Trained vs Self taught

Hi All! Now, before anyone says anything, let me point out that I'm NOT talking about flying a plane, or driving a car, or anything like that. I mean like basic skills, like cooking, or crafts.

Like, my dad was trained to be a chief (actually, I think he was trained to be a chief when he was in the army), whereas, my mom was self taught. My dad used recipe cards for about everything he made, whereas, my mom hardly ever used recipe cards (except for the harder things, like, say a cake).

And, my mom's food was better.

So, where do you fall on this, trained or self taught?

It's chef, not chief.

I went from prep cook to sous chef in 3 years with no schooling or formal training, but my mentor was a Michelin star chef and between him, books, and online resources, I learned how to cook pretty well. Certain techniques, tools, and flavor profiles it's better to make sure you're doing it properly or making a correct pairing.

I've noticed many executive chefs prefer cooks who haven't gone to culinary school, but rather learned the ways of the kitchen through experience. A lot of wanna be celebrity chefs go to culinary school and have no idea what it's like in a hot kitchen full of ex cons and drug addicts lol

Of course everyone is different. If you're working as a cook, you NEED to follow recipes. You don't have a choice. If you're cooking at home, you can obviously do whatever you want.

I imagine training for army cooking is probably a bit different - more.emphasis on stretching ingredients and feeding everyone vs making the shit taste / look good for a paying customer.

So for me, I'd say it depends on the subject but for cooking, I'd say somewhere between trained and self taught is best.

Cool question. It’s true that some just have like a ‘knack’ for certain things. I’m a mixed bag. I think most people are.

Something like directions…I can be given a map, but it’s hopeless. Thank goodness for smartphones because I need to see every single step. And I definitely need to follow recipes; I just don’t have that “feel” of what to add to a dish or how much. Also 100% needed to be trained to be a manager. For some people, it really makes sense for them and they see the ‘whole picture’ at once. But that is definitely not me. I’m good at reading a person’s body language and I’m extremely analytical. So I’ve always been good at repairing things and tinkering with stuff that have a lot of moving parts. My friends and I are definitely sarcastic/goofy, and I find that’s like a language that, again, wasn’t due to training or anything. It’s just ‘reading’ responses and doing what works.

Sorry, my Kindle uses auto-correct, sometimes it guesses wrong.

And, it doesn't matter about were your on a job or not, you would think the one that is trained the food would be better. But, that wasn't the case.

My dad told me about a man he use to know. This man never went to school (this was when my dad was young) he (the man) had no training, but, my dad said, he could build the best houses (some, still standing to this day)

GirlMeetsTickle said:

Cool question. It’s true that some just have like a ‘knack’ for certain things. I’m a mixed bag. I think most people are.

Something like directions…I can be given a map, but it’s hopeless. Thank goodness for smartphones because I need to see every single step. And I definitely need to follow recipes; I just don’t have that “feel” of what to add to a dish or how much. Also 100% needed to be trained to be a manager. For some people, it really makes sense for them and they see the ‘whole picture’ at once. But that is definitely not me. I’m good at reading a person’s body language and I’m extremely analytical. So I’ve always been good at repairing things and tinkering with stuff that have a lot of moving parts. My friends and I are definitely sarcastic/goofy, and I find that’s like a language that, again, wasn’t due to training or anything. It’s just ‘reading’ responses and doing what works.

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I have to say, I lean more towards the self taught. I think with enough time and effort, you can teach yourself most thinks.

Actually, if I understood what you said right. Sarcastic\goofy are personality traits, not trainable skills.

tickle gamer said:

I have to say, I lean more towards the self taught. I think with enough time and effort, you can teach yourself most thinks.

Actually, if I understood what you said right. Sarcastic\goofy are personality traits, not trainable skills.

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That’s true. I was referring more, I suppose, to the realm of trained comedians.

GirlMeetsTickle said:

That’s true. I was referring more, I suppose, to the realm of trained comedians.

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Oh, yeah. I hadn't thought about it that way. I guess they could be considered skills. Myself, I prefer the well-timed wit brand of comedy. And, I don't care what anyone says, you either have a sharp wit (like me) or you don't.

I had to learn many life skills (how to manage money, how to keep an apartment or home clean, how to maintain a healthy lifestyle and diet, etc etc) via hard knocks to the head. After I got up and realized how foolish I had been to walk into such a brick wall I learned pretty quickly. Having said that, I owe a great deal to my teachers and parents as I would never have learned how to do things such as read, write, and speak English properly without their help. I learned so much from social workers, my teachers, and my parents. Hell, even watching Sesame Street and other educational shows as a kid helped me out.