Cooking can be intimidating. The process of shopping , prepping, cooking and, ultimately, tasting the fruits of your labor taps into a side of the brain that not many people can or want to explore.

But not even the pros get it right all the time, as the kitchen provides a safe space to experiment, fail and -- best of all -- learn so that desired outcomes can be improved upon and new recipes can be added to the ever-growing arsenal.

That said, it certainly helps to identify some of the most common cooking mistakes prior to heating up the oven or firing up the grill to avoid basic snafus and focus solely on developing the mouth-watering flavors and textures of each dish.

We chatted with a handful of top chefs from around the world for their expert takes on what to look out for, w

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