Seven essential tips for becoming a better home cook from some of Australia's best chefs
From Christmas treats to family feasts, the holiday season provides plenty of opportunities to practise and perfect your culinary skills, and a little expert assistance never goes astray.
Following on from the The Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2023 Awards, some Chef of the Year finalists have shared some advice for becoming a better home cook.
Take risks
Chef of the Year Annita Potter isn't averse to taking risks. If anything, she says, it's her MO. But whether she was knocking on the door of David Thompson's Michelin-starred restaurant Nahm or opening Viand, Sydney's first tasting menu-only Thai restaurant, in the aftermath of a pandemic, her risks have always paid off.
"You usually get the best outcomes by taking a risk," she says. "It can open your eyes to new opportunities."
For the home cook, this means trying every recipe, no matter how difficult it may seem.
"Even if you screw it up, chances are it will still taste good," she says. "And if not, just try it again."
Read as many quality cookbooks as possible
While books such as Core by Clare Smyth are visually stunning, their recipes aren't particularly accessible. Read them anyway, says Potter.
"Go and grab cookbooks like Josh Niland's Take One Fish or Thai Food by David Thompson," she says.
"Books like that are basically encyclopaedias from chefs at the top of their game.
"I think all of those kinds of chef-written books are able to teach you something, even if you just read them like a book when you go to bed at night."
Use recipes as a guideline, rather than a rulebook
Head chef and co-owner of one-hatted restaurant Ho Jiak Town Hall Junda Khoo established a name for himself by putting his own spin on "authentic" Malaysia recipes. It's no surprise, then, that he recommends throwing out the rulebook.
"Recipes are there to help us learn how to cook a dish," says Khoo.
"The most important thing to learn from a recipe is the method or how to cook it rather than following every step and measurement and then saying that the recipe doesn't work or isn't good because it doesn't suit our taste buds.
We have to season it or amend the taste to suit each individual's personal liking and taste, taste and taste as we cook."
Cooking oil is your friend
Shying away from cooking oil is a common home cooking mistake, says Khoo. "Don't be scared of oil," he urges. "In my culture, every time I cook for my family they tell me I'm using too much oil.
"But it's one of the mediums that binds all of the flavours together. It doesn't have to be a lot, but it is important."
Consistency is key
In an age of increasing instant gratification, it can be disheartening when your first attempt at a new recipe goes awry. But new skills take time, says Oncore by Clare Smyth head chef Alan Stuart. Oncore was awarded three hats at the 2023 Good Food Guide awards.
"It doesn't come overnight," he says. "It takes consistency to be the best … Trust the process."
Sharpen your knives, more often than you'd think
Stuart suggests sharpening your knife using a stihl knife sharpener every two to three days.
"A sharp knife is the key to success, 100 per cent," he says. "I personally put it on the stihl every hour, then on the whetstone once a week.
"It depends on how labour intensive you are but if you're working with a lot of meat I'd be doing it every two days."
When all else fails, keep it simple
Intricate, laborious recipes are not for everyone, however. Head chef of one-hatted restaurant Lana, Alex Wong, says the key to good home cooking is keeping things simple.
"Every time I try to pull off something too complicated it's a disaster, even for me," admits Wong. "When cooking at home, less is more. Don't overcomplicate it."
Wong says his go-to weeknight meal is "something really easy", a one pot wonder with fregola (a Sardinian pasta resembling pearl cous cous) and seafood.
"I like to have some vongole and add in some king prawns, or maybe some squid," he says. "I do like a tomato and prawn stock base, with a bit of nice dry Sardinian wine, like a vermentino. Then I season it with a bit of fish sauce.
"If I have some fermented chilli I'll add that as well."
The Good Food Guide 2023 magazine is on sale for $9.95 at newsagents, supermarkets or from thestore.com.au.
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