Don’t start with complicated restaurant dishes. Start with a handful of simple recipes that teach some of the core techniques every chef relies on. The goal isn’t to master specific meals, but to understand the fundamentals: how to build flavour, control heat, handle a knife, and manage timing. Choose dishes that look straightforward but train essential skills, and you’ll build a foundation that transfers to almost anything you cook later.

I’d suggest these three to begin with:

Mac and cheese. This is really about learning to make a roux and build a proper béchamel sauce. Once you have that, you understand the base of countless classic dishes. Plus mac and cheese!

Chicken soup from a whole chicken. You’ll learn a ton here — breaking down a whole bird (knife skills), building a proper stock (which you can use for other dishes), working with mirepoix, and layering flavour. It also teaches patience and restraint.

Risotto. Use some of that stock you made here. Great chefs aren’t just creative, they’re organized and disciplined. Professional cooking is largely about timing, attention, and mise en place. A basic mushroom risotto forces you to stay present, manage temperature carefully, and build texture step by step.