To Cook Amazing French Food, Learn This Skill First, According To Marc Murphy

As inspiring as it can be to watch the pros create amazing-looking French food on your favorite cooking show, it can also generate a little self-doubt. After all, those culinary experts trained for years to learn all those fancy French techniques necessary to make exquisite fare. If you're a home cook, teaching yourself as you go, it might seem like a stretch to assume you possess the expertise required to whip up a showstopping dish.

The term "French food" just sounds complicated, doesn't it? But truth be told, many of those gastronomic delights aren't as challenging to cook as one might think. Still, if imposter syndrome has set in, celebrity chef Marc Murphy says not to worry. According to him, practicing one rudimentary kitchen task will give you the courage you need to tackle even the most elegant French cuisine. "My first tip for any cooking is knife skills," he told Chowhound. "Once you get knife skills down, you get much less intimidated by the cooking itself."

Rather than going out and purchasing a 16-piece knife set you don't need, follow the advice of the late Anthony Bourdain and master the use of a simple chef's knife (It's also wise to avoid using a finicky carbon steel knife, if you're a beginner). That's all you need to practice all the dicing, mincing, julienning, and chiffonading required to brew confidence in your culinary game. Your cuts probably won't look professional at first, but Murphy says that's to be expected.

Practice makes perfect, and improving your knife skills requires patience –- and mistakes. You won't be rocking out consistent pieces of celery or carrots your first time around. Marc Murphy emphasized this by telling Chowhound, "First of all, if you're going to cook, you got to mess it up. If you're a brain surgeon, you might not want to f*** it up, but if you're cooking, you can screw it up and it's okay." Focus on the task at hand and do your best. At the end of the day, it's just food –- you're not saving lives.

Still, putting effort into something and not getting the results you're hoping for can be disheartening. Limiting expectations helps, at first, but it's also beneficial to start with French food that's more forgiving, like soups. Making French onion soup like Lidia Bastianich allows you to practice slicing onions and mushrooms. Or you could brush up on your dicing by throwing potatoes on your cutting board and preparing a refreshing vichyssoise. If they aren't flawless, who cares? The soup will still taste terrific, and only a judgy know-it-all would point out that the veggies aren't entirely uniform.

When you start becoming more efficient, attempt something that calls for a bit more skill, like a ratatouille. Slicing, dicing, chopping, and mincing are all required to make the classic French fare. It's a perfect way to boost your knife skills and get more comfortable cooking French food before tackling more complicated dishes, like a hearty beef bourguignon or the iconic coq au vin.

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