25 Chefs Share Their Favorite Cooking Lessons From Mom

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For many chefs, watching their mothers cook in the kitchen and eventually cooking alongside them (and perhaps learning family recipes along the way) formed the foundations of a lifelong culinary passion. As we head into Mother’s Day weekend and put the finishing touches on plans for thanking our mothers for everything they do, I asked chefs from across the U.S. to share their favorite cooking lessons they learned from their moms. Here’s what they had to say:

Holly Jivin, chef de cuisine of The Bazaar by José Andrés

“If I had to pick one most important tip that my mom ever gave me about cooking, it would be that there is always time to cook a meal, sit down and eat with family,” Jivin said. “Part of the reason I started cooking professionally was the influence my mother, grandma, aunts and cousins gave me as a young child… I spent most my life in the kitchen, picking items from the garden, cleaning green beans, washing, stirring, watching, tasting, smelling, learning and helping where I could because it was an important bonding time for us. I didn’t know it then, but it’s what shaped me into the chef that I am today.”

Alfredo Nogueira, executive chef of Cure and Cane & Table

“I noticed the more I embraced my Cuban heritage the more its influence shone through on my menus,” Nogueira said. “The beef empanadas, ham croquettes, arroz con pollo and more are all dishes my mother made. The most important lesson she taught me is to embrace where you are from culturally and be confident in knowing that your culture's cooking can be embraced by the masses.”

Suzanne Dumaine, chef and founder of Three Owls Market

“My mom taught me all the most important breakfast lessons: How to soak the French toast bread long enough but not for too long, that the first batch of pancakes is always the worst (the griddle isn't hot enough yet), and that biscuits always taste better when you cut them into fun shapes and decorate them with chocolate chips,” Dumaine said. “She puts up the best and most beautiful breakfast spread of anyone I know, and it's from her that I learned to love serving people as they start their day.”

Rebecca Boice, executive chef of Flora

“My mom taught me how to measure flour: First, place a piece of waxed paper on the counter,” Boice said. “Then with your measuring cup pull flour slowly from the flour bin so there’s no ‘poof’ of flour. Pull a heaping mound of flour without packing the cup, then level it by holding the cup of flour over the waxed paper and gently and evenly scraping with the flat side of a butter knife across the cup so the excess flour falls to the waxed paper below. When you’re done measuring your flour, bend the waxed paper into a funnel and pour the flour back into the bin, then return the waxed paper to the drawer to save for your next baking project.”

“As a kid I loved the ceremony of it, the same steps every time,” Boice said. “Now as a chef I see that my mom was teaching me basic kitchen etiquette: work clean, be precise and don’t be wasteful. My mom is a smart lady!”

Rick Ortiz, executive chef of Antique Taco

“To be honest, my mom is not the greatest cook,” Ortiz said. “Despite that, I associate my fondest memories of food with her because she is the one who taught me that family and friends are central to enjoying a good meal. Whether it was a breakfast sandwich on the way to school, organizing dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant, or an overcooked turkey on Thanksgiving, she always extended her love for her family through food. Fast forward 20 years [and] I have a few restaurants, two beautiful daughters and an amazing wife, and I have my mom’s dedication to family to thank. She may still overcook the turkey, but my mom always makes sure we are taken care of, and I try to do the same today.”

Gio Osso, executive chef of Virtù Honest Craft

“The most important thing I learned from my mother is to respect, love and take care of your ingredients,” Osso said. “She taught me simplicity and [to] not overthink what to put on the plate. My mom was not a professional chef but during my culinary school days she would guide me and encourage me to be creative. She taught me to use my knowledge, my roots and the simplicity she kept speaking of to create new flavor pairings presented in an artistic way… Unfortunately she didn't get to see me evolve in my career as she passed shortly after I graduated culinary school but I'm sure she's smiling, looking down from the big kitchen in the sky [and] saying she taught me well.”

Thomas Lents, executive chef of The Apparatus Room

“My father was actually the primary cook in our family, but my mother joined in for special occasions,” Lents said. “One instance was a dining group [my parents] belonged to that would cook elaborate themed dinners from different countries around the globe every few months. I will always remember the fearless joy that my mother had when cooking recipes from far away lands that she had only read about. She taught me to be unafraid to fail in your quest for culinary learning and to always laugh while you eat your mistakes!”

