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[Help] Seeking advice on how to cook gourmet courses or chef specialties, or be a great prep cook

Someone's asking for help!

Diluculo_DelFuego

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Hi all,

Seeking to expand my personal and mundane goals of feeding myself and others, and to make money from the mundane.
One great on here already has tasked me with following his advice, I have yet had the opportunity to buy sirloin or chicken.
I dont have an established pantry, though I have some hood leftovers of herbs and spices, some frozen ground beef, frozen chicken, and frozen maple sausage patties. I also have vegetables in cans, beans in cans, rice, noodles and tomato sauce. I also have yellow mustard, vinegarette and another sauce Ic cannot recall unopened.

I dont have an established kitchen to my liking either. I guess methods are what I want to discuss to fulfill the goal in the title.

Care/Thanks.
 

Yazata

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I thought you were a chef or a cook?

As someone who went to school to become a chef but never actually worked in a restaurant my advice is probably not the best.
But if you have the opportunity always use fresh instead of canned and processed ingredients. Tastes better, makes you feel better. You are what you eat (as they say).
Get fresh 👍
 

SkullTraill

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I've never cooked in a professional setting, but I have cooked for groups of 200-500 people at a time multiple times, and everyone says what I cook tastes good, though I can't speak to whether or not it is "gourmet".

This is the advice I can give you: find one dish, and perfect it. Don't drown yourself in technique and the quality of your pantry, those things will come as you perfect more and more dishes. First, find a video of someone making a dish you like... it can be as simple as fish and chips, or loaded fries, or a burger... and then replicate that. Buy ALL the ingredients you need for it, do not skimp. This is how you build up your pantry. Cook it. It might be shit... but cook it again, working on the things that weren't great originally. This is how you build your technique. Once it's as good as you think it's going to get, try making it for a bunch of people... let's say 10 people. This will teach you even more technique... especially prepping. Get their feedback too, and incorporate it. Once everyone loves this dish the way you make it, try a new dish. Do the same process. Once you have about 3-5 dishes PERFECTED, then start an instagram page, and get everyone who you gave free food to, to like it. Then start selling, small orders, limited availability, to people close by to you. Then you can make some money from it.

This is the oldschool, traditional, pre-french training method of becoming a good cook. It's freestyle... it's easy... it won't win you any awards or get you a job in a fancy restaurant, but it will allow you to grow and express yourself naturally. You might even end up starting a food truck/restaurant of your own and making a lot of money. Look at the origin stories of non-fine-dining establishments that have a cult following. I bet 99% of them started like this.

tl;dr keep your focus narrow, perfect dishes one at a time, do not get bogged down in the details and auxiliary stuff, make food that makes other people happy instead of what is fancy and makes for good social media pictures.

Nothing brings me greater joy than feeding my community and those I love.

Start with something simple like smash burgers or loaded fries.

Good luck on your culinary journey.
 

Diluculo_DelFuego

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I've never cooked in a professional setting, but I have cooked for groups of 200-500 people at a time multiple times, and everyone says what I cook tastes good, though I can't speak to whether or not it is "gourmet".

This is the advice I can give you: find one dish, and perfect it. Don't drown yourself in technique and the quality of your pantry, those things will come as you perfect more and more dishes. First, find a video of someone making a dish you like... it can be as simple as fish and chips, or loaded fries, or a burger... and then replicate that. Buy ALL the ingredients you need for it, do not skimp. This is how you build up your pantry. Cook it. It might be shit... but cook it again, working on the things that weren't great originally. This is how you build your technique. Once it's as good as you think it's going to get, try making it for a bunch of people... let's say 10 people. This will teach you even more technique... especially prepping. Get their feedback too, and incorporate it. Once everyone loves this dish the way you make it, try a new dish. Do the same process. Once you have about 3-5 dishes PERFECTED, then start an instagram page, and get everyone who you gave free food to, to like it. Then start selling, small orders, limited availability, to people close by to you. Then you can make some money from it.

This is the oldschool, traditional, pre-french training method of becoming a good cook. It's freestyle... it's easy... it won't win you any awards or get you a job in a fancy restaurant, but it will allow you to grow and express yourself naturally. You might even end up starting a food truck/restaurant of your own and making a lot of money. Look at the origin stories of non-fine-dining establishments that have a cult following. I bet 99% of them started like this.

tl;dr keep your focus narrow, perfect dishes one at a time, do not get bogged down in the details and auxiliary stuff, make food that makes other people happy instead of what is fancy and makes for good social media pictures.

Nothing brings me greater joy than feeding my community and those I love.

Start with something simple like smash burgers or loaded fries.

Good luck on your culinary journey.
Awesome advice, all of it! Thank you, I always have this memory of my mom and dads pantry growing up that was full, but then it was the 80s and we could afford it for a while. I will definitely use your advice and thanks again!
 

Diluculo_DelFuego

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I realized I was fired tonight, so taking a gas station manager up on his offer.
Will implement your suggestions though, I would like to cook for friends sometime.
 

Roma

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Always check with your digestive system if it wants particular food. When you get the hang of that you can check what other people's digestive systems want/need.
 
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