I think the fish is overkill. Making a basic cheese sauce and real gravy are staples in the colder months.

How to cook (not overcook!) greens. I've met many people who hate kale & collards because they only remember the awful smelling, dull green, mush they were served as kids.
I'm still working on making a decent omelete. How about how to make soups?

I would add cooking a grain properly on the stove (i.e. without a rice cooker).

The number one thing generally for me is learning how to chop. I've read too many times about folks who say they don't have time to make dinner at home because they don't have time to do all of that pesky chopping. A decent knife and practice can fix it.

Good list-can't think of anything I would add to the above (fish, cake, bread and greens included).

How to make a basic tomato sauce.

This seems rather biased towards a Western diet. Why would someone who has never seen a potato need to know how to roast and mash one?

I agree with mmelugin, tomato sauce should definitely be on that list!

I won't offer a specific list because the foods we eat are personal. I'm a vegetarian so half that list is moot for me; my husband is Japanese and I don't see much on that list that would help turn out a decent meal in that cuisine.

HOWEVER, I am in total agreement that everyone ought to learn how to plan meals, shop for food, and cook decent meals for themselves/others.

I think learning to read recipes is a very valuable skill, too. It's not so obvious when you first try it--I forget that because it's such an easy thing for me now to glance at a recipe here and have some concept of what the food will be like.

You can tell his French cooking roots in this list. They are biased towards that style, hence the no tomato sauce I believe.

I think how to cook pasta and rice (as simple as it is, most can't do it right)
How to make a basic tomato sauce.

Baking is important but I wouldn't count that here. I definitely think he's sticking to a more strict cooking list.

For baking, just a few of what I'd say would be

How to make a meringue
How to bake a simple cake
how to bake a simple drop cookie
How to make a basic bread
How to kneed/ let a yeasted dough rise
etc...

People should come up with their own lists! However I FIRMLY believe that everyone should be able to make at least 3 meals (of whatever they want) for guests.

It's awkward and uncomfortable when you have overnight guests and are incapable of feeding them.

Perhaps more basic than making an omelet, I think people should know how to scramble eggs without making them a crunchy mess (some people like them that way, but they should at least know). I also second being able to make rice (or some grain) on the stove in a pot. People should also know how to select and roast vegetables, and how to select fruit. I feel like this covers the bases for not getting scurvy or being constipated all the time. Keepin' it real.

The fish is overkill, and no way am I making my own stock. I don't go through it fast enough and mostly buy meat without bones in.

Items I'd add or include:
--How to cook the grainy or noodly starch of your choice to the right level of doneness.
--The basic 2T flour/2T fat, add a bunch of liquid, sauce.
--Basic pancake-drop biscuit-scone-muffin conversions.
--How to make a cake without resorting to a mix.
--How to achieve desired results on the chutney-jelly-sauce continuum, starting with fresh fruit.

My feelings are mixed on tomato sauce, but that's again because I don't use a lot of it. I am a pesto girl.

I luckily grew up in Brooklyn alongside the ocean and was exposed to a plethora of delicious seafood as a child, so I must defend my friend, the fish.

Whether it be whole or filleted, I can't think of a protein that is easier and faster to cook than fish. Not to mention it's healthier than red meat.

Why is everyone so down on fish?

I'm with SandyCat - Home Ec should go even more basic than this. Even as basic as how to boil water. Seriously. Which should evolve into how to make mac and cheese dinner from a box without setting off the fire alarm in your dorm. Over 10 years ago, but I still remember sitting in my bathrobe in the parking lot at 3 AM thanks to someone who did this.

I'd make the list even simpler so that it applied to more then one type of ethnic cuisine, ingredient (meat, fish, veg) notwithstanding:

How to use a knife safely
How to roast
How to stew
How to steam
How to fry
How to bake
How to season
How to clean your workstation, dishes, etc.

I agree with the "even more basic than this" comments. I don't think anyone has mentioned how to measure?

I agree with everything Andy Chong wrote. I've met many people who are held back by not knowing these basic skills, and yet can cook a little. I would also add:

Basic food safety knowledge.
The difference between liquid and dry measures.
How to wrap foods for the refrigerator or freezer.

