How Do I Know What I know?

When I was younger, I knew what I knew because someone I trusted told me so. Almost everything I thought to be true was told to me by a parent or some other trusted adult. As I got older, I knew what I knew through school. Going to class taught me a lot over the years. School taught me a lot of factual things, but pretty much everything else I know I learned through experience, or I questioned what I already knew. I think living through a situation or circumstance is the best way to learn about it because I’m experiencing it first-hand.

A particular thing I know is how to cook and bake. When I was younger, I was told that cooking food made it edible. I grew up watching my family cook, my mom and grandma especially. I was fascinated on how they could take ingredients that I wouldn't normally eat and turn them into something delicious. At this point, all I knew about cooking and baking came from watching others doing it or having it explained to me. My grandma would tell me how to make a lot basic Italian food, such as tomato sauce. As I got older, I began to try cooking and baking on my own. I was capable of reading a recipe, and I was now old enough to handle knives. I made a whole bunch of things to practice. It turned out I had a knack for making food just like my mom and grandma before me. As time went on, I would experiment with food without using a recipe even though I didn't do it too often. Last summer, I took part in the culinary program at Gallery 37. The instructors in that program were three chefs from Washburne Culinary School, and I had a lot to learn from them. We prepared enough food for 150 people for weekly buffets. The program exposed me to a lot of different types of food I wasn't very familiar with, and I learned how to make a lot of food in a short amount of time. When Gallery 37 ended, I took that experience home so I could use it for my own cooking. I began to cook more without recipes, especially when I had to cook for myself. I made a meal out of whatever ingredients I had available to me. It actually takes a little bit of creativity, which is something I didn't think I had a lot of.

In Summary: I learned how to cook and bake first through being told how and watching, then making food according to recipes, and then eventually making my own meals without the help of a recipe. The learning process was supplemented by the internship at Gallery 37. This is just one incident of learning, but I still believe that I know what I know through experience.