I am looking for books to answer my questions about cooking. I consider myself a pretty good home cook, but a lot of what I do is a mimic of what I've seen in recipes, and I don't understand why. Here are some example questions I haveWhy does the oil need to be hot before adding the food?Why should the meat be seasoned before cooking instead of after? Is it just so it sticks better, or is the salt altering the dish while cooking, and how?Under what circumstances would I chop garlic roughly vs mince vs make a paste? Which herbs should be added only at the end, and why?How does the flavor of a green onion differ from a leek or a chive? When to use each?Apart from the differences in toughness and richness, which cuts of meat are preferred when?When would I choose to use potato starch over corn starch for frying, or over flour? What about for thickening a sauce? Etc etc What books can I read to learn this sort of technical information?
>>21786805>Why does the oil need to be hot before adding the food?Otherwise it'll soak into the food, especially breading or potatoes, and be inedibily greasy>Why should the meat be seasoned before cooking instead of after? Is it just so it sticks better, or is the salt altering the dish while cooking, and how?Generally so the the flavor will cook into the meat, there are other reasons like salt promoting browning by drying out meatThe rest I don't have the experience to answer definitely. You're probably better learning this from technique videos and articles than a whole book desu though
>>21786811The thing is that there are probably countless things I don't even know to ask, or that I'm doing suboptimally. I need a culinary school type textbook for technical information
>>21786805I'll try to answer the best I can>Why does the oil need to be hot before adding the food?first off, it's more about getting the pan hot than the oil. the oil will be hot if you put it into a hot pan. anyway, this is for two reasons, one it prevents sticking. two, it means your meat isn't sitting soaking in oil for minutes before the pan gets up to temp. instead, you get started on the caramelization process right away. this isn't as big of a deal for stuff like sauteing onions or something where it's going to be in the pan for awhile regardless. but to get a good crust on a steak for example, you want it in and out, not sitting soaking in oil.>Why should the meat be seasoned before cooking instead of after? it just allows the salt to penetrate the meat further. only really applies to salt, you don't necessarily want to add other seasonings too early because they can burn, except maybe pepper which has a high heat tolerance. >Under what circumstances would I chop garlic roughly vs mince vs make a paste?this really just comes down to personal preference, whether you want big chunks of garlic or have it more melded into the dish. up to you.>How does the flavor of a green onion differ from a leek or a chive? When to use each?chives are milder, used more like an herb or a garnish, compared to scallions which have a strong onion taste. leeks are kind of in between. hard to explain, just try something like a leek soup and you will see.>Apart from the differences in toughness and richness, which cuts of meat are preferred when?basically: lean cuts (for example chicken breast, pork tenderloin, beef sirloin) should be cooked hot and fast.fatty cuts (for example chicken thighs, pork shoulder, beef chuck) should be cooked low and slow.cont.
>>21786805I don't know about the last question.my advice to learn things a bit more in depth is to not just read and follow recipes, but watch videos of people cooking because they will often provide more commentary on what they're doing and why. and also look up discussions on recipes, on r*ddit for example or in the archives here, you will find some good advice in less formal discussions. recipes for the most part are just concerned with giving you instructions to follow, but don't often get into the WHY behind the instructions, so seek out other resources.
>>21786805oh, and I forgot this one. >Which herbs should be added only at the end, and why?generally herbs that are okay to be cook for awhile are thyme, rosemary, sage, oregano. herbs you want to add at last minute are basil, dill, parsely, mint, cilantro. this is just because the former are woodier herbs that have higher heat tolerance, while the latter are more delicate and won't hold up. there are some minor exceptions to this but you can generally follow that.
>>21786825>>21786833This anon. Please keep posting.
>>21786805On Food and CookingSalt Fat Acid Heat
>>21786805>I don't understand whythis is called "unwittingly".you should never do anything unwittingly.ever.
>>21786805Honestly, the /lit/ adage works well here. Start with the classics. But gastronomy is still a very rough discipline. You still have to experiment a bunch and be aware of the essential taste.
>>21787122No, fuck that. That's cowardice."You can never know everything. And part of what you do know will always be wrong, sometimes even the most important part. A portion of wisdom lies in knowing that. A portion of courage lies and going on anyway."
>>21787122stupid. learning to cook is all about developing intuition. the best way to do that is trial and error. you try, you fail, you learn, you try again. if you avoid doing something just because you don't understand it yet, you'll never learn. you learn a lot through failure. it does help to understand what's happening too and you should try to absorb as much information as possible, but never be afraid to experiment and make mistakes.
>>21787107Thank you for being the only one to attempt to answer me
>>21786805
>>21787260You realize this is essentially pattern matching my question to book summaries on the back flap, right? I'm asking humans because I want the recommendations of humans who have actually learned something from the text and therefore know its value. You are a slop slinging faggot.
>>21787288>You realize this is essentially pattern matching my question to book summaries on the back flap, right?midwit response
>>21787288>nooo you answered my question the wrong way >:(
>>21787253>>21787288>wahh I dropped 15 questions and got several answers but nobody guessed exactly how I wanted to be answered so they can all go fuck themselvesyou're a cunt
>>21786805Just ask AI. I can ask Google AI the most niche shit ever and it's always perfect. Shit like "why would you use olive oil instead of butter and would it be good to substitute one for the other if you're using cream cheese instead of cheddar cheese and how much butter is equivalent to one tablespoon of olive oil"Like really random rambling questions it always answers perfect
>>21787288The AI is literally browsing every cooking post ever made online and summarizing what REAL PEOPLE said. Jesus Christ the anti-ai crowd are the dumbest motherfuckers alive
>>21787347>>21787363So why didnt you post this to chatgpt instead of interacting with lesser beingsJust stop posting here and look exclusively at AI, its better anyway right? There is literally nothing you can see here that an AI cant tell you so you will now leave forever Unless youre massive, retarded hypocrites of course
>>21787347>I can ask Google AI the most niche shit ever and it's always perfect.It seems perfect to you because you are a retard.
>>21787330>I am looking for books>Here are some example questions I have>What books can I read to learn this sort of technical information?You must be black>>21787363The majority of posts on the internet are Reddit and retarded. I don't want a summary of what redditors think.
>>21787899gpt is right though, i hate to break it to you but you are asking a basic bitch question that has been asked and answered (accurately) a million times before. all those books listed are good options.