@mmelugin, personally, I'm not down on cooking or eating fish. I'm merely down on butchering it myself. I think I've seen a head-on fish in a conventional supermarket here in Arizona maybe once.

Yes, Andy Chong has it, I think.

Mine would be: boil water/make pasta/rice/decent boiled veggies, follow a recipe, roast, braise, make a decent soup/stock, handle meat safely, etc. Simple baking and sauce-making is also a good idea.

I don't know how to fillet a whole fish, grill a proper steak, or make an omlette (I'm a scrambled eggs kinda girl). And I still consider myself a decent cook.

When I was in Home Ec (or, as it was called by then - Family and Consumer Sciences), I only learned two truly useful things - how to sew on a button, and how to properly brown ground beef. Maybe if I'd learned to properly cook vegetables, roast things, and make a good soup earlier, I wouldn't have gained so much weight eating crappy cafeteria food in college. Or maybe I would have gained more. Lol. Hard to say.

@cara_mia - I'm with you on the simplicity. My freshman year in college, the fire alarm went off because someone in the floor below me burned a Cup O' Noodles in the microwave. Yes, I'm not kidding. They burned it to the point where the styrafoam cup burned and it stunk up the whole floor.

My other favorite one from college was someone trying to microwave bread to make toast.

- How to make rice without a rice cooker

- How to boil perfect pasta

- How to sear all types of meat in a pan on the stovetop so that it actually browns, without it getting stuck to the pan

- How to do EVERYTHING and ANYTHING by hand, without electric mixers, electric choppers and definitely no microwaves.

How to make simple preserves and how to use beans.

Mince garlic!

my sister in law once tried to make pasta by putting in in a pot in cold water and then bringing it to a boil. i think she's gotten better since then.

a basic vinaigrette is a staple at my house and i now can't believe i used to buy that awful bottled stuff as recently as a year ago.

i'd add cooking with dried beans to that list.

Anthony Bourdain couldn't cook his way out of a wet paper bag!

Love the list. Can't manage most of it.
Here's mine:

dice an onion
poach an egg
saute
roast vegetables
Season expertly
at least one decent thing with tofu

I'd say vegetarians don't need half the stuff in there - the grilling stuff, ie. I would say knowing how to cook at least one or two grains is pretty important - such as rice, for example.

I agree with his list but would like to add one more, learning how to make a weekly/monthly menu based on market sales. Not only does this save you and your family money, but it is healthier to cook at home than out.

I agree completely with his sentiment. I also agree that the list is fairly personal depending on the type of cuisine you prefer. When I met my husband, I knew how to cook chicken stir-fry and rice, and that was about it. Luckily he was already a very good cook. Over time I've learned how to cook, and also taught myself to bake. So between the two of us, we make one very well-rounded chef!

@polishchick, putting pasta in cold water and bringing it to a boil works just fine. When the water hits a really passionate rolling boil, the pasta will usually be al dente.

Throwing dried pasta or noodles straight into a fairly liquid spaghetti sauce and letting it reduce on the stove will also give you al dente pasta if you keep an eye on it.

Andy Chong has it right on the money. Except... I still feel the need to make my own list:
How to:
Boil water (to make pasta, rice, couscous, frozen veggies, steam fresh veggies, etc).
Cook an egg (just know a method that you like - eggs are easy, have a long shelf life, and are very versatile)
Saute - cook all the other veggies you want without burning them
Chop safely - I'm still working on this one - serrano peppers are my downfall.
Wash dishes - I know its crazy to add in, but i wince when I see people scrubbing non-stick or sticking anodized cookware in the dishwasher (eek)
Sear meat
Cook meat through & check if its done without losiong all the juices.
Doctor up storebought canned sauces so they're a little more fun.
Make a grilled cheese.
SLice bread without squishing the life out of it (perhaps this should be know which knife to use for which task)

Very interesting discussion. I have to say cooking pasta, rice, and beans-very important. Making gravy, seasoning and spices.
And I think the list could be more basic too - shopping / selecting food, measuring, chopping. This may be slightly off topic but.. basic nutrition! (how to read labels, vitamins nutrients, etc)
I would love to teach home ec, it teaches such valuable skills that are being lost on kids today.

