Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

I'll too be sad when it leaves...but when it does, I hope they replace it with the tristar strawberry version...o_O!

Thanks to everyone for commenting and congrats to our winners:

cupcup
sw8t
Anthony A
amylou61
ride&cook

The single most important element in cooking:

Fresh and high-quality ingredients. Even the simplest recipe or technique benefits and is enhanced by what you put in as much as what you do to it.

It really is love.

To me the most important element of cooking is never giving up on yourself and what you are capable of. Not even the top chefs in world succeed everytime. Sometimes it may take multiples failures (I like to call them carry out nights) to get the dish where you want it to be.

Through each of those failures is a chance to step back, mentally replay the dish, and learn something that will carry you forward.

That lesson could be something as simple as create a slurry instead of throwing the cornstarch into the sauce you want to thicken to write down your entire step process before starting the dish to avoid missing a crucial step.

The application of heat.

Most important element of cooking = an objective palate: the ability to consistently and objectively evaluate flavor.

Flexibility - you have to be free to experiment and play with dishes.

Mise en place and patience-if you have everything ready to go, you are much calmer and enjoy the process more, which allows you to be patient

Utilizing all 5 senses and having a really sharp knife.

When working in the kitchen, all 5 senses must be attuned and receptive to what the food is telling you. How the onions sound as they're sizzling in the pan, the feel of a piece of steak to know it's cooked perfectly or the touch of a peach to know it's ripe. The sight of an artfully constructed dish, the smell of a roasting meat or baking pies and finally, taste. It's what it all comes down to. If all your other senses have done their jobs, then you will be rewarded by the taste of the food you have so lovingly prepared.

The most important thing about cooking is to boil the water.
This might sound absurd or too simple, but if you cannot
put the water in the pot, put the pot on the stove top and
wait until it boils, you cannot step any further. My cooking journey
began when I was nine years old, to boil the water to eat
instant cup noodle soup while my mom was out for the work.
For the nine year old boy, turn the knob of the gas stove was
kind of scary thing, let alone grabbing the very hot handle of the
pot of boiling water. This is the first test to the fear of the fire, and
I know a lot of people who cannot pass the test until they get relatively
older than nine, or forever.

salt. and curiosity.

Awareness.

This applies to preparation, selection of materials / ingredients, and even hunger and cravings.

The elements of cooking come down to being aware of the proper preparation (heating, seasoning, and presentation); the awareness of the effect of selecting the best produce available (when in season), as well as what's in season, and why; and finally, the awareness of what not only you want, but what your fellow diners want, expect, and a comfortable experiencing...