One of the greatest things anyone (chef or not) can do is play in the kitchen. Life doesn’t always come with instructions, and sometimes the best dishes are improved with whatever happens to be on hand (like the pot pie I made a few days ago).
Recipes are wonderful guides, and quite needed at times, especially if you’re working with unfamiliar foods or making a complicated dish. But once you’ve gotten it right, play. I love combining butternut squash and apple together and do it any chance I get. Learn the flavors of the foods you eat and put them together in fun, new combinations. Yes, there will be many misses, but you’ll be successful sometimes too. I promise.
You never know what will happen next. Might as well sharpen those improvisation skills.
{photograph of Aran Goyoaga of Cannelle et Vanille by Karen Mordechai, featured on Design*Sponge}