Cooking, like most other aspects of life, can be divided into several different types or styles. The cuisine is generally a specific style of cooking typically associated with a certain region or cultural area and normally characterized by a number of distinctive ingredients, methods and dishes. Regional variations in cooking styles can often be traced back to more ancient times when food was much more seasonal and relied on local produce and animal sources.
Cooking skills were more directed towards family consumption and survival in the community and so cooking techniques were more adapted for preparing basic foodstuffs:
- A main article of most modern cooking styles is the stovetop cooker. These appliances are extremely popular now and come in all shapes and sizes. The shape of the appliance usually depends on its intended use; the most common shapes include the casserole, the wok and the frying pan.
- A main article of any good cooker should be able to produce a thoroughly cooked meal that has a pleasant taste and is not overcooked or undercooked. A main article of any good cooker should ideally be able to produce a thoroughly cooked meal that has a pleasant taste and is not overcooked or undercooked.
Baking Food
Baking is an art in which food is prepared by placing it under heat from a hot oven or stove and turning it over to cook it. In the oven or stovetop, food preparation techniques are more flexible than they would be in a more conventional cooking environment. Mixing ingredients and boiling the food in different liquids is very common and can produce interesting and delicious results depending on the cooking techniques employed.
Historically, the only way to eat raw vegetables: was to pick them and cook them. Raw vegetables, though high in nutritional value and full of essential vitamins and minerals, provided little in the way of nutrition in the form of vitamins and minerals other than those already present in the fruit. As food preparation techniques have developed over the centuries, however, people have discovered that cooking vegetables minimizes both the bitterness and the toxic components of the bitter chemicals called phytochemicals. In particular, cooked vegetables lose most of the valuable minerals (especially calcium and magnesium) contained in their raw counterparts. It is these phytochemicals that have been found to be important in supporting a healthy immune system and maintaining a healthy well-being.
Raw vegetable dishes are light, fresh and delicious; but cooked vegetables are heavy, dry and often contain tasteless filler such as butter, salt, sugar or cream. In some ways, cooking is actually better for you than eating raw food. The best part of cooking is getting rid of many of the thousands of harmful toxins that are inevitably present in any cooked food. Unfortunately, modern cooking techniques do not completely eliminate these toxins. Instead of removing them, cooking makes them heavier and less healthy so that they must be added back into the diet via supplements or other foods.
A good example of this is the fact: that fats are often removed from most main article meals. In cooking, these fats are used as a main ingredient. Although the fat content of a given food may vary according to its quality, it should be noted that removing the fat entirely from food is not possible and would result in foods becoming under-cooked or burned in microwave ovens. As a result, the food would lose valuable vitamins and minerals, which are not ideal for our body. Fats are actually necessary for our health because they help to keep our bodies warm, especially when consumed in small portions.
In this main article, we have discussed only three of the main and important factors regarding cooking and health.