Sixteen small kitchen tricks that change how you cook disproportionate to how simple each one is. Passed between cooks rather than found in books.

Prep

1. Keep a damp tea towel under your cutting board. No more slipping.
2. Smash garlic with the flat of a knife before peeling — skins lift off.
3. Freeze ginger; grate it straight from frozen.
4. Peel eggs easier: 5 minutes in ice water after boiling; crack both ends; peel starts from an air pocket.

Cooking

5. Salt pasta water like the sea. Not a tablespoon — a palmful.
6. Dry meat thoroughly before searing. Water blocks browning.
7. Don't move the meat while it's searing. Let the crust form.
8. Let meat rest after cooking. 10 minutes for a steak; 20 for a roast.
9. Cold pan for bacon. Render slowly; crispier result.
10. Pasta water goes into the sauce. The starch binds everything.

Flavour

11. Add acid at the end. A squeeze of lemon lifts almost any dish.
12. Toast spices before using. The difference is dramatic.
13. Season in layers, not once at the end.
14. Keep a jar of finishing salt. Flake salt on the plate, not in the pot.

Cleanup

15. Clean as you go. Ten minutes of mid-cooking cleanup saves thirty at the end.
16. Soak, don't scrub. Twenty minutes of water handles most stuck-on food.

Sixteen tricks. None of them are secrets; they just compound into someone who cooks confidently.