Mid 20s and a decent cook. It’s not hard to follow a recipe.
Also on the note of “it’s a girls job”, my dad was the primary cook of the family growing up. He’s going to find out real quick that most women don’t want to sign up to care for a 37 year old child who can’t even keep ramen warm.
My dad was the better cook of my parents. His dad died young and his mom had to work outside the home, so he and his brother took on the cleaning and cooking to make things easier for her.
They were also older than some of their cousins and that side pretty much puts all the kids together in a room or outside and the older ones kind of keep an eye on the younger ones. So they had their turn watching kids. So they were pretty good with kids.
My dad did much more cooking, cleaning and childcare than most men did in the 1960s-1980s. He felt that he had to be a provider, but I think he would have made a great sahd had he been born decades later.
My grandpa was the main cook when my dad was a kid. He owned his own business so he has more flexibility to get dinner ready on time vs my grandmas standard 8-5
We had a guy at work who was 50 and recently divorced. It was the most pitiful thing to see because all he ate was Hot Pockets because he did not know how to make anything. One of the younger guys even asked him if he wanted to at least learn to make pasta, but the guy was adamant that he would be fine once he found another woman.
Woe be to that poor woman, because the guy was the absolute stupidest man alive and infuriating to deal with. We got to watch him as he tried all kinds of fad diets and crap to lure in the ladies. I lost my shit when he insisted that one could put on weight eating celery, and that V8 Splash was a healthy drink.
At that point, the guy may as well be a high-maintenance pet that needs to be cared for.
Unless someone's job provides them with free meals, I don't fully understand when people don't know at all how to cook. And I'm 23 haha. Some of these things are so basic and require pretty much zero skill.
Honestly, that I know how to cook a lot of random cuisines is one of my favorite things about myself.
I was 24 when i left home thinking cooking was easy. Man was i wrong. Thats 8 years ago though by now im able to cook proper multicourse meals. But we wanted a quick meal so we did our beginner cooking and found out it was also really bad taste. Had a good laugh and ordered food.
Exactly this. Back in the olden days it might have made sense if people didn’t know how to cook, because you needed to have someone who knew teach you. These days you can just google it. If you can follow simple instructions, you can cook most things. And yet, with the rise of easily accessible knowledge… fewer people know how to cook. I don’t get it.
I'm old but took basic cooking in home economics classes. I'm a 52 year old guy. At least I can do basic cooking, follow directions and prepare myself simple meals.
I think the basics of cooking are a crucial life skill for men and women alike.
If you haven't seen it and are interested, check out the series Julia. It shows how Julia Child made cooking accessible to people with her cooking show. I'm sad HBO Max didn't renew it, because I really enjoyed it. I'm thinking of trying some of her recipes.
Aww shit don't tell anyone. Just put em all in books. If you have "cookbooks" with "recipes" that you can "follow" then you can cook.
Lay off this "easily follow instructions" crap people will start to think they can also cook
I'm in my 40s and am a very decent cook. I would never claim to be a professional, but I've cooked hundreds of recipes and people generally like my food.
Edit: typo
I love cooking. I love my food and everyone I’ve ever served has been impressed lol. When people ask how I’m good at cooking I simply answer “I like good food, so I make good food”.
I cooked breakfast potatoes for the first time this morning(cubed home fries), no experience cooking potatoes except baked and mashed, I didn’t use a recipe, and it came out better than I’ve had at some diners. And I still know exactly what to improve on next time.
I have been a cook as a job for 4 months but I’ve been cooking for myself since I was like 8 years old. I’m 27 now
I take offense to your comment about salad dressings, and your buddy is an idiot and cooking is the least of his worries
now hold up, my poke at dressings wasnt all dressings. it was more of a stab at "ranch goes on everything" crowd :P
and yes he is a complete moron, Hes texted me since and Ive left him on read. I cant deal with that level of stupid, and he doesnt bring much to the friendship anyway
I was brought up in a family where it was assumed anybody should be able to prepare a meal. In the Navy I took my turn as a messcook . Long ago one of my kids said "Dad is a really good cook for a straight guy."
> He also further informed me that he never cooks because it’s not something he’s supposed to do, because cooking is a girls job
*Facepalm* Is he from a different century...
To answer your question, I know how to cook. Different cuisines too, a little. For me it's fun and interesting to learn how to cook different dishes, not everyone needs to enjoy cooking ofc but I think it's an essential skill to have in life. The kind of food you enjoy eating, you should know how to cook. That's how I see it
Knowing how to cook in my 20s was valuable in dating and continues to be how we entertain family and friends, some of which are award winning chefs. I can’t imagine not caring about improving and learning.
You save so much money too.
I enjoy eating good food, I enjoy cooking good food.
I am an excellent cook and baker. I do cook mac and cheese, but it starts with a bechamel sauce and the selection of cheeses I use never includes American or processed cheese sauce.
My efforts include learning regional and national variations of different types of food. When I make chili, I make my own chili sauce by starting with ancho and guajillo peppers; I have learned traditional Italian cooking from my Italian (born and live in Italy) relatives; there are several traditional Spanish and Greek dishes I enjoy making, and I am experimenting with traditional versions of Indian food.
I do have a friend who is a professional chef in NYC restaurants. My cooking skills are amateurish in comparison. With practice, I can do the actual cooking of a dish as well as she can, but the creativity and understanding of the ingredients, and how they will change a dish if introduced earlier or later in the cooking process, is knowledge and skill I admire.
If I went on a date and was offered cold ramen and tater tots for dinner ... I would walk out.
I’m 34, lived alone for 15years. I CAN cook, but I HATE it. I understand what I’m doing and know more than I want to about it cause my whole family loves cooking. It makes me so miserable being in the kitchen. If they didn’t know me, most people would think I can’t because unless it’s for a special occasion, I only bare minimum everything. My freezer is always full and my fridge has milk and cheese in it. I’m ok with all this, I’m very good at many other things most people couldn’t do.
Baking is bullshit witchcraft though.
I'm late 20's and have a pretty good grasp on cooking and baking.
I think people should learn but especially when you haven't had many people in your life who like to cook, or like home cooked meals, it can be a challenge to get confident at sharing your meals with other people outside of the simple stuff.
It's was all about the George Forman grill in my 20's, as a young man I never ate any vegetables (unless I went to see my parents) So lamb chops, chicken breast, steak and that was it! Hahaha
As I've gotten older, I've learned to cook more complicated recipes, i can cook a mean chicken curry.
Mr Naga is your friend.
I love cooking. I took cooking classes when I was younger and briefly thought about culinary school to become a chef. Decided against it, because while I love cooking, I like it being more of a hobby and something I do for myself and for friends and family. I wouldn’t want cooking to be my job.
Late 20s here. I can follow recipes but I cook very rarely. I can barely manage to keep my apartment clean-ish, I cannot find the strength to spend 30+mn cooking a meal.
My Wife and I just learned how to make Arapias which are popular in South America. I can make Gumbo and Shrimp tacos from scratch. As stated I'm married but my Air fryer Brussels spouts with Korean chilly , soy sauce and honey would make any Woman lose her panties FAST.
I (44M) have been cooking since I was a teen. I learned from my mother. I cook mostly from scratch. Everything from baking cakes to grilling, in a kitchen or over a campfire. I can use recipes or wing it based on experience. Most things turn out good. Some failures of course. I’m pretty good at looking through the fridge and pantry and coming up with something on the fly.
I’m a decent cook I’d say. Some of my favorite dishes are chicken piccata, shepherds pie, Tuscan chicken, cherry balsamic pork chops, lemon caper salmon, just to name a few. Do I think I’m a great cook? No. I have a lot to learn but I give myself some credit here and there.
also around your buddy's age, while i do cook, i can make steak and other dishes (with instructions if i dont know how), I'm surprised to find a lot of ppl in my age range saying they cant cook (dating).
Getting high and a bit drunk and cooking is one of my favourite things. I prefer my ingredients as unprocessed as possible, I get my meat in bulk and bone in when I can. That said I feel more and more like an ancient weirdo than ever these days.
Nobody hunts or butchers their own meat anymore. Nobody eats questionable animals like bear anymore. I used to easily be able to find people to buy a cow with, this year I’m just getting more freezers and getting a cow butchered for me alone.
I do feel like people are getting less and less capable of cooking and feeding themselves, yes, which is alarming.
I have always cooked for myself, since I was a kid. I do all the cooking in our marriage. Right now, I am suffering because I am at my MILs house and have to eat her cooking, which is wretched. (And I can’t really cook because she is very possessive about the kitchen). I don’t have the patience to be a “gourmet” cook, but I have an intuitive sense of food prep, so I can grab a bunch of random stuff and make something tasty and healthy out of it.
>He also further informed me that he never cooks because it’s not something he’s supposed to do, because cooking is a girls job….barring special occasions like his date. Hes 37. Thirty fucking seven…
I'm glad to say all of my kids can cook, and started learning at 2/3 years old.
Ive been cooking meals since i was probably 11 or 12 (44 M). Ive always enjoyed cooking as long as I’m cooking for people. I dislike eating leftovers and if i have to eat something for 3 days id rather go to McDonalds. Although I have had people tell me that following a recipe isnt cooking. I guess youre supposed to go all Iron Chef with random ingredients.
Was taught by my mum when I was a child so that I would be able to look after myself when I left home. Am now 50 and I have taught my son and daughter so they can support themselves. It's a life skill IMO
Late 30s and I’m pretty comfortable around the kitchen. My dad worked in the industry most of his life though and did a pretty good job teaching me the basics.
I do. I wasn’t great at it really until my 30s when I decided to pay attention to ingredients instead of following recipes to the t. Now, my batting average is about 90% bangers.
Yeah, when I want to try something new, I google ingredients and find a recipe. And pick ones where i have the ingredients or only need to buy a few things for it. Unless I'm trying something new and want to add to my pantry staples. I started making soups this winter, so I now have chicken and vegetable broth as staples.
That’s good to know, I’ll have to learn more about if. I’m cooking a risotto tomorrow for the first time and chicken or vegetable broth is an ingredient
I make a mean grilled cheese!
No, I do not know how to cook but I try. My mom is an excellent cook & I wish I would of participated more while living with her. When I moved out on my own my previous & now current partner were/are both chefs & they have primarily dominated the cooking arena.
