[ 3 / biz / cgl / ck / diy / fa / ic / jp / lit / sci / vr / vt ] [ index / top / reports ] [ become a patron ] [ status ]
2023-11: Warosu is now out of extended maintenance.

/ck/ - Food & Cooking

View post   
File: 114 KB, 170x170, d68a1f25d17ca14afc14ef2335b61d2a.gif [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
3912969 No.3912969[DELETED]  [Reply] [Original]

what got you into cooking?

>> No.3912971

my mother's inability to.

>> No.3912973

The realization that I knew nothing about cooking or baking beyond frying bacon or making omelettes, and also the thought of my mom dying before she could teach me anything.

>> No.3912974

budgeting. Once I moved out on my own I realized how much I was spending to eat out, even at cheap restaurants and fast food. I started cooking for myself to save money. Since then it's turned into a great hobby.

>> No.3912976

There was nothing to do on Sunday afternoons and I used to watch PBS cooking shows.

One day I got in the kitchen and I realized I could just about do anything. It sort of fell onto me, really.

>> No.3912982

I was forced to not work or go to school for a year due to medical reasons.

Intense boredom led me to venture into this board which led to me watching Food Network and PBS's Pepin/Child cooking shows for a year.

Plus both of my parents worked their asses off and I wanted to help around the house somehow.

>> No.3912989

Going off to college.

My mother is a god-tier cook, so when I was stuck with nothing but fast food and ramen at collect I couldn't take it. Had to learn cooking or face starvation.

>> No.3912991

My Uncle. He was a head chef for a few different places. He is amazing when it comes to the culinary arts. Actually, my whole family pretty much is. So I take after them.

>> No.3913006

being in college and wanting to eat healthy.

>> No.3913015

Dad sells champagnes, wines and liquors to restaurants. His job is to match up menus with a great wine list and then provide the wines. So he's indirectly linked with the restaurant and fine dining business.
Once I started talking to him about it, seeing some of the shit he does, eating out with him, watching cooking shows, watching him cook etc. it just took off from there.
Plus it's one of the best skills anyone could have.

>> No.3913027

parent's cooking was terrible, took matters into my own hands

>> No.3913034

It's kind of silly but, it was Robert Rodríguez.
In the special features of the Once Upon A Time In Mexico DVD he had his cooking school video where he makes cochinita pibil. The line that galvanized it for me is "Cooking is like fucking, you're going to do it for the rest of your life so you might as well learn to do it right."

That resonated with me and I started to work on getting better at cooking (since my fucking was already impeccable) and I haven't stopped since.

>> No.3913050

i always liked helping my mom cook at home, so it was natural to like to cook.

what really changed everything was my first job. I was going to college and needed a job, so i took one as a dishwasher. wasnt planning on making the fod industry my career at all. The head chef and i were the onyl white guys in there and he knew i didnt wanna be stuck int he corner listening to the two dishwashers next to me speak spanish to each other. he let me shadow and help out at slow times on the dessert station and salad station. I was just amazed how thigns came together. ZI dropped out of school for other reasons and continued working in the industry. fast foward 9 years, i've worked at some cool restaurants, I'm the sous chef at a reputable local restaurant, have my acf certfications, and i'm about to move to hawaii to work as a sous chef

>> No.3913051

Moving out and realizing that all that deep frozen stuff makes me fat and lethargic and gives me acne.

>> No.3913055
File: 104 KB, 540x731, uuu07.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
3913055

My obsession of an idyllic 1950s lifestyle, started in my late teens. I am in my thirties now.

>> No.3913059

>>3913055
Please tell me what you've learned. I'm really interested in finding out all that I can about it.

>> No.3913061

Because I love to eat.

>> No.3913062

Parents always used to tell me "You better learn how to cook or you're going to starve when you're out on your own!"

Once I listened, I realized it was fun.

>> No.3913066

I always cooked with my grand-mothers and my parents as a kid. I just kept going when I moved out at 18. I figured out early that cooking in bulk/freezing was more cost effective then eating take-outs all the time as my roommates at the time used to do.

>> No.3913069

>>3913059
Well, what specifically do you want to know? I have collected tons of vintage cookbooks and handwritten recipes that I like to rely upon. I make a budget, I plan out the weekly menu and structure our meals based on what is in season and what we will be able to do with the leftovers.

>> No.3913071 [DELETED] 

>>3913069
*what WE will be able to do with the leftovers

>> No.3913075

i was bored and had a lot of free time one summer when i was in high school, my mom was not a great cook so there was no retaliation from her when I started doing the cooking.

