What's your kitchen personality?

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Posted at 12:50PM, 09 April 2009 by Mary Cadogan - Food writer

Now that my cookschool classes have been up and running for a while, I've noticed how no two cooks approach a task in the same way. Give the same recipe to six different cooks and you'll taste six different dishes at the end. I reckon there are four main cooking personalities: the Precision cook, the Carefree cook, the Cautious cook and the Jaded cook.

Ask a Precision cook to roll out pastry to a certain size and you can be sure that it will be done exactly, preferably using a ruler. Pinches, handfuls and seasoning to taste are not helpful expressions for them. Give them an apple to peel, core and cut into wafer-thin slices and they're in heaven. Precision cooks are a great asset in the kitchen because they enjoy keeping everything shipshape.

The Carefree cook chats with fellow cooks while covering surfaces and themselves with flour

The Carefree cook is pretty much the opposite kitchen personality. You have to watch this cook as no sooner have you given them the quantities for pastry , they will have tipped the flour and butter into the bowl, started rubbing it in and will be ahead of you every step of the way if you're not careful. This cook relies on intuition and has a lot of fun in the kitchen, chatting with fellow cooks while covering surfaces and themselves with flour. Results are what they're after, so they love all the time-saving hints you can throw at them.

Cautious cooks, on the other hand, are often quite new to cooking, or have been put off by things going wrong, so it's a joy to take them through a recipe to a successful finish and share their delight at their achievement. Cautious cooks hate to feel rushed as they enjoy spending time on each stage of the cooking process to avoid mistakes.

The Jaded cook is more often than not a mum who has been cooking for her family for more years than she cares to remember, can turn out tasty meals time after time but has mislaid her love of cooking somewhere along the way. Coming to a cookschool can be a brilliant boost for the Jaded cook, not just for the inspiration and clutch of new recipes to try, but also the pleasure of meeting other cooks and swapping kitchen experiences.

Of course it doesn't really matter what kind of cook you are as long as you enjoy your cooking. I find that whatever your cooking personality, us cooks are a generous lot and there's nothing we like better than to swap ideas. Often my guests go home with promises to send each other recipes, forward a useful website or post a hard-to-find ingredient.

So my question is, what kind of cook do you think you are? Or do you fit into an altogether different category? Me? I reckon I'm a Carefree cook with a bit of precision thrown in for good measure!

Comments

Caity

9 April 2009, 5:58PM
Caity

Definately Carefree! I read cookbooks like some people read novels to get inspiration from them then happily go my own merry way. Best is when an unusual pairing of ingredients work, although there have been a few disasters on the way! This is probably why I'm not so keen on baking because the need to be exact seems to take the plesure out of it for me.

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Joltek

9 April 2009, 9:56PM
Joltek

I think I am a cautious cook with a little precision thrown in. 6 years ago I had to ring my mother to find out what "preheat an oven" meant. Since having my kids I have had to churn out a family meal every evening and have come a long way but lack a lot of confidence in trying new recipes and have had my share of ruined experiments. I love to cook when I am given plenty of time and no children and can relish every step but hate trying to do new recipes when surrounded by nagging kids. With spare time being limited, we often end up in a rut food-wise. I aspire to being a carefree cook.

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ejrw89

10 April 2009, 2:57AM
ejrw89

I think I'm definitely a care-free cook. I see the recipe as a guide, not an instruction manual. No recipe is that precise in the kitchen. After I've done cooking I'll make improvement notes of what might be a good idea to do next time. Its always fun to see what alternative paths you can take. Bit of mixture left over? I'll add it to something I suspect will complement it even if this rarely works out. Custarded Bread anyone?

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cheryl

10 April 2009, 2:25PM
cheryl

I watch my granny bake without a measure and i'm always asking my dad how much of something goes in a recipe and he says 'och a grain' (in his orcadian accent!) - It drives me crazy but i think it comes with age and practice in the kitchen - you just get to know how much you need. Also i ask him how long to cook dishes and he says 'a peedie while, till it's ready ya ken!' Grr.. ;)

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rozmorgan

10 April 2009, 7:07PM
rozmorgan

Carefree! How much so was bought home to me when making Yorkshire pudding with my mother. She measured everything out in tiny bowls first, I threw everything together and wisked till light, and airy. Both Yorkshire were equally yummy but my mother couldn't believe I didn't measure.

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aspiringamateurchef

11 April 2009, 1:01AM
aspiringamateurchef

Careful I prefer authorative and reliable recipes but I, over the years, have developed an alchemists feel for what goes with what **essential** so experimentation is on solid ground.