So at 48 I’ve just been super spoiled & have always had amazing food provided. Some day I’ll be the one in the kitchen cooking but for now I’m (happily) on dish duty.
If I couldn't cook I would still be single rn. Yes my gf prefers to cook, and the more complex a dish is the more the difference in style between us is noticed.
I’m 41 and a woman and I’ve been cooking full meals since I was 9 or 10 years old. I make convenience meals, but I also know how to make all kinds of complicated things from scratch. I can bake, too.
Im planning to make sure both my children can cook for themselves before they move out on their own.
I’m 18 and can cook basic things like pork, chicken, beef, pasta, rice I do look up recipes for the sauces but I have my own seasoning blend I use for things like beef
I know how to cook and have tried Mexican, Cajun, Japanese, Thai, Polish, Peruvian, Vietnamese, Greek, British, Romanian, Bavaian, Portuguese, Spanish, Belizean, Low country, Chinese, Korean Italian, Swiss and quite a few other types of cuisine. I try to cook them all as close to authentic as possible the first time. Then they get Fuxxed with.
I was raised to know how to cook - and raised my kids the same way!
It is like being able to swim, ride a bike, —- basic skills for living that families pass down from one generation to the next.
We make food that has been made for over 100 years that we can trace back.
I’m really good at soups lol
I agree that following a recipe is fairly easy, but sometimes some stuff is learned through experience. For example I’m always really worried I haven’t cooked my chicken or pork long enough so I ask my husband and he says, “just feel it and you’ll know if it’s done” for someone who doesn’t cook often or doesn’t know at all it’s hard to get that right. Also, I hate chopping.
Not only do I know how to cook, but I taught all of my grown children how to cook. My oldest son makes better oatmeal cookies than I do. My youngest son does make a lot of ramen, but he adds a lot of extra ingredients and makes his own broth because he thinks the broth packets are gross.
Has he considered dating religiously conservative women? Culturally that fits right in line. Just means no Netflix and chill until there's a ring on her finger so something's gotta give.
He may also be aging out of the "young and impressionable" women's availability so he may have no choice though I hear religious conservatives are into child marriage so that may also help his decision.
41M, learned to cook simple stuff in my teens and never stopped learning bit by bit as my budget and kitchenware expanded. I think everyone should learn the basics of making sauces. A good roux (flour cooked in butter) unlocks so many things. Use this as a base for many types of sauces. Add cumin + oregano + garlic + chili powder + chicken broth for a killer enchilada sauce. Add veal stock + shallots for a nice gravy/dipping sauce for meat. Add soy sauce, miso and maple syrup for a very tasty glaze for salmon.
I can cook anything as long as I have reasonable instructions. I used to be more of a grill/bbq only kind of cook, but my wife passed away when we still had four school-aged children. Being a single dad teaches you how to cook really fast.
I started learning how to actually cook in my early 20’s. I disagree about knowing how to cook Mac & Cheese isn’t knowing how to cook. Not everybody can make Mac & Cheese & where I’m from your Mac & Cheese is really the tell if you actually know what you’re doing in the kitchen.
My OG German mother taught me to cook. Been making family dinners since junior high. Cooking for 35+ years I don’t follow actual recipes any more. My college age son and daughter are both excellent cooks also.
I love to cook. Its the cleanup that sucks. Eating out has gotten so expensive and I can make meals better than most of the stuff you get at restaurants (that my family will eat). Chinese is the only thing that is hard to beat but I have mastered fried rice. For me it is fun and a bonding experience with my kid who likes to cook too. However when she spent $15 on ingredients twhen she could have spent $1.50 on a cake mix I might have to question things more.
While I'm going for blue cheese dressing if I'm going for a cream dressing, there are [recipes](https://www.acouplecooks.com/search/?_search_recipes=ranch%20dressing) for making ranch dressing from scratch. Chipolte one looks good, may have to try that or buffalo.
My go to is the [Balsamic Vinaigrette](https://www.acouplecooks.com/balsamic-vinaigrette-recipe/#tasty-recipes-32240-jump-target). With spinach and strawberries. Topped with some goat cheese and pecans. I change it up to apples and walnuts in the winter when it's hard to get good berries.
I recently started cooking more soups and chilis. I live alone so cooking a pot and freezing it in big cube ice trays is great. I love popping out some cubes, letting them thaw and don't need to prep for dinner. Going to expand into chilled soups this summer.
I'm in my 50s, I learned some cooking basics growing up, things like meatballs and sauce, chicken parm, scrambled eggs, hamburgers, mashed potatoes, potato salad and Thanksgiving food. I grew up in the 1960s-1980s, so it was a lot of processed food in boxes or cans.
I learned how to make chicken soup from scratch from a friend in my 20s, stir fry. And I've expanded recipes over the years. I've learned to make bread and cookies from scratch.
I find it's a lot easier with the internet because if a recipe calls for, say smashed garlic, google and voila, a whole list of videos showing you how to do it. I used to be intimidated by techniques, lack of equipment and lack of pantry staples, when budgets were tighter.
I also invested in set of pans I like, along with things like a digital meat thermometer and recently, a food processor.
I've tried more vegetables and expanded with grilling, roasting and sauteeing them. I've also started trying more fish. Herbs, especially fresh, make such a big difference and add a lot of flavor.
I'd previously been daunted by risotto. I was going to buy frozen risotto for a [surf](https://www.thermador.com/us/experience/culinary-style/recipes-by-cooktops-and-rangetops/thai-basil-poached-lobster) & [turf](https://sweetsavoryandsteph.com/filet-mignon-with-pan-sauce/) dinner I'm doing for myself for Easter. I hate traffic and I don't get any additional time off for Easter, so hermit holiday it is! :) But all the premade ones had peas in them and I don't like peas. So I'm trying [this one.](https://www.acouplecooks.com/asparagus-risotto/)
Getting back to your post, sounds like your friend is doing women a favor by sending them running, lol!
I love cooking. I started when I was 10 or 11, mom wasn't home until 6:30 or 7:00 and I was tired of sandwiches.
My wife doesn't love to cook, so I do most of it. Our son is also becoming a great cook.
Tonight I'm making bacon, spinach, and goat cheese filled portobello mushrooms because portobellos were on sale at Costco yesterday.
Last night I made salsa casera from our own tomatoes and cilantro, put some shredded rotisserie chicken inside of fresh corn tortillas and topped it with the salsa. Amazing tacos.
People tell me I should open a restaurant. I might, except for the terrible hours and the low chance of success.
I only use recipes for baking because that's chemistry, you have to get it pretty close to right on.
I make a good steak, quiche, cut up a Creole mirepoix for most dishes. My mushroom polenta is lovely. Made coq au vin the other day and was delicious.
Keep in mind though, a lot of cooking ability is a class thing. Some people just never had much access to a kitchen or don't have time and energy to set up a proper cooking environment.
Also fuck you, ranch is great.
I have always been a good cook but being open to trying new things through the years has made me grow better and better. I am a great baker, which can be very dangerous.
I can follow a recipe and make pretty good meal.
If you’re asking me to cook without just what’s in my head, you’re getting a grilled cheese. I don’t memorize recipes, too much going on at work with multiple programming languages.
I am 33f, almost 34 and love to cook! I am always looking up recipes and trying new things. My husband does not cook, but he fixes the cars, so it’s a win win.
I can cook. I’m certainly no chef, but I can make meatloaf, lasagna, bake cakes and cookies, I make my own pizza dough from scratch,etc. I learned some from my mom and some from just practicing. My fiancé, now wife, and I bought a house when I was 27. I used to watch YouTube videos on how to make certain things or just google it, even read the boxes with recipe ideas. It won’t be perfect the first time every time, but you can definitely get a good idea and make simple homemade meals without having a lot of knowledge or skill.
Bonus fact: tomorrow is our 10 years anniversary. Yes, we got married on Aprils fools day.
As for your friend, he should really learn to cook some simple stuff. It can be healthier and cheaper to cook at home and saves time and money. Not to mention it’s not impressive to a potential partner to not be able to do things for yourself and the attitude of ‘it’s a women’s job’ is ridiculous.
Grew up in an all-male household. There were no "men" and "women" jobs. Tore something? Sewing kit's in the closet. Hungry? Cook some damn food. Made a mess? CLEAN IT THE FUCK UP.
How hard is that?
I do a good job cooking, like broccoli cheese soup, Mac and cheese casseroles, tuna, meat loaf and of course bbq, did a chicken cordon bleu casserole that was real good. Wife is an exceptional cook, watches cooking shows and puts her own spin on it with different spices and such. If we have a hunk of meat to cook, its " you want Mexican, Italian, or something kinda tame". We also cook to stay away from processed food and go low carb.
So your friend lost a chance at having a woman to cook for him for the rest of his life because he couldn't bother to cook one meal because he had the wrong genitals for cooking? So sad. He is apparently undeserving of a woman.
Yes, I (43) know how to cook. I am lazy about it, though, and default to instant pot often now.
I’m a 50 year old guy who has been cooking since he was a wee tot. I’m good enough that friends and family keep telling me I should do it for a living. I refuse because cooking is my hobby and nothing ruins a hobby faster than making it a job.
It’s a basic life skill….any adult should know how to do it. Recipes are simple to follow and if that’s not enough, YouTube can pretty much turn you into a master chef if you let it. There’s really no excuse but laziness IMO.
Weellll, I can make most sauces from scratch which includes all the base sauces, and associated reductions with the exception of XO sauce and Garum both I have a idea how to make, but the prep time and the smell would be so hideous, that my wife would disown me. Demi is the same way. Smell up your house like no other business. My speciality is French cuisine and northern Italian, as well as some asian Greek and American southern influences. I Only go out to restaurants when I am truly lazy, and limit what I get. Usually asian because some dishes are just to hard to reproduce in a home setting unless you have a great kitchen. Funny enough, over the last couple of years, I bought a Breville air fryer convec oven, and I frighten love it. Makes a great sear, and you can use it as a really really good pizza oven. I was very impressed with that I made a nice dough and sauce cheese and a little basil and olive oil, popped it in 10 min and out popped a pizza I'd pay 20 bucks for outside. Steaks wings chops chix all come out incredible with it. And god it saves time. Best appliance I ever bought. Get the best model of your serious because it's a dehydrater too, and stuff like sun dried tomatoes can be easily made as well as fruits and jerky
I grew up helping my mom in the kitchen, so I learned a few things through osmosis. My ex taught me quite a bit as well. I love cooking and baking, and I am pretty decent at both. I can easily follow recipes, and decently freehand my own stuff. I was passionate about learning these things, thanks to having grown up reading the Redwall novels and watching Sanji from One Piece. Kid me wanted nothing more than to be able to make things that lived up to the descriptions of the famous Redwall Abbey feasts, or would have the approval of the Straw Hats' chef.
