There are lots of intellectual / scientific ways to look at cooking which can really help. For example, understanding the science of cooking meat lets you cook

There are lots of intellectual / scientific ways to look at cooking which can really help. For example, understanding the science of cooking meat lets you cook safely, precisely, and to a very high standard. If you understand how flavour pairings work in terms of aromatic chemicals, you can generate likely combinations from what you have available. And so on.