They know exactly how to cook a medium-rare steak, cook spaghetti al dente according to their internal clock, and can tell you the difference between kalgan and hinge.Chefs are the faces of establishments whose appearance is often a mystery to the customer. You may not be able to join the chef community in a few minutes, but becoming a little closer to haute cuisine is within everyone’s power.

For salads

• Before you cut a hard-boiled egg, moisten the knife with cold water. The yolk will not crumble.
• To make the herbs more aromatic, grind them a little in a mortar with a drop of olive oil.
• Boiled beets will turn out in just 45 minutes if you boil them for half an hour and then put them under a stream of contrasting water for 15 minutes. The temperature difference will bring the vegetable to the point of readiness.
• Before squeezing a lemon or lime for the dressing, put the fruit in the microwave for 10 seconds: there will be more juice and it will squeeze out more easily.
• Crush the olives with the bottom of a bowl on the table to quickly remove the pips.
• Garlic paste is easy to make by putting the cloves in a plastic bag: tap it with a kitchen hammer or rolling pin until you get the right consistency.
• Onions will take the bitterness out of them if you cut them up and soak them in cold water for a while.
• When boiling, put the vegetables in water that is already boiling. This preserves more vitamins.

For the meat

• Salt the liver only at the end of cooking, otherwise it will become hard.
• Beer and soy sauce can be used as a marinade.
• When frying meat add a spoonful of flour. This will give the meat a nice crust.
• Fry dried herbs separately with oil, so that their flavor unfolds.
• Bread the meat with ground nuts or crushed chips. The first are useful, and the second is convenient: it already has salt and spices.
• Fry the meat in a cast-iron skillet and do not overfill it, otherwise there will be no crust, and the meat will not fry, but stew.
• Do not grind the meat on the pan, turning it every minute. You have to turn it once. Just shake the pan – if the meat rides on it, it’s time.
• If the meat is tough, soak it in lemon juice for 30 minutes before cooking.
• When you’re baking a whole bird, put it breast side down – that’s where the most meat is, and it’s better to have that part closer to the fire.
• Salt the meat only at the end of roasting.

For side dishes

• Don’t add oil when boiling pasta: it won’t help. The only way to keep them from sticking is to keep stirring them at the beginning of cooking.
• Salt the water in which the pasta is boiled at the rate of 1 tablespoon per 300 grams of pasta. If you do not add salt, the dish will be tasteless.
• To make the rice crumbly, soak it in cold water for 30 minutes before boiling.
• It is best to fry buckwheat before you boil it. This way, it will cook faster and the porridge will be crumbly.
• When baking something in the oven, add cheese no earlier than 5 minutes before the dish is ready. Then the crust will be perfect.
• Before grating the cheese, put it in the freezer for half an hour – it will be easier to grate.
• Fry the potatoes in the frozen broth. Just fill ice molds with it and use as needed. This is much more progressive than using vegetable oil.

For baking

• Add diluted starch to the dough. This will prolong the life of the pastry.
• Allow the cake to stand for 15 minutes before placing it in the oven, so the dough will rise better.
• Remember the secret to the “perfect cake”: the amount of sugar by weight should equal the amount of flour, and the number of eggs should equal the amount of butter.
• The yolks from the whites are easiest to separate with the neck of an empty plastic bottle.
• Replace the yeast with cognac. The dough will be more flavorful.
• Use a wine glass as a mold to cut the cookies out of the dough layer.
• Use parchment paper instead of iron muffin molds. First, you won’t have to wash anything, and second, you’ll get the original mold that way.
• Cut the hot cake with a hot knife. Then it will be less crumbly.
• You can cut the cakes evenly and neatly with dental floss and toothpicks: stick them all around the circumference at the height of the intended cut, and then, leaning on the “pegs”, cut the biscuit with the floss.

To decorate

• Heat plates before serving hot food and cool them before serving cold food. This keeps the food rich in flavor and at the right temperature for longer.
• To decorate the dish, deep-fry the greens – they will shine and crunch.
• Rinse the potatoes for garnish with water and dry them slightly before frying: this will prevent the slices from sticking to the pan.
• Add pieces of fruit or mint leaves to an ice mold before putting it in the freezer. These cubes look good in glasses.
• Freeze grapes and add a few berries to your wine glass. The grapes will not only decorate, but also cool the drink beautifully.
• Use a fruit slicer: strawberries will be good afterwards.
• For the dessert, make chocolate molds: thickly coat the slightly inflated balloons with hot chocolate, leaving a knot free. Place to cool on confectionery paper.