Why Cookbooks Are Your Worst Enemy In The Kitchen, According To Kevin O'Leary - Exclusive
Cookbooks can be a dinnertime lifeline for people who don't consider themselves experts in the kitchen. There are recipe collections out there covering just about every type of cuisine and dish you can think of, ranging from quick 20-minute meals you can throw together with a handful of ingredients to elaborate culinary feats that require hours of work but yield restaurant-quality results. Whatever type of food mood you're in, there's probably going to be a quality cookbook out there for you. And that's got to be a good thing, right?
Well, that depends on who you ask. Take "Shark Tank" investor and self-proclaimed culinary master, Kevin O'Leary, for example. O'Leary (who goes by Mr. Wonderful — or Chef Wonderful when he's donning his chef's hat) is known for his penchant for making food deals on the show, and he arguably knows better than most about what home cooks do and don't need in their kitchen.
In an exclusive interview with Mashed, Chef Wonderful explained that he's not a fan of cookbooks, claiming that they are too restrictive on home cooks and limit true creativity in the kitchen.
Chef Wonderful says cookbooks can take the art out of making a meal
If you are trying out a technique in the kitchen that you have literally no idea about, then it's understandable that you might want to follow some guidance from a cookbook. Same goes for certain complex baking recipes. "You want to stay true to a crème brûlée if you're making a dessert, for example," Kevin O'Leary of "Shark Tank" tells us.
But otherwise, following someone else's exact specifications for a dish leaves little room for originality, or even personal preference, says Chef Wonderful. "Your worst enemy is a cookbook because you are rigorously looking at exact portions in some dish that's been made the same way for years." For example, O'Leary says "You don't have to only do beef Wellington the way it was done in England for 200 years. You can add elements underneath that pastry that are interesting and a big surprise for people," adding "I don't think I've ever made beef Wellington the same way twice."
Rather than simply following instructions exactly, O'Leary wants home cooks to "experiment. Try different things. That's the whole art of cooking." Whether you're throwing together a weeknight pasta dish or pulling out the stops for a Sunday roast chicken, "don't be locked in to the recipe, because that is a curse," he adds.