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Are cooking videos making us better cooks?

nytimes.com

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Re: Are cooking videos making us better cooks?

#31

Post by robertlagrant »

myshpa wrote: post #24
scotty79 wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Disagree. I'm crap no matter how much I cook and I even cook some things worse than I used to.

What helped me when learning to cook vegan was focusing on the basics. I studied a few recipes (such as Indian curry) and identified the fundamental ingredients (onions, garlic, ginger, tomatoes, spices, and protein), creating a list of non-basic spices and other potential ingredients. I mastered the process of this basic recipe: browning the onions with cumin and bay leaf, no salt, adding garlic and the remaining sp…

The internet is amazing! I never thought I'd meet another person who cooks vegans!

Re: Are cooking videos making us better cooks?

#32

Post by morelisp »

teh_klev wrote: post #21
9991 wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Didn't read the article. From the Hacker News Guidelines: > Please don't comment on whether someone read an article. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html Next time you don't read an article, please keep it to yourself.

I think you got the wrong end of the stick with that guideline. It's intended for folks who accuse others of not having read the article, not for self admission that one didn't read the article. Also the article is behind a paywall and even with all my own usual tricks I can't get at it to read in any sensible way (even archive.is). In this case the article's topic is fairly obvious that you could legitimately commen…

It seems unfair if you can accuse yourself of not having read the article but not someone else.

Re: Are cooking videos making us better cooks?

#33

Post by robertlagrant »

9991 wrote: post #13
robomartin wrote: post #2

Didn't read the article. That said, on the general topic hinted at by the title: Yes, they do. I followed Gordon Ramsay's many videos for a couple of years. I went from being able to a repertoire of eggs, rice and barbecue to cooking as close to world-class meals as I can imagine. This, to the point that we stopped going to expensive restaurants because, in most cases, the food is inferior to what I am able to cook a…

> Didn't read the article. From the Hacker News Guidelines: > Please don't comment on whether someone read an article. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html Next time you don't read an article, please keep it to yourself.

[flagged]

Re: Are cooking videos making us better cooks?

#34

Post by TheDong »

teh_klev wrote: post #21
9991 wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Didn't read the article. From the Hacker News Guidelines: > Please don't comment on whether someone read an article. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html Next time you don't read an article, please keep it to yourself.

I think you got the wrong end of the stick with that guideline. It's intended for folks who accuse others of not having read the article, not for self admission that one didn't read the article. Also the article is behind a paywall and even with all my own usual tricks I can't get at it to read in any sensible way (even archive.is). In this case the article's topic is fairly obvious that you could legitimately commen…

> all my own usual tricks I can't get at it to read in any sensible way

archive.org works fine for it for me. Does the following work for you?

https://web.archive.org/web/20230904034416/https://www.nytim...

Re: Are cooking videos making us better cooks?

#35

Post by kevinmchugh »

mabbo wrote: post #25

The absolute pinnacle of cooking video chefs today has to be J. Kenji Lopez-Alt[0], in large part because of his use of first person view. He straps a go-pro to this head and you see what he sees while he cooks. There's no cuts or retakes (unless he's waiting for something to cook or gets interrupted by his kids). There's no swaps. And it's all real- he's cooking dinner for his family. And it doesn't always go perfec…

I found his written work (which is how he built his following) _much_ more useful, but part of that's just about how I process information. Certainly it's valuable to be able to see how certain things are done, and it's hard for cooks to describe techniques sometimes.

Re: Are cooking videos making us better cooks?

#36

Post by matsemann »

What I often miss is "the basics". After reading a recipe or following a video, I perhaps know how to make exactly that dish. But that's like a bootcamp programmer learning a single framework. I want to learn the concepts, how to apply them, how and when to break the rules, how to modify it and experiment with what I got. When I follow a recipe, and the result isn't pristine, how do I fix it? Should I add more salt? Should I get better at picking my tomatoes?

I don't want to follow a cooking video to make the same recipe. What I want is to learn these things. I tried MasterClass, but felt it was just more of the same. Well produced, but in the end still recipe-follow-along. Which I enjoy watching, but in the same way watching Veritasium or Numberphile it is mostly entertainment, and doesn't make me a mathematician.

Re: Are cooking videos making us better cooks?

#37

Post by Inityx »

matsemann wrote: post #36

What I often miss is "the basics". After reading a recipe or following a video, I perhaps know how to make exactly that dish. But that's like a bootcamp programmer learning a single framework. I want to learn the concepts, how to apply them, how and when to break the rules, how to modify it and experiment with what I got. When I follow a recipe, and the result isn't pristine, how do I fix it? Should I add more salt?…

I'm a big fan of Helen Rennie on YouTube, since she spends a lot of time talking about those types of things

https://youtube.com/@helenrennie

Re: Are cooking videos making us better cooks?

#38

Post by kevinmchugh »

deprecative wrote: post #20
chongli wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Jacques Pépin is an absolute treasure. Such a famous chef yet never a jerk to anyone. Another favourite of mine is J. Kenji Lopez-Alt [1], or Kenji as everyone calls him . Really nice and non-pretentious guy. Tons of great advice for beginners. His cookbook even goes into details like how to stock and organize your fridge! I think one of his most endearing qualities is that he doesn’t hide his mistakes. He leaves the…

Kenji is great until you have misophonia and his mouth sounds get you and you have issues with how unclean everything he does is. But his videos are a goldmine for great skills, recipes, everything. It is very good if you have a little basic hygiene and food safety skills and do not pick up bad habits from him. The knife manufacturer he uses has been very, very good as well. I have a few of their knives and it's been…

I can't think of anything unhygienic I've ever seen Kenji do - do you have an example?

Re: Are cooking videos making us better cooks?

#39

Post by maxnoe »

matsemann wrote: post #36

What I often miss is "the basics". After reading a recipe or following a video, I perhaps know how to make exactly that dish. But that's like a bootcamp programmer learning a single framework. I want to learn the concepts, how to apply them, how and when to break the rules, how to modify it and experiment with what I got. When I follow a recipe, and the result isn't pristine, how do I fix it? Should I add more salt?…

Give "Salt Fat Acid Heat" a try (the book, not the netflix show)

Re: Are cooking videos making us better cooks?

#40

Post by quickthrower2 »

robomartin wrote: post #2

Didn't read the article. That said, on the general topic hinted at by the title: Yes, they do. I followed Gordon Ramsay's many videos for a couple of years. I went from being able to a repertoire of eggs, rice and barbecue to cooking as close to world-class meals as I can imagine. This, to the point that we stopped going to expensive restaurants because, in most cases, the food is inferior to what I am able to cook a…

You can beat a lot of restaurants as a shit cook simply because of economics. You are not under obligation to make a profit, so you don't need to cut the same corners. And the as you get to the high end stuff - that expensive stuff is really awful. Not hearty at all. It's like modern art, I am supposed to "get it" but I don't.
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