How can i pursue cooking at a young age?

Question

I have been watching food network a lot lately and now i am really interested in cooking,what are some ways i could start to learn about cooking and start to cook more often. I am already signing up for the cooking classes at school. I am in the 8th grade.

Answer 1

Practice, Practice, Practice! Ask your parents if they will let you experiment in the kitchen. I'm sure your family will be very happy to eat your successful attempts!

Cooking class is a great start, you will learn the basics of measurement, knife skills, and cooking terminology.

Another thing that helped me learn how to cook was reading TONS of cookbooks. This will not only give you plenty of ideas, but it will help you recognize the basic ingredients to many common dishes. Check out your local library, they usually have a plethora of cookbooks.

You can also find lots of helpful tips, recipes, and videos online.

Some good sites are:

www.allrecipes.com (has a great Q &A forum)

www.food.com

www.epicurious.com

www.recipezzar.com

www.cooks.com

YouTube has some good demo videos as well.

When you are old enough to work, you may want to consider an entry level job in a restaurant. Many restaurants will hire you to cook/ do prep work with little to no experience. This would be great to have on your resume if you ever choose to apply to culinary school.

Answer 2

You can look for classes at your local YMCA too. And make dinner at your house (your mom will be thrilled). You should also start to learn about different ingrediants at your local market and get some cooking books out from the library (they're usually hardcover and expensive to buy). Some cookbooks just have recipes but others tell you about ingrediants and how to use and prepare them.

Answer 3

Ask your mom if you can make dinner for the family one night a week.  I'm sure she'll be THRILLED! ...  Have her buy you the basic Betty Crocker or Better Homes & Gardens cookbook;  in fact there's even a Jr. edition.  It will have all sorts of charts (conversions, substitutions), with photos of different techniques, and menu suggestions ... and tons of great, easy & basic recipes......

Answer 4

PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE I've been a chef for 15yrs and the only way to really learn is by doing it. When you become old enough to legally work get a job as a dishwasher and hustle your butt off. Be the fastest you can be prove yourself and ask the chef or kitchen manager that your interested in learning how to cook. Show up every day never late and bust your butt. After 1 month if you came to me I would show you but you have to prove yourself first. Good luck and it's not as glamorous as it is on T.V. lots of cleaning its very hot and lots of hours burns and cuts :)  

Answer 5

i am a person that loves to cook. i cook and bake a lot now. i am only 14, so i cant do big cooking, but i cook for my parents, and family. i make all my things homemade, except when my family wants to make shortcuts. i bake cakes, pies, and now i am trying to make a souffle. for starters, you could do your own cooking at home. make you breakfast, lunch and dinner. to kick it up a notch, you can cook for your parents. its a lot to cook out there and cooking is fun. when i bake i make cheesecakes, different flavor cakes, sweet potato pie. a lot of things. during Christmas or Thanksgiving, you could cook for your family, if you all have Christmas and Thanksgiving gatherings. Always remember if you can't stand the heat, then you don't belong in the kitchen!