The Best Fluffy Pancakes recipe you will fall in love with. Full of tips and tricks to help you make the best pancakes.
Confidence, or the belief in one’s abilities, in the kitchen is not gained quickly. It takes repetition, replication, and the desire to recreate dishes over and over again. I know, it doesn’t sound like the most exciting thing to do, but one of the best ways to gain confidence and skills in the kitchen is by repeating recipes. Each time you make something you learn something new, and eventually all these little lessons add up to a greater understanding of both ingredients and technique.
The first time you make a dish you are likely to feel a bit anxious. You need to measure, read the recipe, and adjust the heat, stirring occasionally. There is a lot to pay attention to and a lot to take in. But the next time you make that dish you will feel more at ease. You will notice other things, like the smell of the ingredients, the feel of them, and how they react when heated. The second or third time you make a recipe you may realize that when you turn the heat down a bit the sauce doesn’t break, or that if you leave a bit more space between the vegetables they taste better. You wouldn’t have noticed any of these things the first time you made it because there were too many other things to pay attention to.
A second reason I think replication is important is because you begin to develop your instincts. A recipe can tell you how long to cook something for, how much of it to use, but it cannot tell you about all the little variations that occur from kitchen to kitchen. Maybe your ingredients are fresher, or your stove runs hotter. The humidity of the day may effect the final outcome. Through repeated replication you begin to develop your instincts and can make these little adjustments on your own without consulting a recipe. You begin to feel more comfortable in the kitchen, more confident. You begin to learn what works and what doesn’t and how to adjust recipes to suit your tastes and needs.
Confidence in the kitchen is not so much about the avoidance of failure, but the knowledge that even when you do make a mistake it is not the end of the world. Repeated replication helps you to feel more secure in your abilities. You feel better equipped to deal with the unexpected, and more capable of learning and adapting. So don’t be afraid to make recipes over and over again. In fact, challenge yourself to do so. You never know what you might learn.
