How to learn the basics of cooking

From ArticleWorld

To learn the basics of cooking can be very interesting and it can develop into a wholesome hobby over time. Cooking may be defined as preparing a meal using heat. The person in charge of cooking is called the cook. Cooking can be done using a whole repertoire of methods and a large selection of tools (utensils etc.). There is probably no end to the different kinds of food and the ways in which it can be cooked but there are a few basic techniques that are prevalent world wide. To learn the basics of cooking you need to have some idea about them.

The A B C of cooking

1. Temperature: To cook food you need to heat up the ingredients since most things cannot be eaten raw or taste much better when they are cooked. Many raw ingredients like meat contain bacteria that are destroyed through heating. Apart from meat you can also cook vegetables, grains, fruits and anything else that is edible. Make sure the heat is high enough to cook the food but not too high so as to burn it.
2. Season: To add flavor and taste to the food you have to add spices and condiments which impart their own essence to the cooked food.
3. Marinade: You can add seasoning to the food before cooking it which allows the seasoning and spices to enter the meat and vegetables. The process is called marinating while the spices and sauces in which the food is marinated is called the marinade.
4. Mix: This means to add the spices and seasonings to the food after which the food may be cooked as it is after marinating it or if may beaten without cooking as in case of salads (when you mix oil and dressing in lettuce etc.).

Do’s

• Experiment and discover different ways of coking food because cooking is one of the most peaceful and rewarding of hobbies.
• Look for recipes and new ways to cook the same food by going on the internet or buying cookery books.

Don’ts

• Don’t be impatient with yourself and the process, enjoy the experience. Cooking is best done on slow fire (most of the world’s cooking) and losing patience and increasing the flame to speed up the process will spoil the dish.