That sounds delicious! Now that's the kind of pizza I'd like on my table. I'm interested in learning about cooking actually, was planning to start learning soon. Any advice?
Sure!
So, first advice is to get some good cookbooks/magazines. Personally, for someone starting out I would recommend getting the America's Test Kitchen cookbook. "America's Test Kitchen" is the same kitchen the turns out the highly esteemed "Cook's Illustrated" monthly magazine, and they do TONS of work. Reading that book is a great way to learn about all sorts of techniques, pairings, equipment, etc. They have whole pages of product reviews where they have tested, say, all types of blenders and found the absolute best one (and they typically do things for the AVERAGE budget of a home kitchen, not some fancy-schmancy shit).
Once you feel comfortable in the kitchen with a variety of meals, the next thing I'd recommend is find a meal you like, and challenge yourself to replicate it. Keep doing this until you like your own cooking as well as restaurant food.
The next big thing is get a good grasp on the quality of food, and where to get good stuff. Some things can just be bought at the local grocery without any worry and still be "good enough." For other things, however, dip into local culture. Find a reputable butcher. Find local farm stores/farmer's markets with good produce. Figure out the best fish markets for you, etc. Get connected with the places you get your food from...learn how to tell quality stuff from cheap stuff (there are TONS of books, magazines, websites, articles, etc that focus on this as well).
The next thing I'd recommend, really, is find someone really good at cooking (doesn't have to be professional -- I know some "home cooks" who cook many times better than some "professional" chefs). Then, just watch them cook. Help a little in the kitchen, but the big thing is just watch (doing this in your own home or their home is optimal...restaurant kitchens are a whole other ballgame, but still fun). Pick up their techniques and wisdom.
Baking, of course, is another matter. For that, there are some great resources. There is one book called "The Bread Bible" that's highly reliable and good for beginners. In light of our discussion of pizzas, my go-to book for that is The Pizza Bible by Tony Gemignani (11+ time World Pizza Champion, World Champion pizza-tossing acrobat, First American to ever win the Naples Pizza Competition, a judge of World Pizza Championships, etc).
The biggest thing, really, is learning about cooking in general, but then finding your interests. If you just have a casual interest in cooking, then you can merely hone your interests without worrying about what you can't do. I, personally, found I loved cooking and went all-out with it, but that's just me.
Also, feel free to toss any specific questions you have my way.