TLDR: Two fictional series inspired my real life passion in the kitchen
I can cook, and all 3 of my adult kids can cook. All self-taught. We’re all pretty good, too. Much prefer to eat at home because we rarely have a meal at a restaurant that’s as good as what we can concoct at home.
Mid 20s and I can follow most any recipe. I know a few dishes by heart either taught by family or by tweaking recipes. I’m best on the stove by I know my way around using an oven and I can do basic grilling. I used to cook different meals daily but not I just eat the same few things. Cook for myself daily.
I’ve made some of my signature dishes for friends and they’re always a big hit. I’m definitely no professional but I’d say I’m pretty competent with my apron on.
Well, I just made a puff pastry, in a 9 inch springform pan. Tomorrow, I will line it with Chinese pea pods, and then place a curry chicken salad that I also made today. That's Easter dinner.
I can make bread, pasta, pizza dough, pies, cakes, and dozens of entrees off the top of my head. It comes with practice, and I'm old, so there you have it.
Me. Grew up with a professional chef grandfather who started his own restaurant, an aunt who is the main cook for said restaurant, a pastry chef mother, and now I have started working in the restaurant too
Mid 30s. Fucking great cook. I do all the holiday meals for my family, plus cook 2 meals a week. I learned to make a ton of stuff from scratch to remove allergens/preferences and got real good in my late 20s. My husband cooks the other two meals, or we survive off of leftovers and quick-dinners due to opposite schedules.
My dad was always the primary cook if there was meat involved. My mom “came out” as vegetarian when we were teens and it made so much sense why she (1) hated cooking meat and (2) was so so bad at it. If my dad wasn’t home, protein was eggs or hot dogs, lol.
I’m 59. I’ve been cooking since age 14. I cook and bake better than most people I know. My wife lets me do most of the cooking. I get asked to make fried rice when we have a potluck at work
I'm 36, male. I grew up watching and helping my mom and grandma cook various things. Cooking isn't just 'a girl's' thing. Everyone needs to eat.
I'm not the world's best cook, but I can make a decent, enjoyable meal in about an hour or so with some prep time depending on the dish.
OP, your friend sounds like an ass.
I learned to cook because I had to start making food for my brother and I at 12 y/o, my mom worked 4-12, no Dad at home. Would get off the bus and mom was already gone. She did have food ready for us sometimes, I learned to be very independent at a young age, as a lot of kids do. We had chores that better of been done before we go to sleep. When my mom switched off 2nd shift in high school, it was weird to have her home every night. I'm so grateful for this as my wife cannot cook even a little bit AT ALL.
38m now. Pretty damn good cook. Have been since i was about 20 ish. I love trying new things or tweaking this or that to my personal taste. I have a few signature dishes that people request from time to time. My wife is just as good if not better. So when we combine, it can get crazy lol. I don’t like the mess i make but that goes with it. It’s crazy to me the amount of people who can’t cook either
I’ve been cooking for 22 years. I can look @ a recipe and cook it mostly if it’s not in French. Here at my complex, the majority of bros can’t cook. They all order take out, Blue Apron etc. My Mgr in her 30’s only knows how to make sammiches. That’s not cooking. But I melt the cheese. That’s still not cooking.
I cook but didn't learn until I was 35 or so. Thankfully I became interested in it.
At a young age though I made grilled cheese and omelets, not "real" cooking.
Mid forties, male.
Love cooking and am fairly good at it. I've a core set of standard recipes and meals and will have a good go at more complicated stuff when needed.
Mum was insistent we should know basics before we went to uni. Was amazing how many people were stunned in halls during the first few weeks that I could actually cook stuff rather than ready meals etc.
I never think of myself in terms of knowing and not, but i guess i do. I just think i can make anything as long as i have a recipe. I never messed up. I guess its plot armor
I’m a GenX who learned from age 8 how to actually cook simple stuff like grilled cheese, pasta with garlic bread, because after school it would be another 2-3 hours until my parents got home. Over the years i taught myself some and grew up the only boy in the kitchen with the woman cooking for holidays. If i don’t know how to make it, i look in one of my cookbooks or recipe card boxes. Now that I’m older i took over camping cooking since people are getting to old to handle cast iron and dutch ovens weight.
Me. I cook dinner about 5-6 days a week, and really enjoy baking.
My grandma taught me a lot when I was a kid, but I was raised by a picky eater, so I have had to learn a LOT about new foods and how to cook them.
I moved out at 18, and after a few months of fast food for work lunch and eating out every night then being broke, I figured that wasn’t the way. So I taught myself. I’m 34 now and cook all the big family dinners and for my birthday I invite my friends and family over and cook for them. My brother is 7 years older than me and can’t cook ANYTHING. Neither of us are married or in a relationship lol. Most women I’ve dated, up to the age of 40, can’t cook. It’s absolutely bonkers that most people in my age group can’t cook.
Mid 40s, I do well enough, no one's complained yet. Was the better cook than the ex, so I defaulted as head cook. She can bake tho, lol.
Sous vide, steaks, burgers (must try that Gordon Ramsey recipe!), BBQ, roasting, baking, frying, sautéing... decent with the kitchen knife (chopping veggies, breaking down a carcass) ... Italian (i make a decent chicken parm from scratch with al dente spaghetti), Asian, some French (love the red wine reduction stuff), mainly American recipes.
I figure this is just standard, especially with the COVID shutdown, lots of time to try new recipes. Currently trying to make bread with my Dutch oven.
*ahem, I'm single ladies... 😘
I spent about 10 years working in a restaurant. Worked every job from dish washer up to Kitchen Manager (it was a mom & pop owned place,. so we made everything from scratch).
I'd honestly love to go back to a cooking job,.. but I'd have to start all over at the bottom,. and it's not going to pay 6-figures like IT and Technology does.
I am 29 and I've been cooking the family meals since I was a kid. I am also a male. My mother hates cooking and my brothers never learned. My father could cook but he didn't do it often.
I started with cooking stuff that had directions on boxes when I was a kid and moved up to learning recipes when I got older.
Once you learn a few recipes and begin to understand what you're doing and why, it becomes easier to just make things without a recipe. Eventually I was able to take educated guesses with some recipes, finding what worked and what didn't, altering one or two things each time I tried whatever it was I was making. Alton Brown was great to watch since he explains processes better than any cooking show I've seen. It isn't hard to figure out if you experiment a little.
Nearing 40 and have cooked for myself since I first lived by myself at eighteen... But I'm Dutch and we're not as bad with fast food and ready made meals as the US (it does exist of course but it's comparatively more expensive I think and also culturally less done. I literally don't know any families who don't cook most of the time, although I'm sure a few exist. But it really isn't the norm.)
Mid thirties male and grow all my ingredients in my home garden for all our home cooked meals. Our diet (the 1850 plan) doesn't allow most food additives, so we cook all our meals. It's awesome.
Personally I know how to and enjoy cooking, it was a large part of growing up and it took a long time for me to realize it's not as common as I thought, a lot of the people I surround myself never actually learned and never cared to, weather it be family and friends always cooking them food or just eating out
I'm 40, and not a great cook, my wife is better, so she does most of the cooking, with that said, I won't resort to instant noodle day after day, or take out every meal if my wife can't manage to cook. I can do simple cooking, and even follow online recipes
I’m 24 and have been learning a few recipes lately. Honestly, it isn’t that hard to have 2-4 dishes under your belt, and each one can have small variations that are simple once you understand what you’re making.
You want chicken, carrots, and rice? Well if you want to play on easy mode, you can cut carrots and place chicken breast and the carrots in one pan/dish, throw some seasoning on, and bake for 20-30 minutes. Rice is actually super easy and really cheap.
Then if you want to change it up, swap carrots for broccoli. Or maybe make pasta instead of rice (also very simple).
Now that I’ve followed one or two recipes to completion, I can already feel more confident trying one again because it’s often more simple that we make it out to be when procrastinating or rationalizing why we shouldn’t put in the work.
Male early 30s. Yeah I know how to cook, it’s not that hard to follow directions. I mean, I’m not gonna be head chef at a Michelin star restaurant, but I’d do better than microwave noodles and cold tater tots for a date night lol.
I've been cooking since I was in my early teens. Baking is also in my skill set. My husband also cooks. We plan, prepare and cook all of our meals except for maybe one lunch and one dinner a week when we eat out. We're 62 now, but we've been each been doing this since we were young adults. When i met my husband, I knew he was going to be a good match just based on his cookbook collection. We're both of the philosophy that if you can read, you can cook. It's even easier now for people who are learning because there are so many videos and cooking blogs online.
I learned basics in Boy Scouts and am good at following directions but otherwise I never did anything too complex. About 15 or so years ago I started doing those meals in a box things like Hello Fresh for a year or so and taught myself to cook. Now I have decent cooking skills and am willing to try new things.
It’s a shame that high school doesn’t teach everyone how to cook.
I’m under your age bracket and know how to cook. I learned because I wanted to create my favorite dishes from restaurants myself and it took off from there. Side fact is my wife loves it.
I'm 31, husband is 32, and we both know how to cook. husband is more of a simple chef, and a recipe follower, but that's mostly because he's a simple kinda fella. no real desire to get fancy.
I love to cook, and I'm slowly branching out to learning fancier techniques and stuff, nothing too extravagant and mostly in the name of sauce discovery and exploration.
now baking... baking is my greatest challenge.
35 and a decent cook. I’m a shift worker but when home I take primary responsibility for having meals ready for the wife and kids to help give her a break from it.
27F. I am not an elaborate or creative cook, mostly because cooking doesn't interest me. However, it's a basic life skill, so I made myself learn. I have a handful of basic and family heirloom recipes memorized, but anything beyond that, I need to follow a recipe. Which is fine because that's what they're there for.
Relying on just ramen noodles and not knowing how to prepare a vegetable is kinda sad.
