For about two years, cooking rice was the one bit of dinner I dreaded. The curry would be bubbling away happily and I’d be standing over a second pan feeling slightly sick, because I honestly didn’t know whether I was about to serve rice, porridge, or something with a burnt black floor I’d be soaking…
Caramelized onions are the reason I don’t trust recipe timings anymore. The first recipe I ever followed said to cook them “until caramelized, about 10 minutes,” so I did exactly that, tipped them onto a burger, and wondered why they tasted like… soft onions. Slightly brown. A bit sweet if I was being generous. Nothing…
Boiling eggs is supposed to be the first thing anyone learns to cook, which made it extra annoying that I couldn’t get it right. Some mornings the yolk ran everywhere when I wanted it firm. Other days I’d crack one open over my noodles hoping for something soft and glossy, and get a dry, chalky…
Searing meat was the thing that finally made my cooking taste like restaurant food, and I learned it embarrassingly late. For a long time, every steak I made came out the same shade of grey, sort of steamed, with a sad puddle of liquid in the pan. I blamed the meat. I blamed my cheap…
