Three essential cooking skills worth mastering

John Denboer is a chef, foodie, and avid traveler who holds private cooking classes for groups. He believes that cooking is a life skill that will empower an adult to become more independent. Here are three important kitchen skills one should master.

Basic knife techniques

Learning how to dice, slice, chop, and mince like a pro will make a person feel more confident in the kitchen. Of course, before learning all these skills, Chef John Denboer shares that one should learn proper knife handling to stay safe and to prepare the ingredients properly. Properly cutting meat, fish, vegetables, and other ingredients is crucial to perfecting a recipe.








Cooking pasta and rice

Preparing an al dente pasta dish may seem easy, but a lot of beginners end up with soggy noodles. Learning how to cook different types of pasta properly will open up a person to various recipes that they can prepare easily. When it comes to rice, one can prepare it perfectly without a rice cooker. According to John Denboer, one must be familiar with rice variants and the amount of water needed for the perfect texture and taste.

Eggs prepared different ways

Eggs are a widely-used ingredient in the kitchen. These can be boiled, poached, scrambled, fried, and more. Learning how to prepare various egg dishes will boost a person's confidence in the kitchen. For those who want to get into baking, later on, mastering cooking with eggs is good preparation. Or for those who wish to host brunch, knowing how to prepare simple egg dishes is a good start.

The gourmet kitchen: An introduction

Image source: casedesign.com

John Denboer is a gourmet chef who has traveled the world and now teaches group classes to share his knowledge. Often, he focuses on food preparation and cooking. However, there are times when he goes beyond recipes and touches on more things about being a gourmet chef.

For this blog, John Denboer briefly introduces the gourmet kitchen, or at least what he deems worthy as a kitchen for gourmet chefs everywhere.

First off, John Denboer mentions that there are staple pieces of equipment that a gourmet kitchen cannot do without. These include a large refrigerator and freezer, dual ovens, a six-burner stovetop, a dependable and powerful ventilation system, a wine cooler that is separate from the fridge, and a prep sink that goes of course, on a gourmet kitchen island.

Image source: casedesign.com

John Denboer explains that the basic idea of a gourmet kitchen design should take into consideration space to have the chef move comfortably around, accommodate everything a gourmet chef needs, and house a cooking station. The design should also allow the chef to easily reach for everything they need – spices, ingredients, and tools – while they are cooking.


Finally, John Denboer notes the significance of having the chef design the kitchen himself or at least have a big hand in the concept. Depending on what kind of chef they are, if they are more or a baker, or if they are vegetarian, or specializes in cooking fish over meat, that’s how the kitchen should be designed. Different chefs require different designs, Denboer adds.