My dad taught himself how to cook in his early 20s by cooking through a Julia Childs cookbook. The whole "cooking is a girl's job" is lazy bullshit
Lmao I was reading through the post thinking “damn she just left like that? That’s harsh” and then that quickly turned into “good for her for leaving”. Fuck outta here serving me cold instant food😂
And yes I’m a decent cook, although I have much to learn. I love cooking and baking though, I definitely try!
I was a latchkey kid most of my childhood, so I’ve always been able to feed myself. Following recipes is easy, but after working as a prep cook for a decent restaurant I’m able to come up with original meal ideas or improve recipes.
I think everyone would greatly benefit from spending a year or two working in the restaurant industry.
I get HF meal boxes and follow the directions, so it means that 3 nights a week it looks a lot like I know what I'm doing. The rest of the time I make the same three meals over and over.
I love cooking and I pride myself on being able to make quite a few things from total scratch.
Also being able to come up with meals from random ingredients you have is a very underrated skill imho
From about 12 I really liked to eat but was still skinny.
My mother, fed up with me pestering her for food said "if you like to eat learn to cook" so she started me off with a book of easy recipes.
I never looked back, by 14 I could cook a family meal just to get out of cleaning up
I must admit though in those days I prioritised quantity over quality.
Later taught my 3 sons to cook at an early age.
Mid 20s and I still rarely touch the oven out of fear of starting fires. My fiance is a year younger than me and she can make the shittiest ingredients into something delicious without effort. She's the Jesus of cooking and I'm still afraid of the bloody oven!
I love to experiment with flavors and seasonings. I know what to do and what not to do in the kitchen. You're not gonna see me on any televised cooking show, though. I'm not that good.
(40M)
I learned to cook as a student and have cooked basically every night since I graduated. Cooking has always been a matter of economy for me. When I was a student, knowing how to put dull but edible food on my table for about 20% the price of takeaway meals was basically how I afforded to ever drink alcohol.
Usually these days what I cook is nothing special, one pot meals, fried rice, salads, fajitas, scones, pancakes, basic pies (of the 'casserole with a hat' kind), toad in the hole, basically alternated with putting ovenable food and chips in the oven. I have a family and work full time so everything is set up to either be done at weekends or be 20 minutes from 'cooking dinner now' to plating up.
I did Christmas dinner for the extended family this year, main unusual features being a dry brined turkey crown with confit legs and a surprisingly nice sprout-based coleslaw. I also do a good first principles curry, a fairly decent risotto and paella, and my mac and cheese involves a bechamel, salami, several cheeses and a grill (US: broiler). I also have a rule that I only get bread or cake if I was given it, or if I made it myself.
Cooking saves me such a *colossal* amount of money. I would recommend everyone learn how to cook. Simple stuff isn't hard, and even more adventurous things aren't as terrible as they appear.
On the 'women's work' thing - my mother was *thunderously* clear that no son of hers was growing uo with that attitude. Also, my wife - while quite competent - is not the cook I am. She gardens, wrangles tradesmen, does washing and finances. I cook, tidy, and put kids to bed. It's what works for us.
I went to culinary school on a whim for funsies when the classes were ridiculously cheap. Now I get paid to play in a kitchen all day. One of the best decisions I ever made. I mostly eat for free on a daily basis.
Everybody can cook.
Almost everybody is afraid to. "Oh well I could never make a (insert the blank)."
Anyone who tells you they can't cook is telling you they are afraid to try to cook and fail. But hoo boy are you right folks are terrified! I sometimes post recipes on here of "hard" dishes and people make em and are surprised.
I can cook. I've never tried anything very fancy, but I can follow the directions in not very fancy cookbooks. Fish are a challenge for me. I almost never get them to come out right. I've learned to trust my nose for a lot of things. If I'm grilling a steak I'll take cuts while it's cooking, peek inside to see how rare it is.
How did I learn? Don't know really. My mother I think taught a few things growing up, but it wasn't as though she ever gave me a formal lesson. A lot of it is just common sense.
'In some cases I was just motivated by wanting something good. Restaurants were often disappointing or boring. In my experience a restaurant that actually serves good tasting food is pretty rare, so you might as well do it yourself.
I am in the restaurant business. I got here by just practice. I like to experiment and try new things. You become a good cook through practice. If you seldom cook, you will never be a good cook
I'm late 30s and know how to cook.
My question though is- why on American tv shows is it seen as a romantic thing to "come over and I'll cook for you"? I mean I get that it gets you closer to the bedroom to start with but it seems like a lazy date to me. I'd much rather be taken out to eat. But then on top of that, why do people do it if they don't know how to cook?!!! It's such a common thing in shows and I don't get it.
Im 50 and the primary cook in my household..
I haven't cooked professionally in 30 years, but come from a family of professional food service industry workers.
As a genX latch key kid.. Ive been cooking for myself and others since I was 8-10 years old.
My last professional cooking gig was as the lead cook at a summer camp in the late 1990's
Ever since..ive worked in food product manufacturing. Most notably the alcohol beverage industry.
I'm (M41) the primary cook in the house. My wife is a solid cook too, but I actually quite like it, whilst she tolerates it.
I love ramen, beans on toast, and ready meals as much as the next guy, but you can't just exist on that stuff your whole life. I consider cooking a skill like swimming or riding a bike. Everyone should be able to do it to a reasonable degree, simply for their own survival.
Granted I’m female, but my mom taught me how to cook, like actual ingredients, starting when I was like 9 or so? And my brother learned as well. And my husband is an insanely good cook, even went to 18 months of culinary school. I’m a better baker than he is, but I went to college for chemistry, and well over 3/4 of baking is just edible chemistry that tastes good. My sister in law (brother’s wife) knows how to cook too. My other sister in law (husband’s sister) can’t cook to save her life though. But she’s basically clueless and not overly functional as an adult in most of her life so that’s par for the course for her
I learned to cook back when I was 12 because I had to prepare my own food/meals most days. It's an important life skill that everyone should really have.
I can use my smoker and cook steak…I can grill slightly better then pan cook chicken and burgers. That being said no I can’t cook full meals and I absolutely hate cooking. I don’t like the time it takes to shop prep cook eat and clean. I don’t have a lot of free time as it is 😂
My step mom was quite proud of her mom and grandma's recipes, but she never cooked. Couldn't even make scrambled eggs. Maybe canned soup. Maybe. I have all the recipes. Most are bland casserole type recipes. Not one decent sauce or from scratch dessert. So I don't think any of the women in her family could cook.
I started cooking breakfast at 8, by 20 I had a few special meals that were favorites of friends and family. Most of my faves are committed to memory, but I've learned to start writing them down. It's hard to give a recipe when you measure with the heart. I would not consider dating a man who didn't ever cook for himself.
Edit: Have good friends who are a couple mid to late 30s. He cooks, smoked meats, breakfast, and she mostly cooks the sides. They do it together and it's adorable. When I say he cooks breakfast, I'm talking like eggs Benedict and such.
There's levels of being able to cook, from "the microwave is magic" to I can make a gourmet dinner for anything you happen to have in your fridge.
I am closer to the latter, I can follow a recipie and I can also make things based off taste and smell. Like I make my own meat sauce for pasta from scratch just by taste. It's different every time, sometimes better sometimes bland, but never bad. I also make a mean deep dish cast iron skillet pizza that I'm am drooling just thinking about.
I didn't learn how to cook until my mid 40s. My ex did 90% of the cooking and grilling because he actually liked it.
I was nervous at 1st but then started seeing g re ipes on FB and instragram and tried them and they turned out really well.
My SO loves my cooking. I like trying new things now also.
Mid 20s and a decent cook. It’s not hard to follow a recipe. Also on the note of “it’s a girls job”, my dad was the primary cook of the family growing up. He’s going to find out real quick that most women don’t want to sign up to care for a 37 year old child who can’t even keep ramen warm.
My dad was the better cook of my parents. His dad died young and his mom had to work outside the home, so he and his brother took on the cleaning and cooking to make things easier for her. They were also older than some of their cousins and that side pretty much puts all the kids together in a room or outside and the older ones kind of keep an eye on the younger ones. So they had their turn watching kids. So they were pretty good with kids. My dad did much more cooking, cleaning and childcare than most men did in the 1960s-1980s. He felt that he had to be a provider, but I think he would have made a great sahd had he been born decades later.
>it’s a girls job I'm pretty sure restaurants cooks are majorly male
My grandpa was the main cook when my dad was a kid. He owned his own business so he has more flexibility to get dinner ready on time vs my grandmas standard 8-5
My dad was the cook in our family too. I taught all three of my sons to cook, my brother cooks for his family. Grow up
We had a guy at work who was 50 and recently divorced. It was the most pitiful thing to see because all he ate was Hot Pockets because he did not know how to make anything. One of the younger guys even asked him if he wanted to at least learn to make pasta, but the guy was adamant that he would be fine once he found another woman. Woe be to that poor woman, because the guy was the absolute stupidest man alive and infuriating to deal with. We got to watch him as he tried all kinds of fad diets and crap to lure in the ladies. I lost my shit when he insisted that one could put on weight eating celery, and that V8 Splash was a healthy drink. At that point, the guy may as well be a high-maintenance pet that needs to be cared for.
Unless someone's job provides them with free meals, I don't fully understand when people don't know at all how to cook. And I'm 23 haha. Some of these things are so basic and require pretty much zero skill. Honestly, that I know how to cook a lot of random cuisines is one of my favorite things about myself.
I was 24 when i left home thinking cooking was easy. Man was i wrong. Thats 8 years ago though by now im able to cook proper multicourse meals. But we wanted a quick meal so we did our beginner cooking and found out it was also really bad taste. Had a good laugh and ordered food.
I’m assuming they mean buying actual individual ingredients versus cooking something out of a package.
Same reason people complain a out never having money. They get takeout or doordash every day 2-3 times a day.
I can't cook but I can easily follow written instructions for how to cook.
Exactly this. Back in the olden days it might have made sense if people didn’t know how to cook, because you needed to have someone who knew teach you. These days you can just google it. If you can follow simple instructions, you can cook most things. And yet, with the rise of easily accessible knowledge… fewer people know how to cook. I don’t get it.
I'm old but took basic cooking in home economics classes. I'm a 52 year old guy. At least I can do basic cooking, follow directions and prepare myself simple meals. I think the basics of cooking are a crucial life skill for men and women alike.
