People have been making and eating food as long as there have been people. And food. But somehow we’ve let ourselves believe that it’s something only experts can do “right”. What is that all about?

If you can follow the directions for setting up your new cell phone, you can follow a recipe.

Which, I suppose, leaves out everyone who’s ever bragged, “Why, back in my day we didn’t have cell phones. We had secretaries!”

Wait, you know what? You can follow a recipe too. Yes, you there with the bow tie and the straw hat.

And you, the one with the platform sneakers and purple streaks in your hair. (Are girls still wearing that stuff this year? Or boys?)

The point is, all the “experts” want to do is show off cool new recipes. They always assume you already know the basics. Things like:

• What’s the difference between aluminum and cast iron pans?
• How do you know when to use which kind of knife?
• What’s the difference between roasting and braising, and what kind of meat should I use for each?

That’s where Starting From Scratch comes in. I’m not saying you’ll go from zero to hero just by reading it, but at least now you’ll know what those self-proclaimed experts are talking about.

And why should you believe me? Well … I lined up some experts of my own. Check out the list of authors and read about how they got to be so confident in the kitchen.