When you stir-fry vegetables, salt the oil before adding the aromatics. That's basic. How many years was it until I figured that out? How many pro chefs have never figured that out? What's pro?
What about mincing your meat with one cleaver and one chef's knife? Not two cleavers. Not two chefs knives? That's basic. For a certain type of mince. How many people figure that out? It's basic once you know it. I'd bet that isn't taught in a masterclass.
There's no end to basics. There's a great chance your tomatoes don't come from the same vine as mine. Make it your own.
The reverse side is food engineering. When you're controlling for consistent results to ensure every loaf of bread of today's batches of 100,000 loaves are identical to yesterday, or last year. That's another ball game, and perfecting today's 100,000 loaves doesn't transfer much to making a pesto.