Jeffrey Sills, executive chef of The Charmant Hotel

“I would say that the most important lesson I learned from my mother was the importance of chicken noodle soup,” Sills said. “It is maybe the first dish that I attempted on my own, and she absolutely let me have a go at it [from] start to finish. It is perfect because as the many attempts went on, we decided that the egg noodles were the best for what we were going for, the whole chicken was better than chicken breasts, chicken stock [was better than] water, etc. It set a standard for how I approach cooking in a kitchen in general: cleanliness, always being open for modifications [and] knowing your product.”

Anne Robinson, executive pastry chef of SKY Armory

“My mother taught me to always double check my measurements,” Robinson said. “Life is full of distractions and people make mistakes––there's a big difference between a teaspoon and a tablespoon when you're baking.”

Alexander Brown, executive chef and owner of Grist Iron Brewing

“When I was 10 years old, I watched my mom make the sauce for potato salad,” Brown said. “I asked her how she could tell when it was ready and she told me it was by the way [the sauce] rolls off the spoon. That's the best, most simple thing my mom taught me: cooking is all about the things you can't write down in a recipe. It's seeing the sauce roll off the spoon in just the right way.”

Kimberly Vickers, head baker and kitchen manager of Dough

“My mom always said ‘whatever you cook or bake, no matter what it is, do it with pride and love,’” Vickers said. “She has always been an inspiration to me, in the kitchen and out. We didn’t have much, but somehow she always found a way to whip up something special. Her sweet potato bread was my favorite. Mom would bake the sweet potatoes for three hours, then let me help her mash them up. She would add sugar, butter, nutmeg, cinnamon, a couple eggs, vanilla, flour and milk. ‘Bake it for an hour, then get ready to devour!’ she would say, sliding the pan into the oven. And devour we did! I don’t ever recall her using a recipe for this, but it always turned out perfectly. That’s my mom in a nutshell: making the most of what she had and creating dishes for us from her heart and soul.”

Sohui Kim, chef and owner of The Good Fork

“One of the many cooking tricks I learned from my mother is to use fruit in savory cooking,” said Kim. “The balance of sweet, salty, spicy and the umami is encapsulated in the essence of Korean cooking. For instance, I use apples and Asian pears in marinades for meats and vegetables for the grill… My favorite recipe incorporates CJO Gochujang, apples, onions, garlic ginger and mirin into a marinade for skirt steak. It’s been on my menu at The Good Fork for 13 years and counting as my signature dish.”

Nicholas Thayer, chef and owner of Nickel’s Pit BBQ

“My wonderful, single working mother with two small kids taught me so much about cooking without even realizing it,” Thayer said. “Be creative. Take risks. Be agile. Know your audience. I was an adventurous eater. My sister was super picky. On any given night, my mom had to create something new and exciting for me and something plain for my sister. On a tight budget, she did just that. Now, I take pride in accommodating requests, respecting and celebrating different tastes, sharing a unique perspective, and cooking with creative passion. These are not technical cooking skills, but I can think of none more essential.”

Fortunato Nicotra, executive chef of Felidia

“My mother was Sicilian, and one of the most important things she taught me about food was to always use fresh and seasonal ingredients: simple is always best,” Nicotra said. “You want to be able to taste everything on the plate. My mother’s lasagna is a perfect example of this philosophy. You can make it with dry ready-to-bake lasagna noodles or fresh. However, there is no need for meat or bechamel. Instead, it’s made with a good tomato sauce, fresh basil, heavy cream and cheese––super simple, delicious and easy for the home cook.”

Dave Santos, executive chef of Good Stock Soup

“Sopa de padre: meaning, poor people food,” Santos said. “You take the little things you have and make a meal from it. My mother has always been resourceful and we learned that growing up. Nothing ever went to waste. We’d take different leftovers and spin them into something totally new and always amazing. More often than not, this was soup. We’d make lots of mirepoix; take some cabbage, cured and leftover meats and beans and cook them together to create a rich, hearty stew that would fill your belly and leave you completely satisfied. We didn’t have a ton growing up but we always had good food.”

Samuel Clonts, executive chef of Bar Uchu

“Growing up, my mom was my biggest inspiration in the kitchen,” Clonts said. “While raising three kids and working, we always had a home-cooked meal for my family to gather around. As soon as I was old enough, I was in the kitchen trying to help. One tip she taught me was how to make the perfect pie crust. Her secret was substituting butter with lard, which brings a nice complexity and depth to the crust, and using ice water in the dough in order to keep it cold.”  