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aspiringamateurchef

11 April 2009, 1:03AM
aspiringamateurchef

American cup measurements are useful as you can be more carefree with them and still get proportions right. I think there is a lot to be said for the Cup system and use Cups as well as metric and imperial in my kitchen!!!

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aspiringamateurchef

11 April 2009, 1:04AM
aspiringamateurchef

I am carefree but with the qaulifying conditions above and I am a ruthless fusspot when it comes down to books, chefs etc.

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Jane`s recipes

11 April 2009, 3:04PM
Jane`s recipes

My family reckon I`m a "bung-it-in" type of cook so I suppose that`s Carefree. I love reading recipes but have probably never followed one to the letter! If I haven`t all the right ingredients I will improvise and it almost always works fine. I expect over 40 years experience helps. Frequently while I`m cooking, my husband will ask what`s for dinner and I will reply "I don`t know yet but it will be delicious !"

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SandieB

12 April 2009, 9:27AM
SandieB

I think I'm a Carefree Precision cook! I like to have a recipe to follow, but will on occasion make something up as I go along. I will usually follow that recipe to the letter, but will also substitute for things I haven't got or couldn't get. Will also happily leave out something I don't like if I think it won't mess it up completely.

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Pat Evans

14 April 2009, 10:07AM
Pat Evans

I am certainly more carefree than cautious, but I was also becoming a little jaded until spending a day at Mary's cookschool, where I rediscovered the pleasure in baking. I learned there not to be afraid of choux pastry and brandysnap baskets, which I had shied away from in the past; under Mary's guidance I mastered both. Since then I have reproduced what I learned for friends and have been inspired to try some new dishes, instead of the old favourites

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drusilla

14 April 2009, 12:34PM
drusilla

I'm afraid I'm a Precision cook - I will measure something to the nth degree!!

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superkat

15 April 2009, 12:30PM
superkat

I think like many people, I'm a bit of all 4 types of cook - probably with the emphasis on Precision and Care-free! I like the structure of a reliable, clear recipe when I first cook a new dish.........then a few tries later the Care-free cook steps in - and normally the resulting dish is as good, if not better......... Suppose I should start trusting my ideas and judgement in the kitchen a little more!

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sioden

16 April 2009, 4:04PM
sioden

I am definately a carefree cook and there's alwasy a mess somwhere because I'm so excited about what I'm making!!! I do like to follow recipes, but hardly ever have all the ingredients for it. The on;y time i follow a recipe to the T is if I'm a baking (hardly ever), or if I'm making something special for a special occasion. Even then my carefree side tends to kick in somewhere!!

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AnnaG

17 April 2009, 12:35PM
AnnaG

My husband is a precision cook, and it really annoys him when I make something in my carefree way! "What's in this - it's delicious!" he'll ask. To which the answer is usually - "Oh a bit of this and that, and something that was leftover". He'll look disappointed because I can't make it exactly the same again - but if I do make it again - it's similar and new all at the same time! I love this site because it gives you so many great ideas and places to start. I do bake, and I am a little less carefree then. Oddly enough I'll bake when I'm feeling a bit fed up or stressed about something - then the sausage rolls, cheese straws and carrot cakes get made! My husband does the bread - that really is a precision cookery task and the slightest variation in the receipes really notices.

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shez

20 April 2009, 3:10PM
shez

The only thing I am carefree with is Yorkshire pudding - being from the county, it's obviously something that is inbuilt but otherwise a precision cook to get the best result. Wish I could be more carefree but generally think this is what seperates a chef and a cook.

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gingagirl

9 May 2009, 3:01AM
gingagirl

I'm definately a carefree cook with most things. Just throw everything in and hope for the best, apart from certain things I do all the time but those you just keep adding ingredients till its 'just right.' I love reading recipes (big weakness of mine) but if you follow them to the letter it never tastes as nice.

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Uzma

27 May 2009, 10:12AM
Uzma

I am extremely careful when baking as I have had a few episodes with flat or overflowing cakes! When cooking I am carefree, will add a bit more of my favourite ingredient and less of the ones I am not a big fan off, like soya sauce & fish sauce. I donâ��t follow recipes to the letter once I have achived a good result first time around â�� to me recipes are for inspiration, bringing your own twist makes them special!

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susan6780

4 November 2009, 2:01PM
susan6780

i expect that i am a carefree cook as i often say things have been cooked 'out of my head',i tend to look at a recipe in th living room or on the pc and then try to recreate it in the kitchen with no further checking of the recipe,this is a really liberating way to cook,but i can't make the dish the same way again,i have started to write a few bits down for my kids when they leave home,for when i have dinner at their houses!

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