The Cooking Skill Map

Builds toward

Transfers to

Practice dishes

Common failures

• Bread dough is consistently too stiff and dry.
• Baked goods come out inconsistent between attempts with the same recipe.
• A recipe halved by volume does not taste half as strong.
• Sticky ingredients leave most of themselves in the spoon.

Builds from

Transfers to

Practice dishes

Common failures

• The total is wrong even though each addition looked right.
• Small quantities read as zero or jump erratically.
• Readings drift during a long mix.
• A converted recipe comes out wrong.

Builds toward

Transfers to

Practice dishes

Common failures

• Half the flesh comes away with the skin.
• Blanched tomatoes are soft and partly cooked.
• The dish tastes bitter after adding citrus zest.
• Peeled potatoes have gone grey or pink.

Transfers to

Practice dishes

Common failures

• The finished dish is bitter.
• Barely any citrus flavour despite plenty of zest.
• Long shreds that are unpleasant to eat.
• Waxy taste.

Transfers to

Practice dishes

Common failures

• Holes and ragged tears in the cutlet, shreds stuck to the mallet.
• One end is paper-thin while the middle is still thick.
• The meat has gone mushy and pastes together when rolled.
• Pounded to the right thickness but cooked unevenly anyway — the edges dried before the centre was done.

Transfers to

Common failures

• The knife is no sharper after long effort on a stone.
• It cuts well for a day and dulls immediately.
• Chipped edge on a hard blade.
• Honing does nothing.

Builds from

Builds toward

Transfers to

Practice dishes

Common failures

• Meat is chewy despite being cooked correctly.
• Some pieces are burnt and others raw on the same tray.
• Onions dissolve into shreds instead of holding their shape.
• Soft things are squashed rather than sliced.

Transfers to

Practice dishes

Common failures

• Chopped basil turns black within minutes.
• Herbs taste grassy and bitter rather than fragrant.
• Wildly different sizes and the dish cooks unevenly.
• A pile of wet green paste instead of chopped herbs.

Builds from

Builds toward

Transfers to

Practice dishes

Common failures

• The soffritto has both raw crunchy bits and browned mush.
• The onion falls apart on the board before it is diced.
• Everything tastes of one ingredient.
• Watery, crushed pieces and eyes streaming.

Builds from

Transfers to

Practice dishes

Common failures

• Bitter garlic dominating the dish.
• Harsh, hot raw garlic flavour in a dressing or sauce.
• A wet, pasty smear rather than distinct pieces.
• Uneven — some pieces fine, some large.

Transfers to

Practice dishes

Common failures

• Some pieces are soft and some still raw after a fast stir-fry.
• The pieces collapse into shreds when cooked.
• Pieces roll away and the cuts go crooked.
• It takes far too long.

Transfers to

Practice dishes

Common failures

• A watery fritter or rösti that will not crisp.
• Soft cheese smears and blocks the grater instead of shredding.
• Cheese melts into a stringy, oily mass anyway.
• Grated potato goes pink then grey.

Transfers to

Practice dishes

Common failures

• The bread burst along its side instead of opening at the cut.
• Meat dried out and lost juices.
• The scored fat never rendered.
• The blade drags and tears wet dough.

Transfers to

Practice dishes

Common failures

• Breast is dry by the time the thighs are done.
• Wing tips are black.
• String cut into the skin and the legs tore.
• The skin between leg and body stayed pale and flabby.

Transfers to

Practice dishes

Common failures

• Vegetables are grey, limp and sitting in liquid.
• Garlic is bitter and the whole dish tastes of it.
• The outside is dark and the inside is raw.
• The fat smokes and everything tastes acrid.

Builds toward

Transfers to

Practice dishes

Common failures

• Grey meat sitting in a pool of liquid instead of a brown crust.
• The surface is pale in patches even where it touched the pan.
• Bitter, acrid taste with black rather than brown colour.
• The crust tears off and stays in the pan when turned.

Transfers to

Practice dishes

Common failures

• Greasy, heavy food.
• Dark outside, raw or cold inside.
• Crisp for two minutes, soggy after five.
• Violent spitting and oil over the hob.

Transfers to

Practice dishes

Common failures

• Vegetables are soft and pale rather than browned.
• Burnt outside, raw inside.
• Meat is evenly grey from edge to centre.
• Nothing browns even on an empty tray.

Transfers to

Practice dishes

Common failures

• A cake rose and then sank in the middle.
• Dark crust, raw centre.
• Dense and heavy with a tight crumb.
• Uneven — one side darker every time.

Transfers to

Practice dishes

Common failures

• Burnt in the time it took to turn around.
• Browned on top, cold in the middle.
• One end dark, the other pale.
• Smoking heavily and tasting acrid.

Transfers to

Practice dishes

Common failures

• Black outside, raw inside.
• Sooty, acrid flavour.
• Food welded to the bars.
• Sweet marinades burn to black long before the food is done.