Daniel Holzman, co-founder and chef of The Meatball Shop

"I was around 11 or 12 when I asked my mom about making pasta,” Holzman said. “She had never made fresh pasta before and we didn’t have any rolling machine but decided to give it a go. By the end of the afternoon we had strands of pasta hanging from every surface in the kitchen: the backs of chairs, a broomstick we had strung up––we didn’t realize you could flour and layer the strands. In the end the pasta was terrible, completely inedible and tough as gummy worms. But we had fun and it made us want to try again. A few days, a pasta machine and a few pounds of flour later we were churning out perfect pappardelle. The lesson?  Perseverance is the key to success and the best way to ensure you’ll keep trying is to make sure that you’re having a great time with whatever you’re doing.”

Jaspratap Bindra, executive chef of Punjab Grill

“I have so many nostalgic memories of sitting on the kitchen counter, helping my mom stir the curries and learning the correct spice blend for each dish,” Bindra said. “She taught me [that] the key to real flavors is to create my own house-blended spices for dishes, which I now feel particularly proud of when I enter my own kitchen and use my own blended spices. They just add another level to cooking.”

Emma Alden, pastry chef of Manhatta

“My mom always reminded me that people only eat dessert to indulge, for pure enjoyment, so it needs to be worthwhile,” Alden said. “And when in doubt, dark chocolate is always appropriate.”

David Bancroft, executive chef of Acre and Bow & Arrow

“My all-time favorite dish is my mother's Sunday pot roast with rice and gravy,” Bancroft said. “I would always be lured into the kitchen by the aroma, open the oven door and lift the lid so I could sneak a peek. My mother would always say ‘David, stop fooling with the roast, and just let it do its thing!’ Sometimes patience is the best ingredient.”

Mike Davis, chef and owner of Terra

“I think the one thing I remember most about cooking with my mom was how she made treats for people as presents; how making something from hand, the time it took and the thought behind it touches people. It makes it feel that much more special when you make it and deliver it, as opposed [to] ordered and shipped. One example of this I remember most is at Christmastime when I was a kid. My mom made cinnamon rolls from scratch and delivered them to our closest family friends in the neighborhood. I remember being so excited to help deliver them, and loved how people looked forward to receiving them year after year. The power of food and the table, and the love behind making it is still the thing I like most about working this business.”

Brenna Sanders, co-executive chef of Effervescence

“Eat your vegetables!” Sanders said. “No matter what we were eating at home, there was and always had to be at least one vegetable. This is the way I continue to eat and now cook as a chef. Vegetables are what make dishes not only feel complete but more satisfying, wholesome and vibrant. [My mom] really taught me not to neglect vegetables and that they are important. I love to make vegetable dishes shine with creamy and crispy textures, like a tomato salad with crispy shallots and creamy goat cheese. Even our current dry-aged wagyu dish on the menu is brightened and elevated with local creamed kale and beet bordelaise.”

Eden Grinshpan, chef and co-founder of Dez

"My mom has a handful of recipes she makes very well, one of them being her chicken soup: the ultimate comfort dish,” Grinshpan said. “She showed me how to skim the floaters and the extra fat from the top and taught me that the bones, skin and cartilage were the best part and would make the richest broth. She also always told me to ask the butcher for the mature chicken, not one that was too young [because] the older ones have more flavor.”

Jeremy Salamon, executive chef of The Eddy

"The greatest cooking lesson I learned from my mother was to not be ashamed of things that are quick, easy and delicious,” Salamon said. “Lipton onion soup mix in the brisket, Good Seasons dressing for a chicken marinade, and vanilla pudding mix in the best chocolate chip cake you’ll ever have!”

Michael Lishchynsky, executive chef of Bourbon Steak Nashville

“We lived in a small house in Pinehurst, North Carolina with a large backyard which we turned into a one-acre garden,” Lishchynsky said. “When we moved in there were already apple, fig and citrus trees as well as two rows of grapevines in the side yard. This inspired my mom to fill in the rest of the yard with fruits, vegetables and herbs. This became a project that would later become a life lesson of what it takes to plant, nurture and harvest your own food. My mom would made sure I was up with her every morning to care for the garden, from tilling the yard, pulling massive stones out of the ground, planting, weeding and trimming. The work was repetitive and physically exhausting. It was only until I started working in professional kitchens that I realized how important and useful the knowledge that she taught me was worth. The understanding of where your food comes from, what it tastes like, why it tastes the way it does and what goes into making that product is so essential to a chef. I am the chef I am today because of you, mom. I love you.”