To Become a Better Cook, Sharpen Your Senses.

[elleng]

'Kate McDermott describes it as “the sizzle-whump.”

It’s the sound a pie makes when it’s perfectly baked, said Ms. McDermott, the author of “Art of the Pie.”

The “sizzle” is the sound of hot butter cooking the flour in the crust, melding it into a crisp, golden lid. The “whump” is the sound of the thickened filling bumping against the top crust as it bubbles at a steady pace.

“I call it the heartbeat of the pie,” she said.

Ms. McDermott, who is 63 and lives in Port Angeles, Wash., leads intensive baking seminars across the country. But before she became a pie coach, she was a professional musician. “I experience the world primarily through sound,” she said. “I’ve been listening to pies since I started baking them.”'>>>

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/28/dining/to-become-a-better-cook-sharpen-your-senses.html?

Thrice-Roasted Chicken With Rosemary Rub
https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1018680-thrice-roasted-chicken-with-rosemary-rub

Blueberry Rhubarb Pie
https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1018681-blueberry-rhubarb-pie

[Cairycat]

1. When I found out

that I have pretty severe macular degeneration, I started paying more attention to my other senses when I was cooking. If you listen when you're frying or sauteing, you know when something's gone long enough when the bubbling slows down. Smell of course is very important, and one's sense of time is also crucial in cooking.

My dad had to learn to cook after my mom became ill with the cancer that took her life. I helped him learn. It was challenging, not only because he was an engineer, used precision, not the going with the flow that cooking demands, but also because he was well on his way to losing his sight to macular degeneration. His engineering background served him well, though, and he figured out ingenious ways to complete common cooking tasks with limited vision. What an inspiration he is to me.

I still have one eye with 20/20 vision, so I don't necessarily have to depend on my other senses, but I do try to notice how my senses other than vision inform my cooking.

[sir pball]

2. This is one of the hardest things to teach new cooks, that sight is meaningless.

Your sight is the least reliable of your senses - there's almost NOTHING you can cook by eye.

Touch is the big one...any protein is done by touch, from a steak frites to a chicken breast. Poke it, feel it, know how well it's cooked.

Veggies are sound and smell - I have onions on for cheesesteaks right now but they're still wet and smell far too strong to go flip, so I'm typing this instead

It's a hard thing to teach new cooks, that your eyes are actually the least reliable indicators - a good sear on that cod or chicken doesn't mean it's done. How does it feel when you squeeze it, or if you aren't sure what does the cake tester say? That, by the way, is the true ne plus ultra professional way, be it meat, chicken, fish, or a vegetable....stick a cake tester in it for ten seconds then hold it to your lip.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

3. If you bake bread,

you need to learn what the dough feels like as you knead it. Don't use the kneading attachment to your all-purpose kitchen appliance, but knead it with your actual hands. You'll discover how the dough changes as the yeast develops.

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

4. I make fresh pasta regularly

And I would give the same advice: Knead it by hand, and you can tell by how it feels if it is too wet or too dry and when it is kneaded enough. Incidentally, it is impossible to over-knead pasta dough.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

5. I have never tried making fresh pasta.

It's probably not very difficult, but just something I've never given much thought to.