Transfers to

Practice dishes

Common failures

• Bitter, acrid bark.
• Tough after ten hours.
• Dry and crumbly rather than tender.
• No smoke ring.

Transfers to

Practice dishes

Common failures

• The whole dish tastes bitter and burnt.
• Vegetables went soft and grey without blackening.
• Charred outside, raw inside, on something thick.
• Acrid rather than smoky.

Transfers to

Practice dishes

Common failures

• Bitter, acrid spices.
• Nuts kept browning after coming off the heat.
• Uneven, some pale and some dark.
• Nothing happened after several minutes.

Transfers to

Practice dishes

Common failures

• The onions browned.
• They are still crunchy after ten minutes.
• The finished sauce has a raw vegetal edge.
• Everything caught and burnt at the edges.

Transfers to

Practice dishes

Common failures

• Pale, steamy and taking twice as long as the recipe says.
• Dark outside, raw in the middle.
• The first piece sticks and tears; later ones are fine.
• The second batch is darker than the first and smells burnt.

Transfers to

Practice dishes

Common failures

• The filling squirted out of the sides before the bread browned.
• Crisp outside, cold or unmelted in the middle.
• The bread burnt before the cheese moved.
• One half is flat and dark, the other half puffy and pale.

Transfers to

Practice dishes

Common failures

• Pasta stuck together in clumps.
• Vegetables are drab and grey.
• Everything tastes washed out.
• The pot boiled over.

Builds toward

Transfers to

Practice dishes

Common failures

• Stock is cloudy and greasy.
• Fish or dumplings fell apart.
• A cream or egg sauce split.
• A cornstarch-thickened sauce stayed thin and tasted chalky.

Transfers to

Practice dishes

Common failures

• Poached eggs spread into ragged clouds.
• Chicken is tough and stringy.
• Fish fell apart.
• Everything tastes of nothing.

Transfers to

Practice dishes

Common failures

• The pan boiled dry and scorched.
• Vegetables are drab and soft.
• Unevenly cooked, some pieces raw.
• Nothing browns and the dish tastes flat.

Transfers to

Practice dishes

Common failures

• Vegetables are olive green and limp.
• Blanched vegetables kept cooking and went soft.
• Tomatoes are cooked and mushy rather than just peelable.
• Frozen vegetables taste stale and off after a few months.

Transfers to

Practice dishes

Common failures

• The meat is still tough after hours.
• The meat is dry and stringy despite sitting in liquid.
• The sauce is thin and watery at the end.
• A lean cut fell apart into dry shreds.

Transfers to

Practice dishes

Common failures

• Pale, flat-tasting stew.
• Meat is dry and stringy despite hours in liquid.
• Vegetables have disintegrated entirely.
• The liquid is thin and watery.

Transfers to

Common failures

• Food is overcooked to mush.
• Watery, thin sauce.
• It never came to pressure.
• Everything tastes flat despite being tender.

Transfers to

Common failures

• Grey, unappetising meat.
• The sear cooked a grey band into the outside.
• Mushy texture on fish or lean meat.
• Unevenly cooked despite the water bath.

Builds toward

Transfers to

Practice dishes

Common failures

• Tough, rubbery muffins or pancakes with long tunnels inside.
• A cake that is dense and did not rise.
• Bitter or soapy patches.
• A curdled, split creamed mixture when eggs go in.

Builds from

Builds toward

Transfers to

Practice dishes

Common failures

• Egg whites will not foam at all.
• Whipped whites turned grainy and watery.
• Cream turned to butter.
• Lumps in a sauce despite whisking.

Transfers to

Practice dishes

Common failures

• The batter went from light to liquid and the cake did not rise.
• Streaks of unincorporated white through the finished bake.
• The foam deflated immediately on contact with the base.
• It looked fine, then collapsed while standing.

Builds toward

Transfers to

Practice dishes

Common failures

• The dough tears rather than stretches, and the baked loaf is dense with a tight crumb.
• The dough is slack, sticky and will not hold a shape, after a long time in a mixer.
• It fights back so hard it will not roll out.
• An enriched dough looks broken and greasy partway through and never comes together.

Builds from

Transfers to

Practice dishes

Common failures

• The dough barely moved after hours.
• It rose beautifully, then collapsed in the oven into a dense slab.
• Huge irregular holes and a pale, tight crumb underneath.
• A dry skin formed on top and it baked with a crust through the middle.

Builds from

Transfers to

Practice dishes

Common failures

• The sauce separates into an oily layer and a watery one.
• It formed, then broke a few minutes later.
• It never thickened at all and stayed thin and clear.
• Grainy rather than split — visible curds.

Transfers to

Practice dishes

Common failures

• Scrambled specks in a custard or sauce.
• A cheese sauce turns stringy with an oily slick.
• Sour cream or yogurt curdles into grains in a hot pan.
• Melted chocolate seizes into a stiff paste.

Transfers to

Practice dishes

Common failures

• Gluey, stretchy mashed potato.
• Watery mash.
• Lumpy despite lots of mashing.
• Guacamole turned to a smooth paste.

