How to Cook Intuitively

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By AcousticIndigo
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Cook Intuitively

Intuitive cooking means not binding yourself to any sort of rules or recipe. It means not quite knowing what you're going to make or how you're going to make it. It mostly means using a mixture of good ideas, good taste, good sense and intuition to create something so unique and delicious that it couldn't have been made on purpose. Cooking need not mean diligently following a recipe; it can be a creative adventure, full of exploration and play!

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

Interesting ingredients
A few simple recipes
Courage
Passion
A sense of humor

Step 1

Here's how to start: Take a simple recipe and expand upon it or experiment with it a little; add a little more oil, add a daring spice, substitute one vegetable with another. It can be a recipe you're familiar with or one you've never tried before. You can try this with a couple different recipes or with the same one, each time getting more and more brave and using the recipe less and less. Once you get the sticking different foods together to create something greater than the sum of its parts, you're ready to start inventing recipes all on your own!
Step 2

Go crazy with ingredients! Ever wondered what a certain interesting looking fruit or mysterious can of something with a foreign name was at the grocery store? Google it, and if it looks good, get it! Taste it, try different things with it, and see if you can create something amazing with it. Be open to all possibilities!
Step 3

Be bold with flavor. Try combining herbs and spices and flavors in different and random ways. Would apples taste good with garlic? Could you make a sweet pasta-based dessert? Could you combine Italian and Tibetan flavors in a stir fry? Try it! The possibilities are endless!
Step 4

Be fearless. Take on a Zen mind by letting the "What if's" go: "What if I don't like it?" "What if I waste all these ingredients on something no one will like?" "What if everyone thinks I'm crazy for trying this stuff?" When you're in the kitchen, it's just you and your food. If you let your what if's cook with you, they will strangle your intuition and creativity, and the product will be something safe and mediocre.
Step 5

Integrate your heart, head and taste buds. Go with your intuitive, split-second out-of-nowhere ideas and your passionate, free-spirited yearnings. Use common sense and good thinking in your cooking, but don't overanalyze. Try and imagine what certain thing will taste like together, but if you can't imagine it, don't be afraid to try it. Make sure to give your heart, head and taste buds each a fair and equal say. Balance is key!
Step 6

Failure is success. If you go out on a limb with a dish and it completely flops, that is a goldmine of knowledge. Knowing what not to do is just as important as knowing what to do, and the easiest and most difficult way to learn both is through experience. One of my favorite quotes is, "Experience is the best teacher, but its tuition is very high". The only way to get the chance to create something wonderful is to risk making something horrible. Both will teach you just as much.
Step 7

Have fun with your cooking! Play and explore, without worrying about the outcome. Enjoy the moment in the moment, and have a sense of humor if all goes awry.