True, I think the “lemmy is so confusing to join” concerns are overblown (just make an account?), but admittedly the community finding part is… not intuitive. People really aren’t seeing everything that’s out there through the standard search if their instance isn’t federated with the instance where the target community is hosted, or no one on their instance has searched for that community before. Having to go offsite for tools to find communities is a poor experience.
It’s basically the same for me! I’d say anchovies/fish sauce in general. My first introduction was through Thai fish sauce, which I grew up with and learned how to use in Thai cooking. Then, I started cooking with anchovies in oil and Worcestershire sauce in what I viewed as their respective cuisines. At some point I understood the similar role these ingredients played in providing the umami element needed to complete a dish, and that made me feel more confident using them in a wider variety of foods and “across” cuisines as needed. Used in the appropriate amount, they won’t overpower a dish or turn it fishy; a little bit provides so much flavor!
I highly recommend subscribing to a meal delivery kit for a few weeks, I think they’re fantastic for beginners. Reasons:
I definitely don’t recommend doing this long term because it starts to get repetitive and is ultimately more expensive than doing your own shopping and planning, but it removes quite a few barriers to entry. Home Chef was the one I enjoyed the most personally but Blue Apron is also reliable and liked by many. Once you are comfortable with the basics you can really just search any recipe you’re interested in and just go for it; follow your interests and the skills will come with experience.