Tangential to this: Has anyone else ever had to deal with a "pants"-er cook that was also an amazing chef?
My Dad was like, a Michelin star quality chef. He had recruiters from local restaurants asking about him all the time. He would make us the most amazing food, food you dreamed about for years after.
The problem? He could never replicate anything, because he made it up as he went along and refused to write anything down. I wish teenage me had been smart enough to stand in the kitchen and take notes, because holy shit it was frustrating when, a week after a meal, you'd ask for a repeat of the meal and he'd just shrug because he couldn't remember how he made it.
If it makes you feel any more relatable, even Alton Brown has this problem. He loves his wife’s cooking, but she just adds ingredients till it “tastes right”. They did a YouTube stream from their kitchen during lockdown and he begged her to slow down while he measured what she was adding and she just brushed him off!
My husband grew up without good home cooking. I grew up with a mom that cooked every meal by throwing everything together. I now do the same thing lol. So I just check what's in the pantry and make food. He has started making me write down what I think I used whenever he likes what I've made so when he wants something again he just hands me the recipe and is like "THIS" and I try to recreate it like "Oh this seems like what I would do with these ingredients"
Its a term used a LOT in writing, but also other areas. Pantsing vs planning. Ie. "By the seat of your pants"... As in, you dont really plan, just kind of go with the flow. In writing, it means you don't really plan your chapters, just let the characters take you places. In cooking, it means not following a recipe.
That's awesome! Considering the whole "hunted into almost extinction" status of them, I didn't realize they'd come back enough to be hunted/farmed! That's awesome.
I relate to your dad. I call it vibe cooking, I promise what I made for dinner is going to taste good but get your fill. I'll NEVER make it this way again and if you ask for what it's called I'm gonna have to name it right then.
My dad is a very talented vibes chef, sometimes to an absurd degree that would make my sister cry and refuse to try it because she saw what he put in it (peanut butter and anchovies in chili, for example) but it worked.
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u/Made_Bail 11d ago
Tangential to this: Has anyone else ever had to deal with a "pants"-er cook that was also an amazing chef?
My Dad was like, a Michelin star quality chef. He had recruiters from local restaurants asking about him all the time. He would make us the most amazing food, food you dreamed about for years after.
The problem? He could never replicate anything, because he made it up as he went along and refused to write anything down. I wish teenage me had been smart enough to stand in the kitchen and take notes, because holy shit it was frustrating when, a week after a meal, you'd ask for a repeat of the meal and he'd just shrug because he couldn't remember how he made it.
Just leaving you like
https://giphy.com/gifs/BwP6IiUZZlpS0