Learning To Cook A Particular Cuisine - Reading Books Or Firsthand Experience?

Some of us read books to learn about things, and some of those books even have recipes in them. Worse yet, some of us are so dumb that we use those recipes in our vain attempts to create food that we might enjoy.

The process that was being referred to, was for folks who haven't firsthand access to the cooks and ingredients of a particular cuisine, plus enough cooking experience to be able to wing it. Those people may have to read about and use recipes when they try to cook a particular cuisine. You're saying that if they don't have the experience they shouldn't try it at home. Not everyone is the all-knowing Cajun/Creole master chef that you are, my fellows.

By the way, please feel free to point out where I've said someone has to do it a certain way. Interestingly, you are saying they can't possibly hope to do it, while I'm suggesting that they give it a try when they've got nothing more than a recipe to start from.

Yes, in an ideal world, we'd all be able to jet all over the world to experience whatever cuisine we want firsthand. Not only that, but we'd have grandmothers and great grandmothers in all of those places so we could watch them cook and get the recipes by word-of-mouth. But given that most of us (present company excepted, as it appears you have relatives in every country in the world, to say nothing of mumsie's private jet) have no hope of this happening, we just muddle along the best we can.

George Toupakis is a freelance writer interested in subjects such as cuisine at home. Visit http://cuisine-home.blogspot.com/ to learn more.