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Have you ever wondered how top chefs come up with so many incredible dishes, almost like they have a bottomless pit of recipes that they have spent years memorizing?
Well, believe it or not, it is much simpler than that. A good chef relies primarily on technique and an understanding of the make up of his/her ingredients. Sure, there are honored recipes for classic items that almost every classically trained chef has learned, but the power to create comes from an understanding of the fundamentals of cooking.
A good chef should be able to function with out recipes. An oxymoron? No, a key to freedom. When the principals of saute, braising, roasting, poaching, frying, and grilling are learned then all one would have to know is what cut of meat, poultry, or seafood one is working with to know the proper cooking method to use.
When a cook learns the basis of emulsifying, then a mayonnaise type sauce can be made out of just about anything as long as you have eggs and oil. Do you have oil and vinegar? A myriad of vinaigrettes can be made depending on what flavoring ingredients are available. And if one knows the thickening properties of starch and the procedure to incorporate them into liquids then you have at least a thousand soups and sauces at your finger tips.
How about fruits and vegetables? If you understand how they react in the presence of heat, acid, oil, water, sugar and/or salt, then you've got it made! Now you can be a culinary Van Gogh, just choose your medium and proceed according to knowledge of what does what to what.
Yes, technique and an understanding of the make up of your ingredients will open doors never thought possible to one bound by recipes. At this point a recipe can be a springboard for your imagination because you understand the body of it's make up and you will be able to break it down and even rework it, perhaps you will only look at it for inspiration and not for it to baby sit you. Yes,learn technique and food science and you will open the door to creativity like never dreamed of by the recipe bound.
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