Keep tasting the food

"Keep on tasting the food it will all come together", says the old cook to the young.

But food is a set of ingredients with a set of underlying principles, all coming together with different preparation methods. It is daunting at the outset.

So the young cook follows recipes and has success, forgetting to taste the food as they go. Failing to do the hard work of gathering their own information.

One day, the now older cook is effective but stuck. And realises that the first principle has always been: Keep tasting the food.