I'd say how to properly pick, use and sharpen a knife. I'm always at friends houses sharpening dull knives. A dull knife is the easiest way to get cut.

I agree with adding baking bread to the list. It's relatively easy and widely used. Other than that I feel that the list provided creates an excellent base for people to start cooking meals for themselves that are well-balanced and taste good.

"Prepare dried beans"

"Stir fry."

"Have a general idea of where on an animal various cuts of meat come from and the best way to prepare them." I feel like I have to look that up every time.

fi_burke's list seems more basic and relevant to the way most people would feed themselves in a pinch. I don't know if I've ever braised anything in my life.

But as long as we're dreaming of the well-rounded ideal person (who carries a pocketknife AND a handkerchief), I like the inclusion of how to prepare a fish from its original fishy form. If we're really talking life skills, knowing what to do with one once you get it off the hook seems rather basic.

Vinaigrette is a good one - it was a revelation when I taught my husband a few weeks ago, like I'd been holding out on him how easy it is.

Start with Andy CHong's list. Or maybe fi_burke's. I know to Andy CHong's I'd add:
-knowing how to clean produce and "flesh" (meats/chicken/fishfilets/shrimp)
-know when flesh is done

And if they've been raised in or live in the U.S., make grilled cheese.

these seem like pretty complicated skills for EVERYONE (man, woman and child) to learn (as opposed to a cook to learn. My vote would be for everyone to know food safety basics - like how and why to avoid cross-contamination, length of time hot food can be left at room temperature (no more than 2 hours max), why hand-washing is really really makes a difference, and why cooking meat thoroughly may save your life - for example. Not everyone cooks, but everyone eats food prepared by others (hello school cafeteria, hotel buffet table, picknick hamper, summer barbeques, and travel eating). Knowing how to avoid food-borne illness is my vote for what everyone should know.

Everyone should know what good food prepared from scratch tastes like. Children, especially, should be encouraged to eat 'adult' food. If you don't know what something should taste like, it's very difficult to cook it.

As a graduate student who shares a work kitchen with a bunch of educated, capable people in their 20s and early 30s (for the most part), I am astounded by how many people rely on TV dinners, other packaged foods, and takeout. I think we should be starting at a much more basic level here and saying that everybody should have sufficient cooking skills to feed yourself for a month without getting bored or resorting to takeout, pre-made convenience foods, and boxed "kits." Not everything needs to be made from scratch, but some of these convenience products are simply ridiculous, and I see grown adults using them every day instead of cooking for themselves. Nobody should be buying those pre-made salad kits or pre-chopped broccoli in produce sections unless it is an absolute emergency or they are traveling away from home and do not have access to a kitchen. I'm not above brownie mixes, tomato sauce in jars, or pre-made salad dressing, but I wish that everybody knew better than to buy the packets of "just add water" pesto sauce (no really, it exists and is an abomination) or pre-made tuna sandwiches sold at gas stations in plastic containers because people don't have 5 minutes to make one themselves at home. Learning to roast a chicken seems ridiculous when most people I know wouldn't even realize that they could be saving their KFC bones to make their own broth instead of wasting money on the canned stuff they always use.

That you put ice on a burn, NOT butter!

I'm with Jamie Oliver. We need to improve food served in school canteens as a starting point. No point teaching how to roast a free range chicken or grill a steak in home ec classes if lunch is chicken nuggets or burgers.

I agree with many of the posts above, but would add that I think everyone should know how to:
1. Make a simple meal without a recipe (meat, grain, veggie)
2. Make muffins from scratch
3. Make a casserole.
4. Make a white sauce
5. Make a gravy.

Most interesting conversation I've seen on Kitchn. Thanks!

I think "how to read a recipe," "how to buy food" and "how to clean your kitchen" would be my starters. Without those, you're lost. Green peppers are not the same as jalapeno peppers, and canned tomatoes are not the same as tomato sauce. No, you can't just skip the butter to make it low-fat. And if you can't find the hotpads when it's time, you have a problem.

Then, I'd say cooking eggs, beans, rice, pasta and vegetables well are enough to keep you functional for a while. Move up from there to poultry (which is an art I'm still trying to learn, after many years), meat and fish, sauces and gravies, and baking and desserts.