This might be a rant/vent of sorts, I just need to sort of brain dump some things and see if it's unique to me or not.

The other day I decided to make pasta shells and add cheese. I wanted to add existing cheese I had to this pasta and make it macaroni shells. My girlfriend told me I needed to make a roux, however, it wasn't exactly clear why beyond needing to make it into more of a sauce and allow it stick to the shells.

So I come across some videos and content. Some say to mix butter and flour in a 1:1 ratio. Okay, cool.

I do that, and it starts off well enough. But then the next step is to add milk. I do this. Disaster ensues. However, I don't know if this is the intended result or not as most guides, videos and materials I see suck in terms of including indicators of when a step is complete or you're on the right track beyond oh, it's bubbling or oh, whisk until thick or something arbitrary.

One video I came across mentioned a 1:1 ratio, but mentioned the measured weight being the key factor in this endeavor. I ended up just following a method I know works (ish): tried and true corn starch, milk, shredded cheese. I used Epicurious' video for this, however, there were no ratios for this. Apparently they expect you to utilize their site to view guides, recipes and material. Fuck that noise, just include everything one needs to replicate what you're showing exactly.

So even this method failed in the sense that it wasn't exactly gooey cheese. It was watery, due to adding too much milk (and potentially, the wrong type). Admittedly, part of this failure may be my fault. I wanted to add, potentially a sad amount of cheese to a large, 1 lb quantity of pasta. I generally cook in large quantities for efficiency sake. It makes no sense to do small quantities for a tiny meal or a dinner with a bunch of small elements. But for the short moment, I live alone so I can get away with such insanity.

How do other INTPs handle learning to cook? From an educator perspective, this shit is asinine. I came across a lot of Reddit post that says oh, making a roux is easy. And it's like ... well, No. Not if you're a beginner. Not if you want to understand the concepts of what is happening, and the science of why it works that way. Even an epic, proper manual on cooking, Paul Bocuse' Gastronomique doesn't get into the specifics. It comes close. At least that content shows weights, but doesn't explain the importance of it.

I'm well aware ratios play a big deal too. It's just frustrating that people don't consider or work toward making their content for the lowest common denominator of people; along with people who want to know all the things about a process. I came across a video that explained things well, however, it was recorded on a potato and of such low quality that it was unusable.

And I'm sure someone will come in and say learn by doing. okay. Cool. I get it. But that only goes so far -- and when you make a mistake once or twice or the results aren't what you expect and you want immediacy -- it can be infuriating to deal with.

Sigh