I had to learn this the hard way because it is really hard to take criticism for something that has so many different options for people. I may like the way my food tastes but others may not and that is something that I have had to come to accept. A couple of things to help you take criticism a little better if you start to feel down.

Remember that people have different taste levels. I like my food to be a bit on the saltier side, I have been told that I have heavy taste buds. My mother has tastes buds similar to mine, my brother has mild taste buds, and my father and sister have light taste buds. So, you can already see that what I think is perfect would be too salty for my father and sister, but on the perfect line for my mom and somewhere in between for my brother. Flavor is something I love to experiment with so my flavors and saltiness might be a smidge more than others. I have come to understand that when my dad says that something is too salty, it is perfect for me, or when he says that something is perfect, then I need to add salt.

Think about the overall dish. If you have bread, pasta, and rice, all in one plate…that is actually a lot of carbohydrates. You always want to even things out and make sure that you are not putting in too much of one thing. Living alone? Put whatever you want but when it comes to having guests over, unless they honestly don’t care, it is nice to have an overall even dish. You can take a page from the restaurants you frequent: carb, protein, vegetable. Most restaurants will have those three on a dish, unless it is something different or all vegetarian.

Take it all with a grain of salt. There are so many people who criticize everything, food included. Seriously, watch some of the shows on The Food Network and you will see that there is always criticism, most of the time constructive, which you appreciate and move on. There is nothing worse in the cooking world than not taking criticism and seeing if you can apply it because no one wants to deal with an egotistical chef who is a know-it-all. Remember, grain of salt folks! What do you do when you get food criticism? -The Mermaid Network