Why Recipes are holding you back from learning how to cook

Summary

This video advocates for a food-based cooking approach over the traditional recipe-based method. It addresses common cooking frustrations like spending too much on groceries, food waste, and the pressure to cook elaborate meals. The presenter shares his experience of creating a second YouTube channel to demonstrate constraint-based cooking, which simplifies grocery shopping, reduces waste, and makes cooking fun and flexible. Historical insights into recipe origins and practical tips for developing lifestyle cooking skills are provided, encouraging viewers to find a balance between the two cooking approaches.

Takeaways

• 🛒 The video discusses the shift from recipe-based cooking to a food-based approach, which involves buying food first and then deciding what to make based on what's available.
• 💡 It highlights the benefits of food-based cooking, such as simplifying grocery shopping, reducing food waste, and making cooking more flexible and fun.
• 🌟 The creator shares personal experience, having developed a second YouTube channel where recipes are created after the food is made, demonstrating the feasibility of this approach.
• 📚 Historical context is provided to show that popular recipes were born out of the constraints of available food, not the other way around.
• 🔁 The video emphasizes the importance of developing lifestyle cooking skills, which are different from hard skills taught by recipes, and are essential for everyday cooking.
• 🍲 An example is given of a meal made from leftovers, showcasing how constraint-based cooking can lead to creative and satisfying dishes that may not look like much but are practical and delicious.
• 📱 The creator mentions the development of a cookwell mobile app that will help with grocery shopping and daily cooking, indicating future tools to support this cooking approach.
• 💰 The video addresses the financial aspect, explaining how this approach can work for any budget and shares personal anecdotes from college days to current shopping habits.
• 📈 Three frameworks are introduced to help viewers decide what to make with the food they have: technique framework, ingredient framework, and recipe framework.
• 🔄 The video concludes with a call to action for viewers to try this approach and find a balance between recipe-based and food-based cooking to enhance their overall cooking skills.

Q & A

What is the main issue with recipe-based cooking as described in the script?

Recipe-based cooking often leads to spending too much on ingredients for just a few meals, not having enough time to cook, or ending up with food waste due to unused leftover ingredients.

What alternative approach to cooking is suggested in the script?

The script suggests a food-based cooking approach where you buy food first and then figure out multiple ways to cook it to fit your lifestyle, simplifying grocery shopping, reducing food waste, and making cooking fun and flexible.

How does the script's author prove the effectiveness of the food-based cooking approach?

The author created a second YouTube channel where they made food first and wrote recipes afterward, demonstrating that this approach works and helps develop different cooking skills.

What are the soft skills of cooking that recipe-based cooking might not teach?

Recipe-based cooking might not teach the soft skills of cooking such as how to use up leftover ingredients creatively, how to cook with limited time or energy, or how to grocery shop without a specific recipe in mind.

Why were popular recipes created in the first place according to the script?

Popular recipes were created out of the constraints of the food that people had available to feed themselves, often due to food shortages or limited resources.

What is an example of a recipe that originated from food constraints mentioned in the script?

Carbonara is mentioned as an example of a recipe that originated from food constraints during the Allied Liberation in 1944 when Rome faced food shortages, and people used powdered eggs and bacon from military rations to create the dish.

How does the script suggest changing the mindset of grocery shopping?

The script suggests grocery shopping for food without planning any recipes or dishes in advance, which encourages a more flexible and creative approach to cooking.

What are the three potential ways to figure out what to make with the food you have, as mentioned in the script?

The three potential ways are: 1) Technique framework, where you learn a cooking technique and apply it to different ingredients; 2) Ingredient framework, where you focus on a specific ingredient and decide how to cook and serve it based on various factors; and 3) Recipe framework, where you adapt recipes to the food you already have.

What is the goal of the video according to the script?

The goal of the video is not to completely abandon recipes but to help viewers find a balance between recipe-based and food-based cooking approaches, learning the skills both offer.

What future projects related to cooking and food is the script's author working on?

The author is working on deep dive videos about basic ingredients, physical products like a high-quality cutting board, and an early-stage design for a cookwell mobile app to help with grocery shopping and daily cooking.