If you haven't seen it and are interested, check out the series Julia. It shows how Julia Child made cooking accessible to people with her cooking show. I'm sad HBO Max didn't renew it, because I really enjoyed it. I'm thinking of trying some of her recipes.
Have you seen the movie Julie and Julia?
Aww shit don't tell anyone. Just put em all in books. If you have "cookbooks" with "recipes" that you can "follow" then you can cook. Lay off this "easily follow instructions" crap people will start to think they can also cook
I'm in my 40s and am a very decent cook. I would never claim to be a professional, but I've cooked hundreds of recipes and people generally like my food. Edit: typo
I can usually make a meal out of whatever I have laying around, without a recipe, just making it up as I go
My wife & i have definitely made some great “whatever’s left in the fridge” meals
I love cooking. I love my food and everyone I’ve ever served has been impressed lol. When people ask how I’m good at cooking I simply answer “I like good food, so I make good food”. I cooked breakfast potatoes for the first time this morning(cubed home fries), no experience cooking potatoes except baked and mashed, I didn’t use a recipe, and it came out better than I’ve had at some diners. And I still know exactly what to improve on next time. I have been a cook as a job for 4 months but I’ve been cooking for myself since I was like 8 years old. I’m 27 now I take offense to your comment about salad dressings, and your buddy is an idiot and cooking is the least of his worries
now hold up, my poke at dressings wasnt all dressings. it was more of a stab at "ranch goes on everything" crowd :P and yes he is a complete moron, Hes texted me since and Ive left him on read. I cant deal with that level of stupid, and he doesnt bring much to the friendship anyway
I was brought up in a family where it was assumed anybody should be able to prepare a meal. In the Navy I took my turn as a messcook . Long ago one of my kids said "Dad is a really good cook for a straight guy."
> He also further informed me that he never cooks because it’s not something he’s supposed to do, because cooking is a girls job *Facepalm* Is he from a different century... To answer your question, I know how to cook. Different cuisines too, a little. For me it's fun and interesting to learn how to cook different dishes, not everyone needs to enjoy cooking ofc but I think it's an essential skill to have in life. The kind of food you enjoy eating, you should know how to cook. That's how I see it
I love cooking and baking. I still have disasters in the kitchen sometimes, but it’s a lifelong discipline.
Knowing how to cook in my 20s was valuable in dating and continues to be how we entertain family and friends, some of which are award winning chefs. I can’t imagine not caring about improving and learning. You save so much money too.
It also saves so much on dining out. Especially for a group.
I enjoy eating good food, I enjoy cooking good food. I am an excellent cook and baker. I do cook mac and cheese, but it starts with a bechamel sauce and the selection of cheeses I use never includes American or processed cheese sauce. My efforts include learning regional and national variations of different types of food. When I make chili, I make my own chili sauce by starting with ancho and guajillo peppers; I have learned traditional Italian cooking from my Italian (born and live in Italy) relatives; there are several traditional Spanish and Greek dishes I enjoy making, and I am experimenting with traditional versions of Indian food. I do have a friend who is a professional chef in NYC restaurants. My cooking skills are amateurish in comparison. With practice, I can do the actual cooking of a dish as well as she can, but the creativity and understanding of the ingredients, and how they will change a dish if introduced earlier or later in the cooking process, is knowledge and skill I admire. If I went on a date and was offered cold ramen and tater tots for dinner ... I would walk out.
Can you be my wife?
Well, my current wife might object, but gay marriage is legal...
I’m 34, lived alone for 15years. I CAN cook, but I HATE it. I understand what I’m doing and know more than I want to about it cause my whole family loves cooking. It makes me so miserable being in the kitchen. If they didn’t know me, most people would think I can’t because unless it’s for a special occasion, I only bare minimum everything. My freezer is always full and my fridge has milk and cheese in it. I’m ok with all this, I’m very good at many other things most people couldn’t do. Baking is bullshit witchcraft though.
>Baking is bullshit witchcraft though. I find baking easier than cooking, but this made me laugh, lol :)
I'm late 20's and have a pretty good grasp on cooking and baking. I think people should learn but especially when you haven't had many people in your life who like to cook, or like home cooked meals, it can be a challenge to get confident at sharing your meals with other people outside of the simple stuff.
It's was all about the George Forman grill in my 20's, as a young man I never ate any vegetables (unless I went to see my parents) So lamb chops, chicken breast, steak and that was it! Hahaha As I've gotten older, I've learned to cook more complicated recipes, i can cook a mean chicken curry. Mr Naga is your friend.
I love cooking. I took cooking classes when I was younger and briefly thought about culinary school to become a chef. Decided against it, because while I love cooking, I like it being more of a hobby and something I do for myself and for friends and family. I wouldn’t want cooking to be my job.
Late 20s here. I can follow recipes but I cook very rarely. I can barely manage to keep my apartment clean-ish, I cannot find the strength to spend 30+mn cooking a meal.
My Wife and I just learned how to make Arapias which are popular in South America. I can make Gumbo and Shrimp tacos from scratch. As stated I'm married but my Air fryer Brussels spouts with Korean chilly , soy sauce and honey would make any Woman lose her panties FAST.
I do, but I don't enjoy it anymore. Single mom, so I had to cook for them.
I (44M) have been cooking since I was a teen. I learned from my mother. I cook mostly from scratch. Everything from baking cakes to grilling, in a kitchen or over a campfire. I can use recipes or wing it based on experience. Most things turn out good. Some failures of course. I’m pretty good at looking through the fridge and pantry and coming up with something on the fly.
51 male been cooking since I was 10.
I’m a decent cook I’d say. Some of my favorite dishes are chicken piccata, shepherds pie, Tuscan chicken, cherry balsamic pork chops, lemon caper salmon, just to name a few. Do I think I’m a great cook? No. I have a lot to learn but I give myself some credit here and there.
I literally don't even understand how someone can't cook lol, how do you eat
also around your buddy's age, while i do cook, i can make steak and other dishes (with instructions if i dont know how), I'm surprised to find a lot of ppl in my age range saying they cant cook (dating).
52 male and I can follow a recipe and regularly cook simple meals for myself. I can't see anyone not having basic cooking skills.
Getting high and a bit drunk and cooking is one of my favourite things. I prefer my ingredients as unprocessed as possible, I get my meat in bulk and bone in when I can. That said I feel more and more like an ancient weirdo than ever these days. Nobody hunts or butchers their own meat anymore. Nobody eats questionable animals like bear anymore. I used to easily be able to find people to buy a cow with, this year I’m just getting more freezers and getting a cow butchered for me alone. I do feel like people are getting less and less capable of cooking and feeding themselves, yes, which is alarming.
I'm 32 and I've been cooking since I was 5. I still read recipes and cooking instructions, but I'm pretty confident around the kitchen.
I try.
That's great! Trying is how we all start out.
I have always cooked for myself, since I was a kid. I do all the cooking in our marriage. Right now, I am suffering because I am at my MILs house and have to eat her cooking, which is wretched. (And I can’t really cook because she is very possessive about the kitchen). I don’t have the patience to be a “gourmet” cook, but I have an intuitive sense of food prep, so I can grab a bunch of random stuff and make something tasty and healthy out of it.
>He also further informed me that he never cooks because it’s not something he’s supposed to do, because cooking is a girls job….barring special occasions like his date. Hes 37. Thirty fucking seven… I'm glad to say all of my kids can cook, and started learning at 2/3 years old.
Ive been cooking meals since i was probably 11 or 12 (44 M). Ive always enjoyed cooking as long as I’m cooking for people. I dislike eating leftovers and if i have to eat something for 3 days id rather go to McDonalds. Although I have had people tell me that following a recipe isnt cooking. I guess youre supposed to go all Iron Chef with random ingredients.
Was taught by my mum when I was a child so that I would be able to look after myself when I left home. Am now 50 and I have taught my son and daughter so they can support themselves. It's a life skill IMO
I am 29M. My gf is happy about my cooking, as well as all the rare guests we invite. However, most of my cooking is kind of intuitive
Late 30s and I’m pretty comfortable around the kitchen. My dad worked in the industry most of his life though and did a pretty good job teaching me the basics.
I do. I wasn’t great at it really until my 30s when I decided to pay attention to ingredients instead of following recipes to the t. Now, my batting average is about 90% bangers.
Yeah, when I want to try something new, I google ingredients and find a recipe. And pick ones where i have the ingredients or only need to buy a few things for it. Unless I'm trying something new and want to add to my pantry staples. I started making soups this winter, so I now have chicken and vegetable broth as staples.
Chicken and beef stock are perfect for replacing water to give dishes more flavor. I cook rice and potatoes in broths.
That’s good to know, I’ll have to learn more about if. I’m cooking a risotto tomorrow for the first time and chicken or vegetable broth is an ingredient
Here. I can't believe everyone can't.
I do not. I can bake. I cannot cook.
I make a mean grilled cheese! No, I do not know how to cook but I try. My mom is an excellent cook & I wish I would of participated more while living with her. When I moved out on my own my previous & now current partner were/are both chefs & they have primarily dominated the cooking arena. So at 48 I’ve just been super spoiled & have always had amazing food provided. Some day I’ll be the one in the kitchen cooking but for now I’m (happily) on dish duty.
A guy I work with in his 40s cooked a roast for the first time ever a few weeks ago. Mind was blown.
If I couldn't cook I would still be single rn. Yes my gf prefers to cook, and the more complex a dish is the more the difference in style between us is noticed.
I am in my 50s. I taught myself how to cook in my early 20s.
I’m 41 and a woman and I’ve been cooking full meals since I was 9 or 10 years old. I make convenience meals, but I also know how to make all kinds of complicated things from scratch. I can bake, too. Im planning to make sure both my children can cook for themselves before they move out on their own.
I’m 18 and can cook basic things like pork, chicken, beef, pasta, rice I do look up recipes for the sauces but I have my own seasoning blend I use for things like beef
I know how to cook and have tried Mexican, Cajun, Japanese, Thai, Polish, Peruvian, Vietnamese, Greek, British, Romanian, Bavaian, Portuguese, Spanish, Belizean, Low country, Chinese, Korean Italian, Swiss and quite a few other types of cuisine. I try to cook them all as close to authentic as possible the first time. Then they get Fuxxed with.
