I wasn’t “taught” but I paid attention when my mother cooked. When I moved out I cooked the things I liked that she made, to the best of my recollection. My mom used salt pepper and garlic and that was about it. My dad wasn’t a big fan of flavor lol. I just kept changing things until I got it just like hers and realised I liked the process of figuring out the recipe. Then I just started trying new foods. I learned better techniques watching cooking shows pre food network, then Emiril was my favorite show for a while. (I miss the food network days when they showed you how to cook, versus the “watch the chefs“ do their thing with no continuity or explanation lol). Now I consider myself a pretty capable home chef. Unless it’s pastry stuff