People have been eating seafood for over 100,000 years, and since then the complexity and variety of seafood dishes have only increased. Now you can find seafood dishes being served in most areas of the world due to their popularity, and there are even plenty of restaurants that focus almost exclusively on seafood. It’s also affordable to cook seafood at home, and many people do this to save money and help support a healthy lifestyle.
Many people can learn basic cooking skills in just a few days, especially when working with just a recipe or two, though it may take slightly longer for some. For those who envision becoming chefs or wanting to get comfortable cooking without recipes, it can take a few months to a few years, whether or not you end up going to culinary school or taking other cooking classes. Self-learning will take longer when it comes to becoming a cook of consistent quality. No matter how experienced you may be, however, there are always new techniques and recipes to learn, and that’s certainly true with seafood. Keep reading to learn about how you can learn seafood and some resources to help the process speed up and go smoothly.
What is Seafood?
Discoveries are still emerging about humanity’s history with seafood, including a bowl of eaten shellfish that pushed back the previously thought “earliest seafood meal” by about 40,000 years. As time passed, some cultures become increasingly reliant on seafood, and seafood dishes would become enormous staples in their diets. Even now, it’s hard to hear the names of some countries and not associate them with mouth-watering seafood: Japan and sushi, Italy and calamari, Maine and lobster, Boston and clam chowder.
There have never been so many different types of seafood dishes as there are today. But while seafood is relatively easy to find in restaurants or even outdoor stalls, there’s plenty of reason to cook seafood at home too. Ease of access applies to markets and other grocery stores as well, especially if you live close to the ocean. The versatility of seafood is incredible, even when it comes to using the same fish. For example, you can turn salmon into a burger, smoke it and put it on a cream cheese bagel, serve it raw on sushi rice, or grill it with herbs and veggies for an evening meal. The possibilities are endless, which is great for people looking for a hobby that can continually surprise them with new knowledge and skills.
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Benefits of Learning Seafood?
Eating seafood has been linked to numerous health benefits, both for physical and mental health. Consuming fish can help lower blood pressure and promote brain function, reducing the risk of heart attack and stroke. Your risk of disorders such as depression, Alzheimer’s, and diabetes is also reduced. If you currently don’t have any seafood in your diet, even upgrading to eating fish twice a week can help you experience these benefits.
The psychological benefits of cooking are further enhanced when you do it with or for others. Cooking as an activity can help foster a true sense of community, opening the door to new connections and strengthening established ones. Millions of people love to cook (and everyone needs to eat), so you’re in good company when you take those first steps into learning seafood. People will certainly appreciate your time and effort toward cooking a wonderful seafood dish to share with them, and getting to share the experience of cooking can strengthen your bonds, so it’s a terrific activity to do with kids, other family members, or on a date.
For some people, it’s not enough to cook seafood occasionally; this is something they want to do for a career. If you’re in that boat, then the good news is two-fold. First, any experience you gain by cooking at home or in a class is cumulative and transferable. In other words, you’re setting yourself up for success if you ever want to leap into being a chef. Second, the job outlook for chefs looks very promising, with a much faster-than-average growth rate expected over the next eight years.
Average Time It Takes to Learn Seafood
Cooking is a flexible, lifelong skill. Every recipe you master is a recipe you can recreate for yourself and others. Eventually, you’ll get comfortable improvising with ingredients and adapting certain recipes, though that’s a skill that comes with more time and practice.
That raises the question of just how long it takes to learn to cook seafood, and that’s a tad tricky to answer. Some recipes only take about 30 minutes to prepare from start to finish, and most people can learn a handful of basic cooking skills in just a day or two, skills that will be useful and repeatable in most cooking situations.
Getting comfortable with seafood will take a bit longer, however. You’ll probably notice yourself able to consistently execute recipes in a way you’re happy with after a few months of cooking steadily. If you’re aiming to get to a level where you can innovate and adjust recipes on the fly, culinary school is an option, though it’s a commitment of between one to four years in most cases and is often quite expensive. In essence, cooking is a skill that perfectly encapsulates the saying: “Easy to learn, but hard to master.”
As you can imagine, self-learning will take considerably more time than those who opt for formal instruction. Much of this added time will come from trying to find the right resources and investing your time in them. Most self-learners will opt for things like recipe books and online tutorial videos to help them get started.
Even if you get started with self-learning material, you’ll get a lot of benefits out of taking a class at some point. But taking an in-person class about the basics of cooking seafood can help ensure you’re off to a good start and getting strong advice directly from an expert. You’ll learn all the fundamentals needed for cooking seafood in the kitchen and walk away equipped with a couple of excellent recipes to boot.
