A Year of Competent Cooking

About author / Lauren Braun Costello

The competent cook; food stylist; cooking instructor; graduate French Culinary Institute. To die for dish? Maple glazed bacon wrapped roast turkey. Yep, bacon wrapped.

"The Competent Cook" launched one year ago on May 9, 2005. Since last year, this column has covered dozens of topics ranging from chocolate chip cookies to chicken soup. The goal of each installment is either to provide information on a relevant cooking topic, or instruct on a specific technique.

Competence v. Confidence
When I first penned the title of this column, I called it "The Confident Cook." I wanted to help give readers confidence in their cooking abilities (if you think you can do it, you likely can do it). I told my father, and he suggested changing it to "The Competent Cook." As he rightly put it, "there is nothing worse than confidence without competence." The old adage "father knows best" proved correct. So, it is has been my hope to impart some competence for readers to become confident in the kitchen.

In a world of The Food Network, Top Chef and Celebrity Cooking Showdown, our cooking insecurities are confronted every day. It all looks so easy and effortless. As a food stylist, I can tell you that happily it is not any more easy and effortless to prepare food for television than it is for a hungry family. In fact, each show usually has a team of culinary professionals and producers bringing it all together for hours if not days. This is why it is important to remember that developing your own cooking skills is not a sprint, but a marathon. You should develop your abilities over time and at your own pace.

Challenge Yourself
Nothing is more important to developing any skill than trying something out of your comfort zone. When you push yourself, invariably you improve and raise the bar for your own standard of achievement. If all we ever attempt to cook is what we already know we can do, then we are not enriching ourselves (or palates of those who eat our food). Imagine a musician who only plays the songs he has already written. Trying new material, in any endeavor, keeps the creative juices flowing.

I love being a professional chef because all the different work I do forces me to try new things often, and without choice. For example, I worked on the recipe testing for the upcoming anniversary edition of Joy of Cooking, the evergreen American culinary tome. At one point, I worked on the bread chapter. Bread baking is not my greatest professional strength to say the least, in spite of the fact that I studied artisanal bread baking in culinary school. However, working with colleagues and being challenged to bake bread made me a better cook. It even removed my fear of baking yeast breads at home. These challenges are what I think of as professional perks.

An Inquiring Mind Wants to Know
For the past year I have been writing about what appeals to me, and what I hope appeals to you. But I really want to know what you want to read about, or what issues interest or trouble you in the kitchen. The Eggspert Advice series was such a success because it was interactive--you kept asking questions, so I kept writing. Whether it be technique, ingredients, food history, or equipment, I am eager to write about any cooking subject you like. All you have to do is a post a comment at the bottom of this article, or send an email to me.

Thank you for the first fun and challenging year. Here's to another year of competent cooking!