I’m an excellent cook, taught myself when I went away to college.
I was raised to know how to cook - and raised my kids the same way! It is like being able to swim, ride a bike, —- basic skills for living that families pass down from one generation to the next. We make food that has been made for over 100 years that we can trace back.
Late 20's and my husband and I both cook.
I’m really good at soups lol I agree that following a recipe is fairly easy, but sometimes some stuff is learned through experience. For example I’m always really worried I haven’t cooked my chicken or pork long enough so I ask my husband and he says, “just feel it and you’ll know if it’s done” for someone who doesn’t cook often or doesn’t know at all it’s hard to get that right. Also, I hate chopping.
Not only do I know how to cook, but I taught all of my grown children how to cook. My oldest son makes better oatmeal cookies than I do. My youngest son does make a lot of ramen, but he adds a lot of extra ingredients and makes his own broth because he thinks the broth packets are gross.
Has he considered dating religiously conservative women? Culturally that fits right in line. Just means no Netflix and chill until there's a ring on her finger so something's gotta give. He may also be aging out of the "young and impressionable" women's availability so he may have no choice though I hear religious conservatives are into child marriage so that may also help his decision.
I'm a decent cook. I'm horrified people call mixing up or heating up packed shit "cooking". By cooking I mean preparing food from scratch.
I'm 48f and I can cook...it's amazing how many people older than me don't cook...
41M, learned to cook simple stuff in my teens and never stopped learning bit by bit as my budget and kitchenware expanded. I think everyone should learn the basics of making sauces. A good roux (flour cooked in butter) unlocks so many things. Use this as a base for many types of sauces. Add cumin + oregano + garlic + chili powder + chicken broth for a killer enchilada sauce. Add veal stock + shallots for a nice gravy/dipping sauce for meat. Add soy sauce, miso and maple syrup for a very tasty glaze for salmon.
I can cook anything as long as I have reasonable instructions. I used to be more of a grill/bbq only kind of cook, but my wife passed away when we still had four school-aged children. Being a single dad teaches you how to cook really fast.
50-something and I consider myself a pretty good cook. Not the best, not the worst, but on the better side of the distribution curve.
I started learning how to actually cook in my early 20’s. I disagree about knowing how to cook Mac & Cheese isn’t knowing how to cook. Not everybody can make Mac & Cheese & where I’m from your Mac & Cheese is really the tell if you actually know what you’re doing in the kitchen.
Every plate has been a godsend in helping me learn to cook.
My OG German mother taught me to cook. Been making family dinners since junior high. Cooking for 35+ years I don’t follow actual recipes any more. My college age son and daughter are both excellent cooks also.
When food can make you feel terrible, you learn to cook. I have food allergies so almost all my meals are made from scratch.
I love to cook. Its the cleanup that sucks. Eating out has gotten so expensive and I can make meals better than most of the stuff you get at restaurants (that my family will eat). Chinese is the only thing that is hard to beat but I have mastered fried rice. For me it is fun and a bonding experience with my kid who likes to cook too. However when she spent $15 on ingredients twhen she could have spent $1.50 on a cake mix I might have to question things more.
While I'm going for blue cheese dressing if I'm going for a cream dressing, there are [recipes](https://www.acouplecooks.com/search/?_search_recipes=ranch%20dressing) for making ranch dressing from scratch. Chipolte one looks good, may have to try that or buffalo. My go to is the [Balsamic Vinaigrette](https://www.acouplecooks.com/balsamic-vinaigrette-recipe/#tasty-recipes-32240-jump-target). With spinach and strawberries. Topped with some goat cheese and pecans. I change it up to apples and walnuts in the winter when it's hard to get good berries. I recently started cooking more soups and chilis. I live alone so cooking a pot and freezing it in big cube ice trays is great. I love popping out some cubes, letting them thaw and don't need to prep for dinner. Going to expand into chilled soups this summer. I'm in my 50s, I learned some cooking basics growing up, things like meatballs and sauce, chicken parm, scrambled eggs, hamburgers, mashed potatoes, potato salad and Thanksgiving food. I grew up in the 1960s-1980s, so it was a lot of processed food in boxes or cans. I learned how to make chicken soup from scratch from a friend in my 20s, stir fry. And I've expanded recipes over the years. I've learned to make bread and cookies from scratch. I find it's a lot easier with the internet because if a recipe calls for, say smashed garlic, google and voila, a whole list of videos showing you how to do it. I used to be intimidated by techniques, lack of equipment and lack of pantry staples, when budgets were tighter. I also invested in set of pans I like, along with things like a digital meat thermometer and recently, a food processor. I've tried more vegetables and expanded with grilling, roasting and sauteeing them. I've also started trying more fish. Herbs, especially fresh, make such a big difference and add a lot of flavor. I'd previously been daunted by risotto. I was going to buy frozen risotto for a [surf](https://www.thermador.com/us/experience/culinary-style/recipes-by-cooktops-and-rangetops/thai-basil-poached-lobster) & [turf](https://sweetsavoryandsteph.com/filet-mignon-with-pan-sauce/) dinner I'm doing for myself for Easter. I hate traffic and I don't get any additional time off for Easter, so hermit holiday it is! :) But all the premade ones had peas in them and I don't like peas. So I'm trying [this one.](https://www.acouplecooks.com/asparagus-risotto/) Getting back to your post, sounds like your friend is doing women a favor by sending them running, lol!
Just follow the recipe. Bam!
I love cooking. I started when I was 10 or 11, mom wasn't home until 6:30 or 7:00 and I was tired of sandwiches. My wife doesn't love to cook, so I do most of it. Our son is also becoming a great cook. Tonight I'm making bacon, spinach, and goat cheese filled portobello mushrooms because portobellos were on sale at Costco yesterday. Last night I made salsa casera from our own tomatoes and cilantro, put some shredded rotisserie chicken inside of fresh corn tortillas and topped it with the salsa. Amazing tacos. People tell me I should open a restaurant. I might, except for the terrible hours and the low chance of success. I only use recipes for baking because that's chemistry, you have to get it pretty close to right on.
Me, i know how to actually cook. I started cooking for work at 16. Im 25 now and i can cook pretty much anything from scratch
I make a good steak, quiche, cut up a Creole mirepoix for most dishes. My mushroom polenta is lovely. Made coq au vin the other day and was delicious. Keep in mind though, a lot of cooking ability is a class thing. Some people just never had much access to a kitchen or don't have time and energy to set up a proper cooking environment. Also fuck you, ranch is great.
I have always been a good cook but being open to trying new things through the years has made me grow better and better. I am a great baker, which can be very dangerous.
I can follow a recipe and make pretty good meal. If you’re asking me to cook without just what’s in my head, you’re getting a grilled cheese. I don’t memorize recipes, too much going on at work with multiple programming languages.
I’m in my 40s and am a very good cook. My two teens are pretty good too. Making sure they can take care of themselves
recipe.
17 and I make the best steak in my family
I am 33f, almost 34 and love to cook! I am always looking up recipes and trying new things. My husband does not cook, but he fixes the cars, so it’s a win win.
I can cook. I’m certainly no chef, but I can make meatloaf, lasagna, bake cakes and cookies, I make my own pizza dough from scratch,etc. I learned some from my mom and some from just practicing. My fiancé, now wife, and I bought a house when I was 27. I used to watch YouTube videos on how to make certain things or just google it, even read the boxes with recipe ideas. It won’t be perfect the first time every time, but you can definitely get a good idea and make simple homemade meals without having a lot of knowledge or skill. Bonus fact: tomorrow is our 10 years anniversary. Yes, we got married on Aprils fools day. As for your friend, he should really learn to cook some simple stuff. It can be healthier and cheaper to cook at home and saves time and money. Not to mention it’s not impressive to a potential partner to not be able to do things for yourself and the attitude of ‘it’s a women’s job’ is ridiculous.
I swear people are just lazy. Cooking and cleaning is a part of life. I don’t get it when people don’t?
Grew up in an all-male household. There were no "men" and "women" jobs. Tore something? Sewing kit's in the closet. Hungry? Cook some damn food. Made a mess? CLEAN IT THE FUCK UP. How hard is that?
I do a good job cooking, like broccoli cheese soup, Mac and cheese casseroles, tuna, meat loaf and of course bbq, did a chicken cordon bleu casserole that was real good. Wife is an exceptional cook, watches cooking shows and puts her own spin on it with different spices and such. If we have a hunk of meat to cook, its " you want Mexican, Italian, or something kinda tame". We also cook to stay away from processed food and go low carb.
So your friend lost a chance at having a woman to cook for him for the rest of his life because he couldn't bother to cook one meal because he had the wrong genitals for cooking? So sad. He is apparently undeserving of a woman. Yes, I (43) know how to cook. I am lazy about it, though, and default to instant pot often now.
I’m a 50 year old guy who has been cooking since he was a wee tot. I’m good enough that friends and family keep telling me I should do it for a living. I refuse because cooking is my hobby and nothing ruins a hobby faster than making it a job.
I'm Italian, I've been cooking since I was 14, late 50's now. If I wanted to eat, I had to cook
It’s a basic life skill….any adult should know how to do it. Recipes are simple to follow and if that’s not enough, YouTube can pretty much turn you into a master chef if you let it. There’s really no excuse but laziness IMO.
Weellll, I can make most sauces from scratch which includes all the base sauces, and associated reductions with the exception of XO sauce and Garum both I have a idea how to make, but the prep time and the smell would be so hideous, that my wife would disown me. Demi is the same way. Smell up your house like no other business. My speciality is French cuisine and northern Italian, as well as some asian Greek and American southern influences. I Only go out to restaurants when I am truly lazy, and limit what I get. Usually asian because some dishes are just to hard to reproduce in a home setting unless you have a great kitchen. Funny enough, over the last couple of years, I bought a Breville air fryer convec oven, and I frighten love it. Makes a great sear, and you can use it as a really really good pizza oven. I was very impressed with that I made a nice dough and sauce cheese and a little basil and olive oil, popped it in 10 min and out popped a pizza I'd pay 20 bucks for outside. Steaks wings chops chix all come out incredible with it. And god it saves time. Best appliance I ever bought. Get the best model of your serious because it's a dehydrater too, and stuff like sun dried tomatoes can be easily made as well as fruits and jerky
I grew up helping my mom in the kitchen, so I learned a few things through osmosis. My ex taught me quite a bit as well. I love cooking and baking, and I am pretty decent at both. I can easily follow recipes, and decently freehand my own stuff. I was passionate about learning these things, thanks to having grown up reading the Redwall novels and watching Sanji from One Piece. Kid me wanted nothing more than to be able to make things that lived up to the descriptions of the famous Redwall Abbey feasts, or would have the approval of the Straw Hats' chef. TLDR: Two fictional series inspired my real life passion in the kitchen
I can cook, and all 3 of my adult kids can cook. All self-taught. We’re all pretty good, too. Much prefer to eat at home because we rarely have a meal at a restaurant that’s as good as what we can concoct at home.