Other Factors
Nobody’s seafood-learning experience is likely to be the same. That’s okay though; learning seafood is still very much a worthwhile and rewarding pursuit. The time it takes to learn seafood depends on things like prior experience, your speed of learning, the amount of free time you have, and your reasons for learning seafood in the first place.
Prior Experience
Any prior experience with cooking will help you learn to cook seafood. For example, if you’re already comfortable with knives, stovetops, or other kitchen tools and appliances because you’ve taken a class that focuses on other kinds of food, many of those same skills will be instantly applicable when it comes to seafood. Picking up new, seafood-specific techniques may also be more intuitive to people in this situation. People who are absolute beginners to cooking will need to take more time to master basic kitchen techniques.
Learning Speed
Don’t feel like you need to rush learning to cook seafood. Some people will learn faster than others, but again, anyone can cook incredible seafood dishes with dedicated time and repeated practice. Those who are hands-on learners may pick up on seafood cooking quicker than those who aren’t. In-person classes with live demonstrations and opportunities to cook will be especially useful in learning seafood quickly. Even if you don’t pick up on hands-on work quickly, don’t worry, and know that time spent reading cookbooks or studying online tutorial content isn’t wasted.
Free Time
While it’s simple enough to follow along with a recipe and learn some kitchen basics, you’ll need to invest some serious time into learning seafood if you want to become a confident cook. Unfortunately, it’s rare to practice cooking outside of a kitchen, so people who are extremely busy with work might struggle to find time. It may be in your best interest to plan ahead to cook whatever meals you’re able to. Or you can spend time one day shopping for groceries that you’ll use to cook meals over the next few days. Either way, find whatever works for you so you don’t end up grabbing a quick bite on your way home or simply ordering delivery. Your cooking skills won’t improve if these are your go-to options.
Reasons for Learning
Some people will have different goals for their seafood learning, and this may also affect how “fast” seafood-related skills are picked up. For example, people who are committed to working as chefs may move along at a fast pace when it comes to learning, but they’ll likely be dedicating much more time and energy to mastering seafood than most. Others simply want to learn four or five great seafood recipes they can create for family and friends at any given time; while these people may start much slower, they’re also likely to hit their learning goals much faster than the aspiring chef. Consider what your overarching goals are for learning seafood and set your expectations accordingly.
What to Know Before Learning Seafood
When you first start learning seafood, you’ll want to focus on the basics, and this is especially true if you have no prior cooking experience. Practicing knife skills, assessing seafood quality at grocery stores, accurate cook times, knowing how to season, and determining doneness are all crucial skills you’ll need to be comfortable with before moving into advanced cooking techniques. You can find resources and seafood classes that focus on beginner, intermediate, and advanced skill levels.
Almost every beginner seafood class welcomes participants with zero cooking experience, meaning these classes will likely cover basic kitchen skills in addition to a seafood recipe or two. As far as prerequisites go, it will certainly help to have a bit of comfort in the kitchen but don’t worry if you don’t.
Most classes provide all ingredients and kitchen supplies for you, but you’ll need to purchase materials if you plan to cook at home. While some may balk at the price of groceries and see that as a deterrent to learning seafood, you’re more than likely going to save money in the long run, especially if you’ll be cutting back on frequent fast food runs or delivery. It’s also very likely you already have most of the cooking supplies you need—pots, pans, spatula, cooking knives—but even if you don’t, you can find used items for a relatively cheap price, and you’ll likely get years of good use from them before you need to start thinking about replacements.
Can I Learn Seafood for Free / on My Own?
You can learn seafood on your own online for free. Plenty of videos and other online tutorials exist that cover most of the basics of cooking seafood. While there are also videos demonstrating more advanced techniques, it’s advised you stick to mastering the basics before trying anything too fancy. Also keep in mind that learning this way prevents you from having access to a live, expert instructor, so learning is likely to go much slower. Regardless of your chosen method, it’s best to learn in an environment where you can follow instructions while you cook. Cooking is a hands-on activity by nature, so you can’t truly learn seafood if you’re absorbing instruction without also trying to recreate what’s being taught.
Key Takeaways
- While you can learn cooking basics within the space of a few days, it can take months or even years to truly master seafood cooking and become a confident chef.
- You can never really learn everything there is to know about seafood, so your personal goals should be the parameters that guide how much you hope to learn and how much time you want to spend learning.
- The time it takes to learn seafood is greatly influenced by several factors, including prior experience, learning speed, your reasons for learning, and the amount of free time you have.
- You can learn to cook seafood by watching online videos and tutorials or by taking an in-person or online seafood class.
- There are public and private seafood classes available on CourseHorse. You can contact CourseHorse to find options for online or in-person classes, including private group sessions.