Transfers to

Practice dishes

Common failures

• The coating slid off in the pan and is frying on its own.
• Bald patches — crust in some places, bare food in others.
• Soggy, greasy crust.
• Dark crumbs, raw inside.

Transfers to

Practice dishes

Common failures

• A fried piece burst open and leaked in the oil, or a dumpling split in the pot.
• The pieces slumped and spread on the tray before cooking.
• Some pieces are done while others are still raw inside.
• The mixture sticks to the hands and the surface tears as it is rolled.

Transfers to

Practice dishes

Common failures

• The seam opened in the oven and the filling ran out along the side.
• A burst at the top or a weak spot, with filling boiling out.
• The crimped edge is pale, hard and thick while the rest is golden.
• The bottom near the seam is soggy and the edge came unstuck.

Builds toward

Transfers to

Practice dishes

Common failures

• The dish is too salty after reducing.
• Seasoned correctly in the pan, tastes under-seasoned on the plate.
• Salty on the outside, bland in the middle.
• Adding more and more salt without improvement.

Transfers to

Practice dishes

Common failures

• A pool of liquid on the board and dry meat on the plate.
• Meat overcooked past the target even though it was pulled at the right temperature.
• The food is cold by the time it is served.
• A crisp crust has gone soft during the rest.

Builds from

Transfers to

Practice dishes

Common failures

• It is taking forever and the flavour has gone flat and stewed.
• Far too salty.
• Scorched, bitter taste from the bottom of the pan.
• The sauce split into fat and liquid.

Builds from

Transfers to

Practice dishes

Common failures

• The liquid stays pale and the sauce tastes thin.
• The sauce is bitter.
• Harsh, raw alcohol flavour in the finished dish.
• The pan warped or the base cracked.

Transfers to

Practice dishes

Common failures

• The caramel is bitter and acrid.
• The sugar crystallised into a gritty mass.
• Onions are soft and golden but taste thin.
• The caramel seized violently when liquid was added.

Transfers to

Practice dishes

Common failures

• Black, bitter patches.
• The glaze ran off and pooled in the tray.
• It set hard and cracked like toffee.
• One thick coat that stayed sticky underneath.

Transfers to

Practice dishes

Common failures

• Bitter and astringent.
• Barely any flavour transferred.
• The infusion smelled wonderful in the pan and of nothing on the plate.
• Cloudy or gritty result.

Transfers to

Practice dishes

Common failures

• Clarified butter still burns.
• The stock went cloudy again after the raft.
• The butter browned during clarifying.
• Horchata or a nut milk is gritty.

Transfers to

Practice dishes

Common failures

• The stock is cloudy even though it was strained.
• Lemon curd or custard has firm little flecks in it.
• The sieve clogs and the liquid stops moving.
• Half the liquid is gone with the solids.

Transfers to

Practice dishes

Common failures

• Bread goes stale in a day in the refrigerator.
• Fried food that was crisp is soggy within minutes.
• Herbs turn black and slimy in a few days.
• Freezer burn: dry grey patches on frozen food.

Transfers to

Practice dishes

Common failures

• The outside is mealy and chalky after cooking.
• The meat turned to mush.
• Burnt black patches and a bitter taste.
• No noticeable difference after marinating overnight.

Builds from

Transfers to

Practice dishes

Common failures

• The meat is unpleasantly salty all the way through.
• Texture is spongy, wet and faintly ham-like.
• No visible difference from unsalted meat.
• The surface will not brown afterwards.

Transfers to

Practice dishes

Common failures

• Unpleasantly salty all the way through.
• The exterior hardened into a shell while the inside stayed wet.
• Off smells, or slime.
• Grey rather than pink after cooking.

Transfers to

Practice dishes

Common failures

• Soft, floppy pickles.
• Hollow or shrivelled.
• Cloudy brine in a vinegar pickle.
• Bland despite days in brine.

Transfers to

Practice dishes

Common failures

• White film on the surface.
• Soft, mushy vegetables.
• Nothing happened at all.
• Mould on the surface.

Transfers to

Practice dishes

Common failures

• Bitter, ashtray flavour.
• Barely any smoke flavour.
• The outside is leathery.
• Cold-smoked food spoiled.

Transfers to

Common failures

• A lid that flexes or pops when pressed.
• Liquid siphoned out during processing.
• A bulging lid, spurting contents, or any off smell on opening.
• Cloudy liquid in a vegetable jar.

Transfers to

Practice dishes

Common failures

• Mould in the jar after a few weeks.
• Hard on the outside, wet inside.
• Dried herbs taste of nothing.
• Everything tastes vaguely the same.

Transfers to

Practice dishes

Common failures

• The flan, pudding or cheesecake is still soft in the middle after an hour in the refrigerator.
• Pastry shrank in the oven, or butter ran out of the puff and pooled underneath.
• The croquette or dough mixture will not hold a shape and smears on the hands.
• A rubbery skin formed on the custard, or the dough dried and cracked at the edges.