fact, the best trick I've learned is to simply leave the root on when peeling the onion. Then cut in half, cut into strips and cubes without damaging the root. This is how it holds everything together, which makes everything much easier.

16. If you can, plant some fresh herbs and use them instead of dried ones.

At least that’s what a professional chef would recommend. Of course, you then have the next problem: How do I keep herbs alive in the kitchen? If I ever know the answer to that, I'll let you know.

17. Take your time and let your pasta or potato salad sit.

That's probably what your mom, dad or grandma always told you, but it's also simply true: it tastes better if it's been allowed to sit for a while. Do I have scientific evidence? No. But it's still true.

18. Cut chicken into strips before frying.

Again, a very banal thing, but frying an irregularly shaped piece of chicken evenly is of course difficult! Instead, cut it into even strips and hit it a few more times with the schnitzel beater.

19. If potatoes take WAY too long to cook, cut them into small pieces.

For example, if you want to pound them later anyway, you can at least save yourself some waiting time. Also important: Don't forget the salt and, as an exception, you can actually put them in cold water and only then heat them. This is actually the only way you should cook potatoes.

20. Your pasta water is literally burning because the whole pot is foaming over?

Then grab a ✨ wooden spoon ✨ and place it on the pot. It really couldn't be easier.

21. And if everything goes wrong…make loaves. This also counts as cooking.

Which cooking tip helped you as a beginner? Tell me in the comments.

And if you want to take it slow with cooking, try this Yellow Summer Punch.