How or where did you learn to cook?

I actually hated food till I got married.
I lived in another state to my parents, so could then not ask my mother as phone calls in those days were so expensive.

I did however, when I went back to visit, learn a lot of Mum's European recipes, and wrote them all down.

I continued to experiment and used mainly these old recipes, which were delicious.

I then branched out and started other things that I was not used to and within a short period I was eating like a horse -gone were the days when I didnt eat half of what was put in front of me, and so my interest in cooking somehow just grew and grew.

Nowadays, even though alone, I love to create dishes.

by Finy

My mum couldn't cook when she first left home and my dad had to teach her! So they were both determined that their children would be able to cook so we were involved in food prep and cooking from a very early age.
My husband wasn't taught by his mum but he had the good fortune to live with a friend at university who was an excellent cook and he learnt from him.
We now get our son to help with chopping, stirring, cooking, so that he will be able to cook before he leaves home :)

by VerityG

We were encouraged to have fun in the kitchen with our parents from a very early age.My sister was a fanatically recipe-use cook and I was a messy creative one!! It all just went from there. Now my own son is a chef after cooking since he was about 9 years old!!!

by Jules

My Dad is a great cook so there was always been an interest in food in my house growing up. I enjoy watching cooking shows and have picked up tips along the way. I don't particularly like cooking but enjoy looking up recipes.

by AJ

All of the cooking I can do now came by practice when I had no other option than to cook my meals myself. But I started loving it! Now I love trying various recipes.

by BK

By trial and error, and also working with people who could cook, and also my Mother.

by jonaja

Mum taught me a couple of traditional recipes before I left home, but I mainly learned when my husband and I moved in together. Trial and error.

by Vee

I wasn't much into home things when I was young so grew to adulthood not knowing how to cook. Once I moved out of home I learnt from watching my friends, because in the early days I spent a lot of time dining at their homes.

by Gayle Beveridge

I learnt when I was about 13 years old, from my grandmother, who came to visit us for the summer holidays.

by Happy Mom

My Mom and Nanny but I really blossomed in secondary school. Thats where my passion for food cemented itself.

by Gia

I learnt from my mother and at school we did Home Economics I think it was called...

by fran

At my Mother's side, at home.

My Mum was a fantastic cook! She went through the Fowler Vacola Preserving fad & we literally had jars from floor to ceiling, BUT never went hungry!

I really have loved cooking all my life. Learnt at School, too, back in the day.

Once married, I attended EVERY Cooking Course I could because it became my passion! I learnt so much from those various Courses.

Then Microwave Ovens came into being. I did many Courses on that, also.
For first THREE months of having one, cooked only in it. That way, I found out what stayed as 'conventional' cooking, & what happily stayed as M/W cooking!

My son, from 10yo wanted to be a Chef. This was many years' b4 the current plethora of cooking shows on TV.
He went from Grade XII to TAFE, & is now a Sous Chef, with Patisserie Certif., & B.Hosp.Mgt. Am just SO proud of him!

by donjo

P.S. Update: my son's now a Head Chef! Yay!

Home Ec. at school. We all keep well clear of the kitchen when our mother cooked. I relied on cookbooks when I left home.

by Rice

. . "kept" well clear. oops.

I was very much self taught, after I married! We had a lot of burnt short loin chops for a while! My mother had tried to teach me to cook before I got married, but I always said, "No sorry, i'm going out" Now 47 years later, & still cooking everything by a recipe, & only use that recipe, once a year!

by Miro

I was very much self taught, after I married! We had a lot of burnt short loin chops for a while! My mother had tried to teach me to cook before I got married, but I always said, "No sorry, i'm going out" Now 47 years later, & still cooking everything by a recipe, & only use that recipe, once a year!

by Miro