Chef Daniel Holzman on The Best Way to Learn to Cook

“Anyone can cook.” (Chef Gusteau)

Started cooking 2 yrs ago. Everything via YT. No better teacher out there imo. Has everything to get going and great content from all over the world. Everyone loves my food and keeps coming back for more. I find baking to be more technical and have the hardest time with dough of all things so far. Really what you need is 1. Passion/interest, 2. YT and internet for recipes and technique, 3. Persistence, 4. Repetition, 5. Ingredients, 6. Place to prep and cook. I’ve made hundreds of different items over 2 yrs and exploring different foods is the journey for me. Pasties de Nata is an early example of something I made which most places don’t carry by me. Thanks to YT I can try all kinds of ethnicities and delights from all over the world!

I think the best thing to cook when youre first starting out is eggs. They are super simple but also require paying attention to what youre cooking, timing, effective seasoning, moisture management, heat management, etc. Especially scrambled eggs, one of the easiest to make but probably the hardest to make appetizing. Cooking over easy or sunny side up eggs is pretty educational too. Its all things you naturally learn on your own the more often you cook them.

I started cooking when I was 8, because my mom didn’t cook at all and constantly bought us frozen food/McDonalds. I would look at the ingredients on the back of the frozen food, find as many as I can in the kitchen and try and put it together. Fast forward to today and I could read a recipe once and freestyle everything else. Cooking is an essential skill to have.

He nailed it on the culinary school debt thing. When the 2008ish recession hit, I lost my job in 2009. I was a programmer, and I was burned out on office life. I had however had a "side gig" baking at home and bringing bread into my coworkers (bake in the morning, bread deliveries when I walked in on second shift). Well, when they let me go, I decided a "new start" and went to culinary school. Awesome time, learned my shit, graduated. However, barely two years into the industry, 37 years old with a wife and two kids...I couldn't afford bills much less paying back loans. So, back into the office I went, and out of the culinary industry. I still miss it.

When Joe has these chefs on the podcast, he really grills them with questions.

the best way to learn how to cook is to ask the chef a question right after you both do blow in the bathroom together. one question at a time, every 20 mins.

One of the greatest shows on Food Network was "Good Eats" because it taught the science behind cooking, beyond just recipes. It taught me how to cook 😊

1) Think of something you want to eat 2) Research online how to cook it (cross referencing, of course) 3) Attempt it

Started cooking when I was 16 years old at a French restaurant in Massachusetts. I was hired as a dishwasher but the Chef who had been brought over from France took me under his wing and taught me to cook. It was a great life lesson that I cherish. Unfortunately the chef suffered a massive heart attack and returned to France. His replacement was not so nice and I got fired after we had a fight over water residue in a pan He threw the pan at me and I lost my temper and my desire to work as a chef.

I'm 48 and never cooked AT ALL until 2 years ago when we entered the Pandemic. All our restaurants were closed for dining anyway, so I figured I may as well try it. Originally I did everything just by watching YouTube (my favorite channels are Food Wishes and Chef Jean Pierre) but I also did Home Chef kits for a while too. I would just think of something that I wanted to eat and then watch videos for how it's made. Shepherd's Pie, Meatloaf, Creamed Spinach, Trout Almandine, Grilled Salmon, Enchiladas, Tuna Caserole, and so on. Once you've made a few dishes you kind of pick up some basic skills and understandings of techniques as well as flavor/ingredient combinations and you can just improvise from there. I was really amazed at how good the food was, and so was my wife. We used to dine out or pick up take out meals almost every day. Now it's more of a special weekend thing we do. The meals at home are fresh and delicious and we are also saving a ton of money.

I learned to cook for myself mostly by just being cheap and cooking for myself. Once ya figure out what done feels like, and how to prep stuff it comes together much easier. Im far from a chef but can make some solid grub.

I worked my way up from dishwasher when I was 16. Became executive chef at 26, went onto take an exect job at a gold club in guatemela after learning some Spanish then boom covid hit, back home working as the chef at the first restaurant I ever started at as a dishwasher at 34. That's a pretty cool feeling.

When I was in college, I had a summer job as a cook at a bar and grill. I had no experience in that world. Something about it unlocked my ability to cook, and to this day, I'm confused by people that say that they can't cook. I think what they actually mean is that they have never genuinely tried to cook.

I learned to cook when I was 12 because I had to cook in order to eat. My parents would come home on Saturday morning and go to the grocery store and buy groceries for me and do a few things around the house and then they would leave again on Sunday afternoon. I had to take care of myself, I had to grow up really fast and obviously didn't have much of a childhood. I survived though. I am now 38 years old, married with 2 kids of my own and I can tell you that they've never had to cook or take of themselves the way I had to. As a father I never wanted my kids to have to grow up the way I did but when I really think about it, maybe I've done to much for them, I Don't know. I want them to be as capable and hard working and successful as I am but not go through the struggle like I had to. Life's a journey and I wouldn't be who I am today if I had an easy childhood, but my question is can you be independent and successful and strong without going through all the struggle? Can you have one without the other?

I have tons of cookbooks, but YouTube videos have been by far more helpful to me.

Semi retired executive Chef with 30+ years experience. The best way to learn is to work with a good Chef. There are 3 Executive Chefs who worked for me over the years currently running kitchens and kicking ass.

I just realised, there could be a little uncovered gem of content for Rogan here. As a former bartender, I'd love it if he was to get a real expert bartender/mixologist to just come on and either talk about the art of making drinks - or even make some for Joe himself. We get to see a long form masterclass for free. EDIT: The reason I think it would be great is because I know personally things about mixing drinks that people always find fascinating.

I don't know about anywhere else but in the Netherlands we have these meal packages with veggies and instructions (and they tell you which meat and carb source to get), and they were extremely helpful in learning how to cook. It's basically like Hello Fresh but affordable, meals come in at 3-7 bucks per serving. Youtube has been another fantastic source of information, I don't really like recipe books but watching people put a recipe together works really well for me.

I learned how to cook from scratch by my mother and grandmother involving me in the process of their home cooked meals as a kid. I work full time as a residential construction worker and I come home and cook my families meals. My girlfriend of 13 yrs can cook but she likes mine better and I enjoy cooking.