Can anyone get good at cooking?
Cooking might look complicated when you watch the chefs on TV with their knives all a blur and trying to monitor 14 things at once, but really cooking can be as simple or as complex as you want to make it, and just like learning guitar then you don’t jump straight into some complicated piece without first mastering the basics. I know that most guys will curl up into a ball on the floor and whimper at the thought of having to cook anything more complicated than beans on toast, but really cooking is easy once you know how and have the confidence to do it.
So yes I think anyone can learn to cook, however whether they WILL learn to cook is a totally different matter. Have you ever met someone who was a complete disaster in the kitchen? Maybe your partner? Well I think that those people who can burn a saucepan full of water are actually just being lazy. It is kind of like a kid who doesn’t want to go somewhere and they drag their feet on the floor as they try to do anything they can not to go, I think some people just don’t put any effort into cooking so they won’t ever have to do it again!
If you do want to take the time to learn some new dishes and master some new skills though, then you would be well advised to see if there are any cooking classes on near you. Yes you can learn from books and videos online etc, but nothing beats a bit of hands-on tuition, at least until you have mastered the basics, then you once you have finished the lessons you can improve your skills further with books and videos. There are all sorts of courses available, from basic cooking, through to how to cook thai dishses properly or even bake beautiful pastries and cakes, I would start off with the basic course though just to get to grips with everything.
Once you do know the basics and are confident in your skills, then really you will be able to pick up pretty much any recipe and be able to cook it successfully. Yes you might not get it perfect first time, it might be a bit overcooked or you might have forgotten to buy some of the ingredients etc, but it will still taste good (unless you burn it to a crisp!) and the second time you try the recipe you’ll remember those problems and correct them. That means by just putting in a bit of effort now to get some lessons then you can learn a skill which will help you for the rest of your life.