The most important is, and where you must begin: to learn how to shop at the market!
You can only cook well if you have high-quality products, which are not even necessarily the most expensive – far from it.
The great chefs never cook: they can create recipes but they leave the execution to others. On the other hand, they never delegate the selection of the products.

It is therefore important that a cook knows how to recognize and choose the meats, fish, vegetables, cheeses, butter and cream, and the fruits. The cook must know which potato works for a “gratin dauphinois,” which apple is best for the “tarte tatin,” and which one should be used instead for a “boudin aux pommes”.

 

A MEAL IS LIKE A SYMPHONY: HARMONY AND COUNTERPOINT

You will learn how to choose types of fish, meat, potatoes, for example, based on the meal you are preparing.

Some fish are better grilled, and won’t work if they are prepared with a “court-bouillon,” some varieties of potatoes are perfectly adapted to a purée, but would not work at all for sautéed potatoes. Apples that are delicious to bite into would not yield a good apple tarte, since the ideal apple for a tarte becomes acid if you want to eat it as a fruit. The ideal cut of meat for a “boeuf bourguignon” would be inedible if you tried to prepare it as a steak.