Remember when you were little and you watched your mom or grandmother cooking? You probably still remember when your grandma tossed a handful of cumin seeds into the hot pan for the tadka and made the whole room instantly fill up with the smell of it. Or when you wondered why on earth your mom was putting salt in the cake batter?
The funny thing is, these tricks and tips aren’t something flashy. There’s no TikTok trend about soaking beans overnight or saving the water from the pasta you just boiled because it’s everyday stuff that everyone assumes you already know. However, just in case you may have forgotten why your granny did these things, or why your mom swears by them, here’s a recap of the little tricks like these make food taste so much richer and better. Truly, although these tried-and-true tips that have been around forever, they absolutely still make sense today.
Timeless Cooking Tip 1: Toast Spices Before Cooking
Have you ever tossed whole spices into a dry, hot pan?
If you have, you know that what happens can only be described as magic. Toasting releases the oils trapped inside spices and seeds and makes their aroma more intense. Use these spices in a dish, and it gives it a deeper, more complex flavor. Toasting takes less than a minute, but it totally changes the final result.
In Indian kitchens, cumin or coriander, or for that matter the garam masala ingredients are almost always toasted before being ground. And in Middle Eastern cooking, blends like za’atar or baharat come alive when they’re warmed. Toasting is a true game-changer.
Timeless Cooking Tip 2: Soak Legumes and Grains Overnight
Thanks to pressure cookers and Instant Pots, we have a lot less work to do when it comes to cooking.
But generations before us didn’t have these luxuries, so soaking beans and rice overnight was the way to cut down on cooking time.
However, soaking doesn’t just speed up cooking. It also makes the food easier to digest, making dishes less gassy, and it gives it a lighter texture once it’s cooked. Hummus made with soaked chickpeas is extremely smooth, and the biryani rice that’s been rinsed and left in water for hours becomes fluffy beyond belief.
Soaking works; not much else to say about it.
Timeless Cooking Tip 3: Use Salt to Balance Sweetness
Okay, this one sounds strange, but it works, I promise. A pinch of salt will make your desserts taste sweeter. Salt makes the flavors sharper, and it cuts through the richness of sugar, which creates a balance that makes treats tastier.
Don’t believe me? Just think of salted caramel or how a sprinkle of salt in brownie batter makes the chocolate more chocolate-y. Even fruit gets this bright flavor with just a little salt over it.
Timeless Cooking Tip 4: Pair Dry Foods with Hydrating Ingredients
Older generations would always make sure that dry, heavy foods were balanced with sides that had plenty of moisture.
Bread came with soups and stews, and rice was served with cucumber yogurt or tomato-based curries. Couscous was served with slow-cooked vegetables that released their juices into the grains. This was about the taste, sure, but it was also about hydration.
This is especially important for seniors and people with chronic kidney issues.
Dehydration can be dangerous, and if you think I’m overreacting, a great example to look at is nursing homes and the food they serve there. If the food is too salty, then extra fluids should be taken to complement the extra salt content.
When older people (well, older people are most susceptible) don’t take in enough fluids, they’re likely to develop urinary tract infections (UTIs), which can lead to more serious conditions (e.g., sepsis, kidney damage, delirium, and even death). Almost every urinary tract infection lawsuit in nursing homes clearly shows you how dehydration (more specifically, poor hydration practices) contributes to all kinds of health risks.
Timeless Cooking Tip 5: Reuse Cooking Water for Flavor
When you throw away pasta or rice water, you’re missing out.
That cloudy liquid has starch and flavor that make sauces silky and soups more hearty. Add a ladle of pasta water to marinara and you’ll make it cling easier to noodles, plus you’ll give it body. And rice water can be used as a base for soups, to make them deeper in flavor.
If you cook vegetables, you can use the leftover water for broths, so your next meal has a head start.
This is resourcefulness at its best because it stretches your meals and adds more flavor to the dishes.
Timeless Cooking Tip 6: Add Acid at the Right Moment
A squeeze of lemon or a splash of vinegar doesn’t sound like much, but if you add them when the time is right, they’ll completely change a dish. Acid balances heaviness and makes the flavors sharper and fresher. Think about Mexican tacos, for instance. They wouldn’t be complete without lime. The same goes for the Filipino adobo, which depends on vinegar to give it that signature tang.
Even grilled fish tastes better with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice right before you serve it. Timing is everything, though. If you add acid too early, it’ll disappear, so make sure to add it near the end when the dish is about to be finished.
Conclusion
When you talk to a seasoned chef or an experienced grandma who’s been cooking their ‘special dish’ that’s the talk of the village for decades now, you soon get to realize that the so-called ‘magic’ in food has nothing to do with flashy, glittering dust – like the one you see in fairytales – but rather with small, inconspicuous habits. And they’ve worked for all these decades and centuries; they’re consistent and reliable.
Influencers and cookbooks will surely provide you with a great recipe, but it’s that one special ingredient, or one extra prep step (or anything similar) that makes the difference between a great meal, and a LEGENDARY one.
When you really think about it, it becomes obvious that the small stuff in the kitchen is not small at all.
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