Learn what you need to do to follow recipes, and then you’ll learn the rest over time. Cook things you like to eat.

Don’t get a bunch of junk for your kitchen. You only need basic things and can buy them as you go.

• Knives - you only need a chef’s knife (8" or 10") for most kitchen tasks and a paring knife for small things. Optional: bread knife (i just use a chef’s knife), filet knife, boning knife, cleaver.

• Pots and Pans - get all stainless steel and/or cast iron/enameled cast iron. Don’t buy aluminum or nonstick. Frying pan. Saucepan. Big pot and/or Dutch oven (can use as a soup pot on the stove or in the oven for other things, enameled recommended). Baking sheet (and a silicone matt for nonstick).

• Other: peeler, box grater, garlic press (way easier than mincing garlic), citrus juicer, steamer insert for a pot, measuring cups and spoons, cutting board (plastic is OK - bamboo is another good budget option, one for meat and one for plants recommended)

• Know what it means to steam, boil, simmer, sautee, bake.

• Keep your knives sharp.

• Learn the basic cuts (dice = .5 - 2cm cubes, mince = very tiny little pieces, julienne/batonnet/chiffonade - strips of stuff of various sizes).

• The key to cutting anything is to break it down into manageable, regular pieces that you can easily turn into cubes or rectangles.

Since you have difficulty tasting:

• Don’t over-salt. You can always add more, but you can’t remove it.

• Acidity and fat are important to make food taste good. Vinegar is often a hack to make food taste better.

• Adding MSG to your food is also a great way to make it taste better.

• Learn what herbs and spices belong in different kinds of food. Some can go in a lot of different cuisines and dishes - like salt, pepper, garlic, onion, parsley, and chives. But others have more niche uses, and some combinations are very typical of specific cuisines. Buy individual spices, not spice mixes. Dry spices are stronger than fresh spices, so if substituting dried for fresh, you will use less than you would use if they were fresh.

The head chef of Alethea (3 star michelin restaurant) totally lost his sense of taste for years and still ran one of the best restaurants in the world.

Experiment. Apply scientific pro endure for cooking. Just see what people like and what they don’t so you adjust the recipe.

I’ve found that when you cook with lots of fresh veggies, you can mostly just dump them in and it tastes good. Again, you do want a bit of salt, but as everyone else said, you can hand out a salt shaker.

When I use a recipe from a web search, I double any spices. It comes out much better.

Look up Good Eats with Alton Brown. Good show. I found his show to almost be more science. He explained why things did what they did and why you want things done this way or that. Probably a good way to start. I learned most my cooking from his show growing up.

Everyone here saying “undersalt, undersalt” like salt is the only additive that can go wrong in excess. Pretty much any spice is, too, so don’t go crazy on any of them especially pepper, chili, anything “hot”.

I think the best bet would be following recipes. That means finding recipes that minimize ‘to taste’ instructions. A lot can be done by look and texture, so you can be decent enough for anyone who’s not a snob. Also, err on the side of too little salt and put some on the table.

In addition to what others have said, I’d recommend two things:

1. Deliberately understalt food. You can always add more salt on the table, you can’t take salt away.

2. Prep compound butter beforehand with someone helping you taste. Grab roasted garlic (2-3 heads), red wine vinegar (a couple drops), 400g of good quality butter with no added ingredients (eg avoid garlic butter bars), handful of fresh chopped thyme and rosemary, and bit of pepper and salt (same thing as before, underseason). This will give you an already prepped flavour bomb to add to savoury foods. I usually add a couple bones’ worth of marrow as well, and the resulting butter goes well with any meat (non-fish), vegetables, bread, even plain rice.