Cooking by a professional and non-professional using the same method often results in different quality of the food prepared. This paper reports the use of the power of observation during the cooking process to evaluate the cooking skills that affect the finished dish. The basic cooking method of panfrying was compared for food prepared by a professional and non-professional. A third party checked and recorded their eye movements, especially at the most important stages during cooking. Eye movement distances were also recorded by gaze-point detection based on image processing. We finally compared the cooked dishes by physical property measurement, salinity measurement and sensory testing. The results confirm that this method based on power of observation can be used to establish a new means for evaluating cooking technique.