# How can someone be a bad cook? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 30, 2008, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-someone-be-a-bad-cook/458222 "2008-07-30T13:16:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 55
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-someone-be-a-bad-cook/458222/55 "2008-07-30T17:44:10Z")
I have a friend who is the Mozart of food. She has “perfect taste” analogous to “perfect pitch.” I’ve seen her come into my kitchen and fix a delicious meal with nothing but crackers, a few bottles of sauce on the shelf and some ancient veggies in the fridge. I think she has whatever it takes to be a really good cook - a fundamental and thorough understanding of what flavors and textures work well together, plus a basic understanding of cooking itself. One time, we were at Denny’s (a chain of mediocre greasy-spoon restaurants, for those outside of the US), and I had some sort of brownie with hot fudge dessert. She tasted it and decided it needed something. After a moment’s thought, she reached over and squeezed some yellow mustard on it. I was horrified, but after trying it I was amazed - the taste combination was perfect - the mustard added just enough sour to cut the sweetness of the fudge, and the slight amount of spiciness added a little interest. --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-someone-be-a-bad-cook/458222)._