What Is Your Cooking IQ?

By BrainFall Staff - Updated: April 2, 2024

Ever wondered if your kitchen prowess is up to par with the culinary masters of our time, or perhaps you suspect that your skills might align more with those of an enthusiastic amateur who's most daring feat is perfectly boiling an egg? Fret not, fellow flavor fanatics, because we're about to embark on a delightful journey to uncover the savory secrets lodged within the depths of our cooking intellect.

We all toss around terms like 'sauté' and 'julienne' with the casual ease of a salt shaker, and we've got the battle scars (and occasional kitchen mishap stories) to prove our dedication to the culinary cause. But let's turn up the heat and see if our cooking fundamentals truly sizzle or fizzle. Consider this an exclusive invitation to join us in whisking through our culinary knowledge, all in the name of fun and, possibly, a teensy bit of bragging rights. It's time to don those aprons and chef hats with flair—it's quiz time at BrainFall, and your Cooking IQ is on the menu!

Unwrapping the Culinary Enigma

Alright fellow foodies, let's dish out the delectable details of our cooking smarts. We're here to crack the code of culinary prowess, where gadgets gleam, and the proof is in the pudding—or the cast iron quesadilla, if we're getting specific.

Decoding Food IQ

What does it mean to have a high Food IQ? It's the zest in your kitchen conversation, the know-how peppering every dish you whip up. It's not just about reciting recipes but understanding the why and the how. For instance, Daniel Holzman and Matt Rodbard serve up scrumptious sagacity in Food Lab, mixing science with supper.

Kitchen Tools & Toys

In the arsenal of any kitchen virtuoso, there's more than just a splendid spatula. We've got gadgets galore! Don't be fooled, a microwave often gets a bad rap, but it can be your sidekick for more than just reheating pizza. And let's not forget about the sous vide machine, a culinary game-changer ensuring perfectly cooked, flavor-packed feasts, and the heroic cast iron skillet, ideal for everything from searing steaks to that famed quesadilla we just can't shut up about.

Cooking Techniques Unscrambled

Now, let's whisk away the confusion surrounding various cooking techniques. Whether it's achieving those perfect quadrillage (those fancy grill marks!) or mastering the gentle art of sous vide—cooking is a playground. Béchamel sauce might sound highbrow, but it's just milk meeting butter and flour in a tasty roux rendezvous. Trust us, with a little practice, you'll be the maestro of the kitchen orchestra.

Your Kitchen, Your Rules

Let's get this straight: your kitchen is not just a kitchen—it's a culinary playground where the only judge is your palate. We've tossed the rulebook out the window to bring you the quintessential guide to mastering your kitchen domain.

Recipe for Success

We all have that one special dish, the kind that makes guests beg "Can we have the recipe?" But let’s be honest, half the time we’re following our gastronomic instincts more than some step-by-step manual. Maybe you've channeled your inner Ina Garten to make the perfect roast chicken or perhaps you've finessed Eric Ripert's technique into your seafood dishes. The real secret ingredient? A pinch of confidence and a dash of creativity.

Myth Busting: The Foodie Edition

Bust out the party horns because we're about to debunk some major kitchen tall-tales. Think sous vide is just for the pros? Wrong! It’s a game-changer for us home cooks who want to impress without the stress. How about the myth that handmade pasta is a job only for Nonnas and Claire Saffitz? Please, we’ve been cranking out fettuccine since before it was cool. And to anyone who still believes that mealtime quandaries can stump the likes of us—with some inspiration from Roy Choi and Priya Krishna—we say, bring it on!