Make sure that you follow the recipes carefully. However, the ingredients can vary in freshness and composition. For example, the cooking times for rice can vary, depending upon the type of rice being used and their moisture content. Always prepare your ingredients ahead of the cooking. There can be nothing as disastrous, to find that at the crucial moment when a particular ingredient or sauce has to be incorporated into the the dish, to find it missing. Layout your ingredients carefully and within easy reach. Such practice will improve your culinary skills to a great degree just by this one action.
Learn from your own experience, past mistakes, successes and monitor your cooking at all times. Check for such things as moisture content, size of ingredients and the staged cooking process to ensure that the right amount of heat is used at the right time. You can always adjust the sauce consistency by allowing the pot to simmer over low heat or by adding small amounts of hot water. If the sauce is too liquid, you can tighten the sauce by stirring in one teaspoonful of corn starch dissolved in a small amount of water. The corn starch will tighten the sauce and give it consistency.
Many Mauritian casserole dishes require constant gentle stirring to prevent pan sticking and food burning. Follow the recipe instructions carefully. Always monitor the cooking at all times. Never leave your cooking unattended. You will not only get bad results but it is downright dangerous.
In stir fry as an example, you can cook the fastest cooking ingredients last and vice versa. Another approach in stir fry is to cut the toughest ingredients into smaller portions and the tender ingredients in larger portions. Sea foods cook very quickly and always make sure that your sea foods are not overcooked or they will turn rubbery. In other words, cook intelligently and try to understand the process.
