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How To Master 5 Basic Cooking Skills (Gordon Ramsey video)

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entremet

entremet

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJy1ajvMU1k

His soft and custardy scrambled eggs videos won many people over to the superior way to cook scrambled eggs.

Ramsey is back teaching five basic cooking skills:

Chopping an Onion
Cooking Rice
Debone a Fish
Sharpening a Knife
Cooking Pasta.

Ramsey is a quite a talented and articulate cooking teacher and it's nice seeing him outside his quick tempered persona.
 
The onion cutting video was really useful for me. I always just cut the root first thing and felt like I got hit with pocket sand like 30 seconds later.

But cardinal pods and star anise for white rice? C'mon, Gordon.
 
His Ultimate Cookery show was one of the best. I watched and re-watched that entire series just to refresh myself on best practices.
 
I recall Alton Brown doing a good knife video back in his old show Good Eats. Very similar to that other knife grip link; it crosses across a few knives.
 
That's not sharpening the knife, that's maintaining an edge.

When you sharpen a knife you go the opposite direction and you use a whetstone.
 
injurai said:
That's not sharpening the knife, that's maintaining an edge.

When you sharpen a knife you go the opposite direction and you use a whetstone.
Click to expand...
Yeah. It was peeve of mine too, but I'd wager most home cooks don't even own a whetstone much less know what it is.
 
entremet said:
Ramsey is a quite a talented and articulate cooking teacher and it's nice seeing him outside his quick tempered persona.
Click to expand...

He's not like that all the time. He actually really enjoys teaching folks how to cook, IIRC. The whole angry thing is just a television persona.
 
TheSeks said:
He's not like that all the time. He actually really enjoys teaching folks how to cook, IIRC. The whole angry thing is just a television persona.
Click to expand...

It's not exactly a persona. Most of the persona is TV editing.

He is like that because he is a head chef, and a 3 star one at that. He has to communicate in a kitchen, and he must know what his other chefs are doing. He has to orchestrate them. The people in the kitchen with him become used to it, they are numb to it. It's just the language of the kitchen.

But for everyone else it comes across differently.
 
I'm not sure about the oil in the pasta water. Usually when you're making pasta you're adding some kind of sauce, and you use the starchiness of both the pasta water and the surface of the pasta itself to control the consistency of the sauce and help it adhere. I can imagine the oil interfering with that somewhat. But, maybe the impact is less than what I'm imagining it would be – your sauce will probably have oil in it too. Regardless, seems like a very optional cheat, as it's not hard to keep pasta from sticking if you stir it occasionally while cooking, don't overcook it, and don't let it sit after you drain it.
 
injurai said:
It's not exactly a persona. Most of the persona is TV editing.

He is like that because he is a head chef, and a 3 star one at that. He has to communicate in a kitchen, and he must know what his other chefs are doing. He has to orchestrate them. The people in the kitchen with him become used to it, they are numb to it. It's just the language of the kitchen.

But for everyone else it comes across differently.
Click to expand...

Exactly. To me, he comes across as a chef who can be versatile in different settings, which is valuable for a teacher in that profession.

Though, he did have to tone it down after the first few seasons. Notice he doesn't use phrases like "hell's bitches" anymore.
 
nullref said:
I'm not sure about the oil in the pasta water. Usually when you're making pasta you're adding some kind of sauce, and you use the starchiness of both the pasta water and the surface of the pasta itself to control the consistency of the sauce and help it adhere. I can imagine the oil interfering with that somewhat. But, maybe the impact is less than what I'm imagining it would be – your sauce will probably have oil in it too. Regardless, seems like a very optional cheat, as it's not hard to keep pasta from sticking if you stir it occasionally while cooking, don't overcook it, and don't let it sit after you drain it.
Click to expand...

It cuts back on bubbles/froth while boiling, that's about it - I don't put oil in my pasta either because I'm with you in that you want some starch to help the sauce stick.

Only time I will add oil to liquid is if I'm pressure cooking grains/rice or beans, as you want to avoid anything bubbling up into the release valve.
 
He doesn't explain the scrambled eggs well enough in that one vid. It's really just "stir often on low heat." If you want bigger egg curds, just stir less often.

He needs to clarify the difference between honing and sharpening knives.

Oil in the pasta water is bullshit and won't prevent sticking. You just stir the pasta a few times as soon as it enters the water.
 
I tried making his scrambled eggs recipe. Ended up totally different than how his looked, but that's usually how I work with recipes; Similar but different and not as good because I can't cook.
 
norm9 said:
I tried making his scrambled eggs recipe. Ended up totally different than how his looked, but that's usually how I work with recipes; Similar but different and not as good because I can't cook.
Click to expand...

heat and pan can make a big difference, same with how many eggs you're cooking
 
norm9 said:
I tried making his scrambled eggs recipe. Ended up totally different than how his looked, but that's usually how I work with recipes; Similar but different and not as good because I can't cook.
Click to expand...

Recipes aren't scientific formulas. They're more like guidelines. The rest requires human judgment and using your senses.

There are too many variables. Cooking implements, heat, altitude, egg quality will all affect the final product.

Eggs cook very fast too, so you have to be very vigilant. But don't your results discourage you. Ramsey also has decades of experience so it looks very easy.
 
Afro Samurai said:
Where can I find more resources on learning to cook? I want to whip myself something nice.
Click to expand...

To me the best place to start is the TV show Good Eats, hosted by Alton Brown. I'm not sure where you can find it on the internet outside of a collection of random episodes on Netflix. What I like about him is he goes into the science of how things work when you cook, which helped me learn better than just saying "now do this" like most shows do.

I also really like the Youtube channel Laura in the Kitchen but it's more of a traditional show than Good Eats.
 
Cooking rice? Fantastic, for some reason I always make terrible rice. Lets watch!

... what the hell are carnal pods? ... what the fuck are those star things?

I have to learn some things. I don't even know where to get those things.
 
entremet said:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJy1ajvMU1k

His soft and custardy scrambled eggs videos won many people over to the superior way to cook scrambled eggs.

Ramsey is back teaching five basic cooking skills:

Chopping an Onion
Cooking Rice
Debone a Fish
Sharpening a Knife
Cooking Pasta.

Ramsey is a quite a talented and articulate cooking teacher and it's nice seeing him outside his quick tempered persona.
Click to expand...

Where is the video of his scrambled eggs? :)
 
Ramsey's youtube channel is kind of hilarious. Some of his videos are edited oddly, with fast cuts and tight close-ups. The comments sections are even better. :p
 
LakeEarth said:
Cooking rice? Fantastic, for some reason I always make terrible rice. Lets watch!

... what the hell are carnal pods? ... what the fuck are those star things?

I have to learn some things. I don't even know where to get those things.
Click to expand...

Cardamom pods. And the stars are called Star Anise. They're both just spices and you can find them on amazon.
 
LakeEarth said:
Cooking rice? Fantastic, for some reason I always make terrible rice. Lets watch!

... what the hell are carnal pods? ... what the fuck are those star things?

I have to learn some things. I don't even know where to get those things.
Click to expand...
You don't need to use it. Omit them for plain white rice.

Lol at "carnal" pods.
 
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