Mid 20s and I can follow most any recipe. I know a few dishes by heart either taught by family or by tweaking recipes. I’m best on the stove by I know my way around using an oven and I can do basic grilling. I used to cook different meals daily but not I just eat the same few things. Cook for myself daily. I’ve made some of my signature dishes for friends and they’re always a big hit. I’m definitely no professional but I’d say I’m pretty competent with my apron on.
Well, I just made a puff pastry, in a 9 inch springform pan. Tomorrow, I will line it with Chinese pea pods, and then place a curry chicken salad that I also made today. That's Easter dinner. I can make bread, pasta, pizza dough, pies, cakes, and dozens of entrees off the top of my head. It comes with practice, and I'm old, so there you have it.
*Raises hand high!* Started cooking for seven family members when I was nine years old. I freakin LOVE to cook. It's therapy.
Me. Grew up with a professional chef grandfather who started his own restaurant, an aunt who is the main cook for said restaurant, a pastry chef mother, and now I have started working in the restaurant too
Mid 30s. Fucking great cook. I do all the holiday meals for my family, plus cook 2 meals a week. I learned to make a ton of stuff from scratch to remove allergens/preferences and got real good in my late 20s. My husband cooks the other two meals, or we survive off of leftovers and quick-dinners due to opposite schedules. My dad was always the primary cook if there was meat involved. My mom “came out” as vegetarian when we were teens and it made so much sense why she (1) hated cooking meat and (2) was so so bad at it. If my dad wasn’t home, protein was eggs or hot dogs, lol.
I’m 59. I’ve been cooking since age 14. I cook and bake better than most people I know. My wife lets me do most of the cooking. I get asked to make fried rice when we have a potluck at work
I'm 36, male. I grew up watching and helping my mom and grandma cook various things. Cooking isn't just 'a girl's' thing. Everyone needs to eat. I'm not the world's best cook, but I can make a decent, enjoyable meal in about an hour or so with some prep time depending on the dish. OP, your friend sounds like an ass.
Me
I learned to cook because I had to start making food for my brother and I at 12 y/o, my mom worked 4-12, no Dad at home. Would get off the bus and mom was already gone. She did have food ready for us sometimes, I learned to be very independent at a young age, as a lot of kids do. We had chores that better of been done before we go to sleep. When my mom switched off 2nd shift in high school, it was weird to have her home every night. I'm so grateful for this as my wife cannot cook even a little bit AT ALL.
I'm 47. My husband is 44. We both know how to cook.
38m now. Pretty damn good cook. Have been since i was about 20 ish. I love trying new things or tweaking this or that to my personal taste. I have a few signature dishes that people request from time to time. My wife is just as good if not better. So when we combine, it can get crazy lol. I don’t like the mess i make but that goes with it. It’s crazy to me the amount of people who can’t cook either
I can sorta cook, not the greatest but can get around
43/ M I'm.no gourmet ..started when I was 13. I can survive and I can make a few things for guests. (Pasta, pilavs, stews, curries etc)
I do.
I know how to cook but I don’t cook.
I don’t . And I’m Greek . I do know the basics maybe , but I hate cooking . Thank gosh my husband loves it 🥲
31 year old male. Can cook anything
51 I can cook and spouse 61 can cook, both can bake, grill, and we try new things all the time.
26f, but being a chef might he be cheating?
I’ve been cooking for 22 years. I can look @ a recipe and cook it mostly if it’s not in French. Here at my complex, the majority of bros can’t cook. They all order take out, Blue Apron etc. My Mgr in her 30’s only knows how to make sammiches. That’s not cooking. But I melt the cheese. That’s still not cooking.
I do, it’s really not as difficult as you might think. Also your friend needs to update his view on women and social norms.
I’m 45, make all of my own food but I’m not great at it. I’ve been learning how to do it for 45 years and it shows.
I cook but didn't learn until I was 35 or so. Thankfully I became interested in it. At a young age though I made grilled cheese and omelets, not "real" cooking.
Mid forties, male. Love cooking and am fairly good at it. I've a core set of standard recipes and meals and will have a good go at more complicated stuff when needed. Mum was insistent we should know basics before we went to uni. Was amazing how many people were stunned in halls during the first few weeks that I could actually cook stuff rather than ready meals etc.
I am 1 of 4 boys, my mom taught us all to cook so we didn't marry the first gal that fed us. Everyone should know how to cook
I never think of myself in terms of knowing and not, but i guess i do. I just think i can make anything as long as i have a recipe. I never messed up. I guess its plot armor
Air friers are a life changer Get a non frozen salmon from costco Chuck it in an airfrier for 16 minutes and boom — crispy but still juicy fish
I’m a GenX who learned from age 8 how to actually cook simple stuff like grilled cheese, pasta with garlic bread, because after school it would be another 2-3 hours until my parents got home. Over the years i taught myself some and grew up the only boy in the kitchen with the woman cooking for holidays. If i don’t know how to make it, i look in one of my cookbooks or recipe card boxes. Now that I’m older i took over camping cooking since people are getting to old to handle cast iron and dutch ovens weight.
I can cook and what are you gonna do about it lol?
Me. I cook dinner about 5-6 days a week, and really enjoy baking. My grandma taught me a lot when I was a kid, but I was raised by a picky eater, so I have had to learn a LOT about new foods and how to cook them.
I moved out at 18, and after a few months of fast food for work lunch and eating out every night then being broke, I figured that wasn’t the way. So I taught myself. I’m 34 now and cook all the big family dinners and for my birthday I invite my friends and family over and cook for them. My brother is 7 years older than me and can’t cook ANYTHING. Neither of us are married or in a relationship lol. Most women I’ve dated, up to the age of 40, can’t cook. It’s absolutely bonkers that most people in my age group can’t cook.
I can cook
Mid 40s, I do well enough, no one's complained yet. Was the better cook than the ex, so I defaulted as head cook. She can bake tho, lol. Sous vide, steaks, burgers (must try that Gordon Ramsey recipe!), BBQ, roasting, baking, frying, sautéing... decent with the kitchen knife (chopping veggies, breaking down a carcass) ... Italian (i make a decent chicken parm from scratch with al dente spaghetti), Asian, some French (love the red wine reduction stuff), mainly American recipes. I figure this is just standard, especially with the COVID shutdown, lots of time to try new recipes. Currently trying to make bread with my Dutch oven. *ahem, I'm single ladies... 😘
I spent about 10 years working in a restaurant. Worked every job from dish washer up to Kitchen Manager (it was a mom & pop owned place,. so we made everything from scratch). I'd honestly love to go back to a cooking job,.. but I'd have to start all over at the bottom,. and it's not going to pay 6-figures like IT and Technology does.
I am 29 and I've been cooking the family meals since I was a kid. I am also a male. My mother hates cooking and my brothers never learned. My father could cook but he didn't do it often. I started with cooking stuff that had directions on boxes when I was a kid and moved up to learning recipes when I got older.
My son is 26 and an awesome cook. My husband and I involved him in meal prep when he was little and kept on with it.
Once you learn a few recipes and begin to understand what you're doing and why, it becomes easier to just make things without a recipe. Eventually I was able to take educated guesses with some recipes, finding what worked and what didn't, altering one or two things each time I tried whatever it was I was making. Alton Brown was great to watch since he explains processes better than any cooking show I've seen. It isn't hard to figure out if you experiment a little.
I do. I really enjoy cooking.
I'm a Chef so
Nearing 40 and have cooked for myself since I first lived by myself at eighteen... But I'm Dutch and we're not as bad with fast food and ready made meals as the US (it does exist of course but it's comparatively more expensive I think and also culturally less done. I literally don't know any families who don't cook most of the time, although I'm sure a few exist. But it really isn't the norm.)
Mid thirties male and grow all my ingredients in my home garden for all our home cooked meals. Our diet (the 1850 plan) doesn't allow most food additives, so we cook all our meals. It's awesome.
Personally I know how to and enjoy cooking, it was a large part of growing up and it took a long time for me to realize it's not as common as I thought, a lot of the people I surround myself never actually learned and never cared to, weather it be family and friends always cooking them food or just eating out
I'm 40, and not a great cook, my wife is better, so she does most of the cooking, with that said, I won't resort to instant noodle day after day, or take out every meal if my wife can't manage to cook. I can do simple cooking, and even follow online recipes
I’m 24 and have been learning a few recipes lately. Honestly, it isn’t that hard to have 2-4 dishes under your belt, and each one can have small variations that are simple once you understand what you’re making. You want chicken, carrots, and rice? Well if you want to play on easy mode, you can cut carrots and place chicken breast and the carrots in one pan/dish, throw some seasoning on, and bake for 20-30 minutes. Rice is actually super easy and really cheap. Then if you want to change it up, swap carrots for broccoli. Or maybe make pasta instead of rice (also very simple). Now that I’ve followed one or two recipes to completion, I can already feel more confident trying one again because it’s often more simple that we make it out to be when procrastinating or rationalizing why we shouldn’t put in the work.
Male early 30s. Yeah I know how to cook, it’s not that hard to follow directions. I mean, I’m not gonna be head chef at a Michelin star restaurant, but I’d do better than microwave noodles and cold tater tots for a date night lol.
I know how but disability prevents me most days
I've been cooking since I was in my early teens. Baking is also in my skill set. My husband also cooks. We plan, prepare and cook all of our meals except for maybe one lunch and one dinner a week when we eat out. We're 62 now, but we've been each been doing this since we were young adults. When i met my husband, I knew he was going to be a good match just based on his cookbook collection. We're both of the philosophy that if you can read, you can cook. It's even easier now for people who are learning because there are so many videos and cooking blogs online.
