For some people, climbing Mount Everest is something they prefer to do rather than wielding a spatula in the kitchen trying to make something palatable out of a hunk of raw meat. True, cooking is an art and it is one skill that can be a challenge to learn but as with most things we shouldn’t be scared of, it is something not impossible to learn as long as you show the proper level of commitment.
In the old days, mother taught their daughters to cook by actually showing them how a recipe is made, making them list down the ingredients, helping them shop for them at the grocery and finally helping them to turn them into actual food. In later times, cooking classes taught by experts became the norm, and despite the fact that there are expenses like tuition, gas and parking, it was all well worth the inconvenience when their daughters came home knowing how to braise beef and whip up a mean apple pie.
Then came the advent of cooking shows on TV which was infinitely preferable and cheaper than enrolling in actual cooking class. Here, the cameras actually zoomed into the food while it was being cooked so you could practically see the meat browning right before your very eyes. It also made it a whole lot easier to list down the ingredients and what a relief it was not to have to stand on your toes so you could see what the teacher was doing in front.
But despite these obvious advantages, people still questioned the effectiveness of learning how to cook on TV. While it is still good to learn from other cooks, nothing beats the fact that the TV cameras are able to closely focus on each ingredient and ably show the techniques being used by the featured cook. Plus, you can easily record the show and play it back again and again if you want to try the recipe the cooking show featured, something you can’t do in cooking class because you certainly can’t ask the teacher to go through the whole thing again just for your benefit.
TV cooking shows gradually gave way to online cooking videos which were infinitely better because you can watch and learn at your own pace. You didn’t need to pay any tuition or find a good parking place but simply make sure you have a good internet connection in order to enjoy hours upon hours of cooking classes. In addition, you also have free access to tons of videos on specialized cooking so if you’ve always wanted to learn Thai cooking, you can do so with just a few clicks of your mouse button.
And lastly even if you have a full-time job and kids, it is still easy to learn how to cook because online cooking videos are always available 24/7 so you’ll just need to search for the cooking video you want to see and it will be there ready and waiting whether it’s 3 AM or 3 PM. And because you can watch it on your laptops or tablets, you can actually follow the recipe as it is being cooked so you learn faster.