>> No.3913079

>>3913069
Do you know if there's any catalogs online with vintage cookbooks or magazines and things from that era online?
Sage for not on topic.

>> No.3913093

I got a job in a 5 star restaurant as a dish washer. The chefs there taught me things here and there.It all started when I asked them a good recipe for a dinner date I was having with a Japanese girl, and what to cook her.

I just like the creative aspect of it, and the fact that food is awesome.

>> No.3913095

I needed a new hobby, and I already ate at least three times a day.

Also, pre-packaged food options cut down considerably when I became a vegetarian.

>> No.3913097

my mom being a bad, lazy cook.

>> No.3913102

if i dont eat, i die.

>> No.3913105

Poor, bored, tired of fast food, wanting to try things I couldn't find in the menial restaurant selection within walking distance. Also, I was getting an unsightly muffin-top.

The final push was when my mother died, and I could never have her food again, even when I visited home. But I still have all her recipes, and I treasure them.

>> No.3913108

My biggest regret is that my grandmother didn't give me her recipes. I'm going to spend my life trying to replicate it now.

>> No.3913118

Boredom.

>> No.3913123

Tried it once when my mother was too busy to make dinner that night and I didn't feel like eating junk food for dinner.
Instantly knew it was something I'd want to do for the rest of my life. Which may not seem like much to you, but to a middle schooler whose family had rediculously high expectations of him as well as lacking an ounce of knowledge of what to do with the rest of his life, it was a godsend.
Since then, my cooking has been my rock. Whenever something goes wrong or my life screws up in some way, I always know I'll have my cooking.

Sorry about the life story, this shit's been bubbling beneath the surface for some time now.

>> No.3913126

>>3912976
that was my deal too. I would watch these shows and recreate their stuff when I had nothing going on and bamn. awesome food was born.

>> No.3913133
File: 24 KB, 360x360, pray to santa.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
3913133

I was a picky fuck as a child so when I was 12 my mom told me to make my own food, I wasn't allowed to use frozen anything and she gave me a weekly budget and after a few weeks I realized that I could get creative with it... It actually broke me of my pickyness because instead of them telling me to try new things when I walked to the grocery store I would walk through the aisles and something would catch my eye and it became a game to just grab it then get home and google it to see what I could use it in (It was mixed results but it was fun).

>> No.3913139

A lazy single parent.

>grandfather visits
>we cook fish-fingers for lunch
>Grandpa is stunned that a 10 year-old is making a hot lunch for himself and two younger brothers
I made my siblings do all the cleaning up, though. That was a rule.

>> No.3913231

>>3912971
this

>> No.3913240

>>3912969

Boredom and a love of freshly baked bread.

>> No.3913312

being around food for pretty much all of my jobs from teen ears , starting with burger king and ending in a few niche restaurants (german schnitzel pub, thai banquets, ala carte dishwasher)

even just standing at dish and ocassionally watching the chefs when there was a break in plate scrubbing would get me interested.

now i cook a few new diches every month or so, just to experiment.

>> No.3913316

>>3913312
and to give you an idea of my skill set.

on a scale of "howtobasic" to "jiro" I think i'm about the level of "bbqpitboys".

also drunk at 5am after 12 hour shift.

>> No.3913319

The desire for cheap dates when I was in college. I'm still a mediocre cook, relatively speaking, but I quickly figured out that making Olive Garden-tier food is pretty fucking easy and affordable. Picking up a "Cooking for Dummies" book was actually a great help, since it explains a lot of the stuff that's probably obvious, has a great section on meal planning and another on kitchen setup.

Now that I'm on my own and broke, cooking is a necessity. But it's still fun. I live alone now, but I still fire up the stove just about every day, since fuck eating PB&J every meal.

>> No.3913365

>>3913319
Olive garden tier

That's the best you strive for?

>> No.3913371

>>3913079
Etsy, CookBookery.com, Vintagecookbooks.com, ebay, amazon, I also go to thrift stores, Flea markets, and antique stores. I have inherited a lot as well. Good luck

>> No.3913407

Food and Wine festival at epcot. I was a super picky eater. Then I went to the festival. And even though a looot of what they serve isn't all that adventurous (in retrospect), it still made me realize how much more I could be missing. I really think that the 2 best ways to experience a culture are to live there, and (barring living there) eating their food.

>> No.3913418

one day all of the sudden i cooked and then bam i was into.

>> No.3913427
File: 942 KB, 302x252, nFIyH.gif [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
3913427

>>3913365
thatsthejoke.jpg

Just saying that making stuff that impresses pleb midwestern girls isn't actually difficult.

>> No.3913432

My mom couldn't, my grandmother could, and I liked to make cake batter.

