Can't agree on those 6 skills. Gravy, souffle, basmati rice, meringues, pastry, white sauce? Really? This is a British publication, no? OK, it's tired to say it, but British FOOD? No. Next time I'm in England I'll try sticking to these 6 items and see if the food experience is better. No, wait. Imagine sticking to these 6 items for a couple of weeks. Again, no.

Ironically, the "six skills" article handles several skills (okay, the ones I have!) quite oddly.

Putting soy sauce in gravy? That's an Irma Rombauer trick to pep up flavorless gravy if the meat juices were bland.

Running béchamel through the blender? I've never had one develop lumps, and I'm a cheerfully sloppy cook who doesn't bother to measure her flour and butter precisely.

Definitely a culture-specific list of cooking skills. Being and cooking Asian, almost all of them useless to me. How about roasting a chicken? Chopping and blanching vegetables?

Agreed with everyone else. I have never made a souffle or meringue, nor do I feel that my cooking is lacking as a result. Roux and gravy, yes, those things are important. But so are blanching, carving and trussing (for meat-eaters), precise measuring, and checking to see if something's gone bad.

After spending so much time finding the link to the actual article (buried among photos, ads, and three other unrelated links), the list was a disappointment and almost entirely out of touch. It might as well have been titled "five things not to be distracted by if you're intending to cook relevant food, plus some notes on pastry." How about seasoning with salt and pepper? Selecting fresh produce? Cooking an egg? Meh.

The funny thing is that rouxing, gravying, and bechamels are just themes and and variations of the same thing. While the other half of a souffle recipe and meringes rely upon whisk skills and getting stiff peaks.

So in reality the skills are how to:
1. make a roux/bechamel;
2. whisk;
3. cook rice; and
4. make pastry.

Outside of the pastry one, I think the former 3 are probably essential for a good American cook. What do you think others might be?

Grilling? Roasting? Stir-frying?

@ Faith & the Kitchn: you should compile your own list of required kitchen skills! I'm pretty sure it would be way better and much more relevant than The Independent's one. Their list seemed really dated to me, no?

@Greige, yes, it's 4, not 6. And @eilonway, yeah, blender for bechamel? I think thats what you do when your sauce fails. It's not an essential, or even desirable, step.

I love the picture for the 6 things. She looks so smiley with her oven mitts on holding a tray of frosted cupcakes from the oven full of mergingues...huh?! lol, Goofy posed photo and outdated techniques. I do agree with many of them but theres many its missing.

The link is wimping out on me, but from what I read, that's a VERY good thing...

i love making meringues! So simple yet delicious :)

The Brits do like their souffles and meringues.

I can't make any of those things on the list because my partner is dairy-allergic. So I guess I don't really need them.