Learning to Cook vs Following a Recipe

Learning to cook vs. following a recipe is an example of first principles thinking.

For those who may not be familiar with it, first principles thinking is “designed to relentlessly pursue the foundations of any given problem from fundamental truths.” First principles was recently re-popularized by Elon Musk.

Following a recipe allows you to create a meal, but a recipe doesn’t help you figure out what to do when something goes wrong. A recipe isn’t useful if you open the fridge and realize you forgot to go grocery shopping. Following a recipe doesn’t tell you how to adapt to your guests’ special dietary needs.

In contrast, cooks understand the basic principles that control how food tastes, looks, and smells. They can open the fridge, survey available ingredients, and make a meal without a recipe. When things inevitably don’t go as planned, they have the confidence to adjust. This doesn’t mean that cooks don’t ever consult a recipe – they might use one as inspiration but adapt it to their own taste.

You can see first principles thinking in most cooking competitions. Contestants typically have to create a dish from ingredients they don’t know ahead of time. Since it’s impossible to follow a recipe, successful dishes show the judges how well the contestants can cook.

Julia Child revolutionized American cuisine using first principle thinking. When she was learning to cook traditional French cuisine, she rejected accepted culinary truths and instead relied on multiple experiments in her kitchen. When faced with complex French dishes, Child broke them down into basic, repeatable physical actions; for example, how to properly sear meat. In her books and television shows like The French Chef, Julia Child taught home cooks to rely on sensory feedback – like watching for juices to pearl on a steak – instead of using specific cooking times.

In a very real sense, Julia Child was asking people to learn to cook rather than just following a recipe.

There’s nothing wrong with following a recipe; it’s like playing an instrument using sheet music. Cooking is something else; it’s like writing a new song or improvising a beat based on a tune you’ve heard. Cooking is first principles thinking.