Bit me in the ass, though. My grandfather got cancer right when I got out of high school and got hit with the "one of his grandkids needs to graduate from college before he dies" and culinary school seemed like a good option. I learned a lot, most of all that I would kill myself if I worked in a restaurant.

But now I can make eclairs and fancy shit for holiday parties. I'll be an awesome bake sale mom when I finally have kids.

>> No.3913433

>>3913015
I am toast jelly of your dad.

>> No.3913459

No special reason I guess. I'm fairly into most of the things I do a lot in my life, and since I eat at least a few times a day, cooking was an EASY choice, if you can even call it a choice.

On that note, I think that cooking might be in the running for OBJECTIVELY one of the best hobbies. Of course hobbies are not supposed to be an objective thing, don't get me wrong, but think about it... how many other hobbies can potentially save you money, improve your quality of life, impress people near-universally, make you healthier, use a lot of things already in most houses, and it is present in every country, every culture, and at every budget.

It has a lot going for it. Cooking is pretty fucking awesome.

>> No.3913468

A couple of things, really.

My dad was very into cooking, and I used to help him when I went to see him. Plus, my mother worked for most of the day, so it was either learn to cook or live off ready meals.

>> No.3913677

When my parents separated, my siblings and I started spending a lot of time alone because of my mom's job. My sister and brother can't cook for shit, and I just got this urge to make 'kitchen experiments', which eventually turned into learning how to make simple things like meatloaf, eggs, etc. Kept learning all I could because I loved it.

My mom also used to teach me a little, when she could. She is awesome at baking, and taught me how to make pies and such. I still call her every so often for a recipe.

>> No.3913685

I cook because I want to eat well and I don't have a family anymore. Pretty simple.

>> No.3913696

When I was younger (about 6-8 years old) I used to help my mom cook dinner. It was just simple things like cleaning and cutting vegetables or stirring the pot. I learned by watching her, and when she left when I was 10 I was stuck being the "woman of the house" as my dad put it. I made dinner for us from then on. I got bored of cooking chicken soup, meatloaf, spaghetti etc, and started watching cooking shows.

>> No.3913698

Moving out. I refused to eat shit food, and my mom wasn't there to cook for me anymore. Now I love cooking, but like many, I was motivated out of necessity.

>> No.3913717

>>3913685
'anymore'
elaborate anon. You has my interest

>> No.3913715

food

>> No.3913716

Needing to eat food in college

>> No.3913978
File: 117 KB, 320x310, my_parents_are_dead.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
3913978

>>3913717
amirite

>> No.3913983

Not living with my parents, otherwise I'd be lazy and eat what they cook/buy.
But then again, I enjoy cooking, it's almost like meditation.

>> No.3914005

broke my braces and sliced my gums on one of my moms steaks.
shit had to change

>> No.3914006

Family.

I wanted to be a cook when I was kid (teaching now, elementary), and I would always partake in family cooking. I would watch cooking channels to inspire me and things followed a logical order.

I kinda give my friends shit if they saw they can't cook. Cooking should be a basic life skill for fucks sake.

>> No.3914016

Being fat and eating stuff

>> No.3914055

From about the point when I turned 9, my father's MS became bad enough that he had trouble cooking for himself. I took on the role of cooking in the house due to my brother and sister's inability to do so themselves.

He passed away when I was 16.

>> No.3914059

Being raised vegetarian and having a picky and poor mom raise me. Early childhood was full of very boring food, so I started trying foods and making foods.

>> No.3914064

50 posts in I am the first to say boy scouts of america. Being responsible for hot dinner for 5 under a flimsy tarp in a torrential thunderstorm will make you learn quick.

>> No.3914098

Mom was in the hospital for 8 days, I had already had a love of it from here just not the initiative.

>> No.3914106

Survival.
Mom had only a dozen dishes she could make. Cheap restaurants make crap that's not worth the cost. 'Good' restaurants make ordinary food at badly inflated prices. Ethnic restaurants make tasty foods, but pricing and quality varies, and sanitary conditions can often be questionable.
For under $100 a month I can feed myself tasty meals every day. Going out to restaurants can rapidly cost $500, $1000, or more a month.
For you poorfags, imagine having an extra $1000 a month. It's the difference between owning a Kia and Lexus, and not starving.

>> No.3914116

>What got you into cooking?
"Damn this food is good. But I want to eat it whenever I feel like it. If I only knew how to make it..."
And BAM.
Got into cooking.

>> No.3915850 [DELETED] 

bomp

>> No.3915855

>>3912969
Parents had me helping in the kitchen from young age, and from that I developed a love of cooking.