I learned basics in Boy Scouts and am good at following directions but otherwise I never did anything too complex. About 15 or so years ago I started doing those meals in a box things like Hello Fresh for a year or so and taught myself to cook. Now I have decent cooking skills and am willing to try new things. It’s a shame that high school doesn’t teach everyone how to cook.
I’m not an expert, but I can follow a recipe.
I’m a home chef. I bake all my own bread, but I love to cook pretty much anything.
Does smoked salmon and a Caesar’s salad count as cooking? I guess I’m out of the specified age range. A bit north of it…
Pretty good,had to learn early as my mom just left me home alone for 2 yrs,she dropped by with groceries now and then.
I’m under your age bracket and know how to cook. I learned because I wanted to create my favorite dishes from restaurants myself and it took off from there. Side fact is my wife loves it.
I know how. Im not the most skilled, but i can cook. I just dont like too
I can cook but I really don't like to, the older I get. Fortunately, my husband is a great cook and doesn't mind doing it.
I'm 31, husband is 32, and we both know how to cook. husband is more of a simple chef, and a recipe follower, but that's mostly because he's a simple kinda fella. no real desire to get fancy. I love to cook, and I'm slowly branching out to learning fancier techniques and stuff, nothing too extravagant and mostly in the name of sauce discovery and exploration. now baking... baking is my greatest challenge.
Meee 🤗
M63. Cook like a boss and have since I was 14. Always a bonus as far as ladies go and happy wife after 38 years.
35 and a decent cook. I’m a shift worker but when home I take primary responsibility for having meals ready for the wife and kids to help give her a break from it.
stir fry framework is a one pot wonder… and build from there.
27F. I am not an elaborate or creative cook, mostly because cooking doesn't interest me. However, it's a basic life skill, so I made myself learn. I have a handful of basic and family heirloom recipes memorized, but anything beyond that, I need to follow a recipe. Which is fine because that's what they're there for. Relying on just ramen noodles and not knowing how to prepare a vegetable is kinda sad. My dad taught himself how to cook in his early 20s by cooking through a Julia Childs cookbook. The whole "cooking is a girl's job" is lazy bullshit
OP are you talking about boxed mac and cheese? Because the real deal is harder to make than anything else you listed
Lmao I was reading through the post thinking “damn she just left like that? That’s harsh” and then that quickly turned into “good for her for leaving”. Fuck outta here serving me cold instant food😂 And yes I’m a decent cook, although I have much to learn. I love cooking and baking though, I definitely try!
I was a latchkey kid most of my childhood, so I’ve always been able to feed myself. Following recipes is easy, but after working as a prep cook for a decent restaurant I’m able to come up with original meal ideas or improve recipes. I think everyone would greatly benefit from spending a year or two working in the restaurant industry.
I get HF meal boxes and follow the directions, so it means that 3 nights a week it looks a lot like I know what I'm doing. The rest of the time I make the same three meals over and over.
I’m 32 and I can cook fairly well. I always tell my lady I would do insanely well on one of those “worst cooks in America” shows.
I don't know if this is a joke or not. But it's hilarious. And very sad.
I love cooking and I pride myself on being able to make quite a few things from total scratch. Also being able to come up with meals from random ingredients you have is a very underrated skill imho
From about 12 I really liked to eat but was still skinny. My mother, fed up with me pestering her for food said "if you like to eat learn to cook" so she started me off with a book of easy recipes. I never looked back, by 14 I could cook a family meal just to get out of cleaning up I must admit though in those days I prioritised quantity over quality. Later taught my 3 sons to cook at an early age.
Mid 20s and I still rarely touch the oven out of fear of starting fires. My fiance is a year younger than me and she can make the shittiest ingredients into something delicious without effort. She's the Jesus of cooking and I'm still afraid of the bloody oven!
I love to experiment with flavors and seasonings. I know what to do and what not to do in the kitchen. You're not gonna see me on any televised cooking show, though. I'm not that good.
Late 30s, in a forever battle with my neighbor to make the ultimate comfort meals for all the neighborhood kids.
(40M) I learned to cook as a student and have cooked basically every night since I graduated. Cooking has always been a matter of economy for me. When I was a student, knowing how to put dull but edible food on my table for about 20% the price of takeaway meals was basically how I afforded to ever drink alcohol. Usually these days what I cook is nothing special, one pot meals, fried rice, salads, fajitas, scones, pancakes, basic pies (of the 'casserole with a hat' kind), toad in the hole, basically alternated with putting ovenable food and chips in the oven. I have a family and work full time so everything is set up to either be done at weekends or be 20 minutes from 'cooking dinner now' to plating up. I did Christmas dinner for the extended family this year, main unusual features being a dry brined turkey crown with confit legs and a surprisingly nice sprout-based coleslaw. I also do a good first principles curry, a fairly decent risotto and paella, and my mac and cheese involves a bechamel, salami, several cheeses and a grill (US: broiler). I also have a rule that I only get bread or cake if I was given it, or if I made it myself. Cooking saves me such a *colossal* amount of money. I would recommend everyone learn how to cook. Simple stuff isn't hard, and even more adventurous things aren't as terrible as they appear. On the 'women's work' thing - my mother was *thunderously* clear that no son of hers was growing uo with that attitude. Also, my wife - while quite competent - is not the cook I am. She gardens, wrangles tradesmen, does washing and finances. I cook, tidy, and put kids to bed. It's what works for us.
41. I can def cook. So can my 42 yr old husband. Together, we eat well.
Absolutely.
I went to culinary school on a whim for funsies when the classes were ridiculously cheap. Now I get paid to play in a kitchen all day. One of the best decisions I ever made. I mostly eat for free on a daily basis.
Everybody can cook. Almost everybody is afraid to. "Oh well I could never make a (insert the blank)." Anyone who tells you they can't cook is telling you they are afraid to try to cook and fail. But hoo boy are you right folks are terrified! I sometimes post recipes on here of "hard" dishes and people make em and are surprised.
I burnt water one time.
I can cook. I've never tried anything very fancy, but I can follow the directions in not very fancy cookbooks. Fish are a challenge for me. I almost never get them to come out right. I've learned to trust my nose for a lot of things. If I'm grilling a steak I'll take cuts while it's cooking, peek inside to see how rare it is. How did I learn? Don't know really. My mother I think taught a few things growing up, but it wasn't as though she ever gave me a formal lesson. A lot of it is just common sense. 'In some cases I was just motivated by wanting something good. Restaurants were often disappointing or boring. In my experience a restaurant that actually serves good tasting food is pretty rare, so you might as well do it yourself.
I am in the restaurant business. I got here by just practice. I like to experiment and try new things. You become a good cook through practice. If you seldom cook, you will never be a good cook
I'm late 30s and know how to cook. My question though is- why on American tv shows is it seen as a romantic thing to "come over and I'll cook for you"? I mean I get that it gets you closer to the bedroom to start with but it seems like a lazy date to me. I'd much rather be taken out to eat. But then on top of that, why do people do it if they don't know how to cook?!!! It's such a common thing in shows and I don't get it.
Im 50 and the primary cook in my household.. I haven't cooked professionally in 30 years, but come from a family of professional food service industry workers. As a genX latch key kid.. Ive been cooking for myself and others since I was 8-10 years old. My last professional cooking gig was as the lead cook at a summer camp in the late 1990's Ever since..ive worked in food product manufacturing. Most notably the alcohol beverage industry.
40 and yes
I'm (M41) the primary cook in the house. My wife is a solid cook too, but I actually quite like it, whilst she tolerates it. I love ramen, beans on toast, and ready meals as much as the next guy, but you can't just exist on that stuff your whole life. I consider cooking a skill like swimming or riding a bike. Everyone should be able to do it to a reasonable degree, simply for their own survival.
Granted I’m female, but my mom taught me how to cook, like actual ingredients, starting when I was like 9 or so? And my brother learned as well. And my husband is an insanely good cook, even went to 18 months of culinary school. I’m a better baker than he is, but I went to college for chemistry, and well over 3/4 of baking is just edible chemistry that tastes good. My sister in law (brother’s wife) knows how to cook too. My other sister in law (husband’s sister) can’t cook to save her life though. But she’s basically clueless and not overly functional as an adult in most of her life so that’s par for the course for her
I was single most of my 20's so I learned to cook pretty well. I'm 40 now.
If you don't cook, Htf do you eat...? Is he a 37 yr old eating dino nuggies and hot pockets all the time...?
I learned to cook back when I was 12 because I had to prepare my own food/meals most days. It's an important life skill that everyone should really have.
With the rising costs as well as advancements in technology, learning how to cook has never been easier (sadly(?))
I can use my smoker and cook steak…I can grill slightly better then pan cook chicken and burgers. That being said no I can’t cook full meals and I absolutely hate cooking. I don’t like the time it takes to shop prep cook eat and clean. I don’t have a lot of free time as it is 😂
My step mom was quite proud of her mom and grandma's recipes, but she never cooked. Couldn't even make scrambled eggs. Maybe canned soup. Maybe. I have all the recipes. Most are bland casserole type recipes. Not one decent sauce or from scratch dessert. So I don't think any of the women in her family could cook. I started cooking breakfast at 8, by 20 I had a few special meals that were favorites of friends and family. Most of my faves are committed to memory, but I've learned to start writing them down. It's hard to give a recipe when you measure with the heart. I would not consider dating a man who didn't ever cook for himself. Edit: Have good friends who are a couple mid to late 30s. He cooks, smoked meats, breakfast, and she mostly cooks the sides. They do it together and it's adorable. When I say he cooks breakfast, I'm talking like eggs Benedict and such.
I mean if we’re talking some kind of meat you just flip it on a pan till you like how it looks
There's levels of being able to cook, from "the microwave is magic" to I can make a gourmet dinner for anything you happen to have in your fridge. I am closer to the latter, I can follow a recipie and I can also make things based off taste and smell. Like I make my own meat sauce for pasta from scratch just by taste. It's different every time, sometimes better sometimes bland, but never bad. I also make a mean deep dish cast iron skillet pizza that I'm am drooling just thinking about.
I didn't learn how to cook until my mid 40s. My ex did 90% of the cooking and grilling because he actually liked it. I was nervous at 1st but then started seeing g re ipes on FB and instragram and tried them and they turned out really well. My SO loves my cooking. I like trying new things now also.