Once you add these fundamental techniques to your cooking ability, you will be able to handle most recipes. Cooking is not just about recipes....it is about how to take ingredients and transform them in to Symphonies for your taste buds. Recipes are great road maps to show you how someone else got there, but one of the joys of cooking is to find your own paths. Knowing these techniques is like taking the car out for a spin in a new location. You're not sure where you are going to end up, but getting there will be fun!