>> No.3915906

>>3914059
Switch that to vegan, and we sound very similar.

>> No.3915931

>>3914106
best motive.

my girl and i eat like royalty for $200 a month, including liquor and some luxury items. We could shave it down to $100 a month.

after you start eating this way, you cooking improves very quickly and it becomes a hobby/part of your life rather than some chore

>> No.3915937

depression and boredom. it started as a way to occupy myself.

>> No.3916218

my desire for a versatile skill set.

also, i love to eat.

>> No.3916223

I use cooking to shut my head down. One of the few activities that makes me forget about life, trouble, and sorrows for a short period of time. Also, Its great to impress them ladies.

>> No.3916231

Tasty, homemade food, whenever I want, good health.

>> No.3916233

>>3912969
>what got you into cooking?
...survival? Humans need to eat, right?

>> No.3916235

>>3912969
It's more efficient to cook for yourself, as well as more rewarding. It's good skill to have and you're eating better food than microwavable garbage or, god forbid, fast food. Now that I cook all my own meals, i can't ever go back to eating that shit again.

>> No.3916250
File: 117 KB, 560x419, naga.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
3916250

My brother would cook everything with 50 of these peppers straight out of hell.

Cooking for myself simply meant that I wouldn't be constantly pooping fire.

>> No.3916592
File: 31 KB, 485x322, mah+nigga_249efb_3435259.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
3916592

>>3913015
This.

>> No.3916595

>>3916592
also, women love a guy that can cook.

>> No.3916597

Grew up in a midwestern US household with parents who could barely cook beyond Hamburger Helper. I wanted to eat food that tastes good, and the economic aspects are a nice benefit.

>> No.3916786

I was three. I wanted pancakes. I then into pancakes despite burning them. I became a fat kid that and never looked back.

>> No.3916792

>>3916250
Ate those on burritos

truly a man's food

>> No.3916793
File: 3 KB, 124x127, 1269222806221.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
3916793

Eating really got me into cooking.

>> No.3916816

>>3915931
This. It's amazing how cheap cooking is and how much better the food is that it produces. Makes you wonder why so many fewer people can cook nowadays than in the past, especially given that food is fucking expensive now.

>> No.3916918

Alchemy was invented in the kitchen. I was doing my thesis about it, so I had to see what all the fuss was about.

>> No.3916971

Smoking pot and watching Food Network got the ball rolling for me. Growing up I couldn't care either way about cooking, but having the munches and watching all kind of delicious dishes being made with relative ease made me say, "Fuck, I'm going to make that and eat it!"

>> No.3916987

moving into my off-campus house two months ago

>> No.3917020
File: 168 KB, 1600x1067, Diner+Home+Fries.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
3917020

My mom used to make home fries with onion. Only like once every week or two though. That was not enough for me so I started making it for myself whenever I was home alone. After some time of that combo, I added green and red peppers to the mix. Essentially, potatoes o'brien. Then I started eating this in tortillas with hot sauce and/or pickled peppers. This was my go-to meal for almost 2 years. Still can enjoy it just as well even with many other recipes perfected since then.

>> No.3917030

Fear of being one of those useless shut-ins that can't cook/do laundry/troubleshoot common everyday problems

>> No.3917035

>>3917030
Also, my mom could never scramble eggs right

>underscrambled
>overcooked
>salted to hell

>> No.3917038

I pretended to be interested in a career in cooking so that no one would be expecting it when I moved to another country without telling them. Learning to cook was a very good use of my time.

>> No.3917041

my mom's bad cooking

>> No.3917043

>>3917035
Oh god, scrambled eggs.
>dad eggs
>yellow as butter but drier than hardtack

>mom eggs
>burnt, and then microwaved

>sister eggs
>she cooked with the fire too high, and couldn't into scrambling so instead she just cut it into small pieces with a spoon

>> No.3917876

>>3917043
wat

>> No.3917883

>>3912969
I started cooking for my girlfriend.

>> No.3917884

My mother that was never home and my weird cravings for freshly baked goods.

>> No.3919548

after i became a vegetarian my eyes were suddenly opened to food generally. food production, distribution, uses [i.e. cooking], and waste all became big issues to me and i educated myself consistently in the details of each aspect.

>> No.3919552

>>3913034
except that you don't have to do either ever, really.

>> No.3919710

My mom is a fairly decent cook and one day she couldn't make anything so I made my own stuff. And my becoming a vegetarian later in life meant I had to get creative. So I learned more and now I'm in culinary school.

That and of course my absolute obsession with making baked goods. And food just seems to make everyone happy, especially when you make it just for them.

>> No.3921749

eating / tasting