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One of the most wonderful things about cooking is that it doesn't change. With many hobbies, there comes a point where you have collected all the skills and gone through the possibilities that there are - your focus becomes on refinement, repetition. 

Cooking is the opposite; it thrives on innovation, doing things differently. There is always a new ingredient to try, a new spice to experiment with and a fresh way of preparing an old meal. 

It's a hobby that draws in a certain type of person. While most people cook out of necessity, for those of us lucky enough, we find a new passion in the process of food preparation. This is, after all, something we are going to have to do for the rest of our lives - it must be difficult if cooking is something you truly despise! 

Have you ever wondered what sets you apart from those who cook for function? Being a foodie, loving the feeling of seeing a recipe for the first time and then tasting the meal that results from it - that's a little special something, isn't it? What qualities do you tend to find in passionate chefs the world over? Maybe some of the below sound familiar.

We've all had our mistakes in this realm. We wonder what would happen if we added coffee to hot chocolate and then realized making mocha is a more detailed process than we thought. You try a sauce with a different meat or what are argan oil uses and realize you have created the wrong  sauce - surely, anyone can do that?

Sure, but not everyone does. People with a true passion for food are willing to try new things, to make mistakes, to slip up and ruin a meal in the effort to keep changing things. It's an admirable quality and while some of the experiments go wrong, when they go right, it's so worth it. 

You can spot the true foodie at a restaurant. Having consumed something they enjoy, they don't just sit back, rub their stomachs and bask in the afterglow. Foodies begin to wonder how it was prepared; why it was so good; their mind bubbling with a thousand and one food questions they can't wait to find the answer to. Being curious is an essential aspect of finding a love of cookery. 

As the first point demonstrates, not everything will go smoothly. Someone who cooks from the heart will be more than okay with this, knowing it's all part of the process of refining and trying something new. 

Those innovative ideas, even when they go wrong, have to come from a strong imagination. It helps when you're trying to envision how you want a new, experimental recipe to come out as well. If you can imagine a taste, a health benefit, a flavor, a scent, then you can work backward and put the points in place to make it possible. 

So, do any of these sound familiar to you?