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If you’re love cooking from home, there is a lot that you can learn from your favorite restaurants, even if you’ve never worked in the hospitality industry yourself. Eating out is a great way to learn about flavors, but you can also learn some clever techniques that chefs use to improve your skills and meals too.
Respect The Mise
One of the most important things that chefs learn is the importance of the mise. Mise is an abbreviation of the French term ‘mise en place’. All it means is having all your prepped ingredients ready before you start cooking. You can do the same thing at home and prepare in advance. Before you start cooking, layout and prepare all your ingredients. Your mise should also include things like seasoning and garnishes so they’re ready to grab when you need them, whether you’re making an oreo cake with creamy vanilla frosting or a simple pasta sauce.
Flip It
If you like to watch the kitchen at your favorite restaurant, you will have seen the chefs flipping the food in the pan. This is done with a flick of the wrist. The pan flip makes sure that the food cooks evenly all the way through without the need for stirring, and it looks professional if you’re trying to impress someone! With some confidence and some practice, you can learn this trick yourself.
Visit An Open Kitchen
Can’t afford cooking lessons? Get some tips by eating at restaurants with open kitchens and sitting where you can see what the chefs are doing. Watching them in action is a great way to learn. Watch closely and pay attention to things like the way they hold their knives to that pan-flip trick. You can take the things you see home to your kitchen.
Use Kitchen Scissors
Most of us picture chefs using knives, but actually, small kitchen scissors are one of the most popular chef tools. Knives can be too hard on soft things like herbs, but delicate scissors are a lot more gentle. The small blades allow you to do precise jobs like deveining shrimp, slicing fish, and cutting through meat with more control.
Use Everything
Chefs never waste food. Chefs usually work to tight budgets, so nothing can be wasted. Whether it’s using bones and waste cuts of meat to make broths for the next day, or turning a leftover salad into pesto, you can turn just about any leftovers that you have into something else if you get creative. There are lots of recipes online for making use of leftover ingredients. Try to use all of the food you buy, and cut back on food waste.
Add A Flourish
One of the things that make restaurant food look so appealing is the plating. A lot of these tricks can be used at home. For example, anyone can quenelle as long as you have a pair of spoons. Add these flourishes when you cook at home to make everything look more interesting.
