I started out on packaged food stuff. Add water, boil and presto! Dinner!
But then I wanted to know the science behind cooking. So I got a subscription to Cooks Illustrated. A lot of good info in there. But some contradicting.
I then moved towards cook books that focused on the not only how, but why.
I started a thread here about peasant food. It holds true, be it French, Japanese, Polish, German, Italian etc. A number of recipes are nothing more than peasant food, with a gourmet twist. That gourmet twist is nothing more than basic cooking technique.