I almost never follow a recipe exactly. This is either confidence or a character flaw. Probably both.
Recipes are useful, of course. They give you a starting point. They tell you roughly what should happen if you combine certain ingredients without accidentally creating something that belongs in a laboratory rather than on a dinner plate.
But eventually, I get bored. I start looking at the recipe and thinking: what happens if I change this? Do I really need that ingredient? Can I add more protein? Would this work better in a pan? This is usually where things become interesting.
My Kitchen Is Basically a Small Laboratory
I like experimenting with food. Sometimes I have a plan. Most of the time, I open the refrigerator and create the plan based on what is available.
Eggs? Good. Milk? Useful. Some fruit? Excellent. Protein powder? Now we have options. Almond cream? Things are getting interesting.
A recipe-focused cook might see random ingredients. I see possibilities. Unfortunately, this approach has one major problem. There is no guarantee that the result will be edible.
Failure Is Part of Cooking
Some of the best things I have cooked started as accidents. Some of the worst things I have cooked also started as accidents. That is the system.
You try something. It fails. You understand why. You change one thing. Then you try again. Eventually, you create something that is actually good.
And then comes the real problem. You have absolutely no idea how much of each ingredient you used. Someone asks for the recipe. You say something incredibly helpful like: I don't know, I just added things. This is why I am probably not ready to write a serious cookbook.
Recipes Are Maps, Not Laws
I think beginners should absolutely follow recipes. Cooking is easier when you understand the fundamentals. But eventually, you need to stop being afraid of making mistakes.
Change something. Taste your food. Pay attention. Understand why something works. And more importantly, understand why something doesn't.
Cooking becomes much more interesting when you stop asking what the recipe says and start asking what you think will happen. Sometimes the answer is delicious. Sometimes the answer is smoke.
Traveling Changed the Way I Think About Food
Living and traveling in different countries also changed the way I cook. Every country has ingredients that are familiar and ingredients that make you stare at the supermarket shelf wondering what exactly you are supposed to do with them.
That is part of the fun. I don't want to cook the same food forever. I want to try things. I want to combine ideas from different places. I want to make mistakes.
And occasionally I want to cook something so good that I have to sit down for a moment and admit: okay, that was actually impressive.
The Best Part Is the Surprise
When you follow a recipe perfectly, you usually know what you are going to get. When you improvise, there is uncertainty. Maybe it will be amazing. Maybe you will order food afterward. That uncertainty is part of the experience.
Cooking, for me, is not just about feeding myself. It is entertainment. It is experimentation. It is creativity. And sometimes it is a reminder that not every good idea needs to be planned in advance.
Sometimes you just open the refrigerator, look at what you have and see what happens. Worst case, you learn something. Best case, you accidentally create your new favorite meal. And if it turns out terrible, there is always Nutella.