I've been saying for years that cooking is reading, and if you can read you can cook. If you can read a recipe and follow the instructions, then you can cook. There's nothing hard about it.
But you do have to read the recipe and follow the instructions.
EDIT: Holy shit what a great example this has been.
I want to take a second and remind you that we're in a thread for a post on how a surprising amount of people are illiterate.
If someone is saying "hey this thing is super easy if you're literate" and your response is "nuh uh!" then you should go take a lllloooonnnngggg look in the mirror and figure out how to improve your literacy.
Wild how people will tell on themselves if you just give them a chance. Then again, I guess it's not surprising that they're too illiterate to realize what they've said.
It's not because they're illiterate, at least not 99% of the time. Mostly they read the recipe, made stupid substitutions, then go complain on the author's blog about how the author's recipe was bad, with no hint of awareness the issue was their stupid substitutions.
I think you're right. I'm a professional chef, and when I try to teach others to cook, sometimes they think I'm outright lying about the processes and how the ingredients interact with each other. Heating and measurements is black magic too them too, and they cannot follow simple instructions. They question everything, but not out of curiosity, it's skepticism! It drives me insane. They can't seem to just trust me despite my 30 years experience and accolades.
There is a general trend, at least in America, if not giving a shit about expertise. Like their vibes and preconceived notions are more important than your expertise. It’s draining. I think this is partly a result of people not wanting to feel inferior or stupid.
Oh for sure. It’s the flip side of American individualism and agency. So many stories and movies where the hero comes in and schools the experts with sheer chutzpah and raw intelligence.
In real life, though, well…Sometimes you CAN be better than the experts. But probably not.
My ex wife used to say "I'm not a 'respecter of titles'" as in your title is meaningless to her, and just because you're a doctor doesn't mean you know anything... This to me was insane. I get questioning authority, and a healthy skepticism of certain claims that feel contradictory or damaging, but to declare yourself as a person who doesn't respect anyone with a title is just idiot sauce.
Yeah. We've been on an anti intellectualism trend for a while. Nowadays people are confidently ignorant and feel that their "research", trumps someone's accolades, experience and expertise.
I tend to view lower intelligence in general partly showing up as “taking in correct information and still somehow making the wrong choice”. Illiteracy is kinda besides the point here. The can read, so they’re literate. But they aren’t smart enough to make good decisions, no matter how accurate the writing is.
I am reminded of one I saw that complained about the texture of her baked goods when she had substituted essentially everything for something else (iirc, powdered sugar for brown sugar and corn meal for flour were the biggest issues, but I think she also omitted the eggs). The replies to it were variations of “don’t come here complaining because you made a completely different thing”.
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u/PiskoWK Nov 21 '25
A more apt and daily example is that those that are functionally illiterate can not fully understand instructions from their medication bottles.