Cooking definition; is the practice of combining and mixing ingredients and adding some herbs and spices to have food ready for eating. The concept of cooking in modern times differs from ancient times; since cooking is no more just a way to satisfy hunger. Still, it becomes an art for food lovers who prepare food and serve different beautiful dishes rich with ingredients.

1.The importance of cooking

Changing the texture, the flavor, and the form of food, as humans can’t enjoy eating raw meats. Thus using some cooking methods and techniques will help to transform those raw meats into edible food ready to eat. The cooking methods used to cook, affect the flavor of food directly. For example, grilling differs from poaching, frying, stewing, and barbecuing.The cooking definition is also a helpful way for the body to digest better. The body can’t get enough nutrients from raw foods, thus cooking helps the nutrients to interact together and let the body benefits from them.Food, in general, is an appropriate environment for germs, bacteria, and viruses, but by cooking food, those pollutants will disappear

2.Cooking techniques

After dealing with the cooking definition, let’s move to some cooking techniques, which are a set of methods used to preparing food. They differ from a recipe to another depending on the kind of food (vegetables, meat,…..) Here below, some of the cooking techniques for healthy cooking.

Grilling

By using this technique, you cook food on a high temperature on charcoal or ceramic stone, which leads to brown different foods and giving it a special flavor. The most appropriate foods for grilling are foods that require a long time to cook and need a cut into small pieces such as meat; to ensure its ripeness from the inside just as the outside. The difficulty that lies in such a cooking method is to reach the ripeness of food needed without browning or burning food. You can control the degree of cooking by bringing the food closer or just moving it away from fire.

Browning or roasting

It is a cooking technique in which you cook food inside the oven by browning. Using the hot air that is circulating around the food, this technique is appropriate for different foods, in particular, the foods that need a long time to cook in addition to big pieces of meat.

Deep frying

This cooking method consists of cooking foods inside a frying pan with hot oil. and gives a particular form and flavor to food in addition to its crunchiness. Moreover, this cooking method is suitable for small pieces of food, and for the food that doesn't need a long time to cook.This technique is known to be a fast technique. However, specialists advise not to consume a lot of frying foods because it is not healthy due to the resulting fats.

Sautéeing

It is among the most used cooking methods and techniques, especially in restaurants; this cooking technique needs dry-heat cooking, by using a hot pan and a small piece of butter or oil to roast vegetables, and meats quickly. Sautéing consists of browning foods on the surface and gives a unique flavor and aromas.

Simmering

It is a cooking technique that consists of cooking foods in one pot full of hot water. It's a gentle technique where you cook food at a cooking temperature below the boiling point.

Baking

It is a technique of cooking foods that need dry heat. Baked food is usually done in an enclosed space such as an oven but also in hot stones. The most common baked food is bread, cakes ….The second part of our article is to show you how to cook, so keep reading.

3. Learning how to cook

Learn to cook properly depends on learning simple techniques as a start, and then gradually developing the skill automatically, so it is important for those who want to learn how to cook not to be rushed and give the cooking process enough time that you need. We also advise the learner to start applying simple steps and recipes so that It doesn’t cause confusion. In addition to that, you don’t have to start with complicated recipes and methods, even if the explanation is available for the steps that must follow, as it is all about practice, not reading the written instructions.

4. Need to know some cooking basics

There is some basic cooking that you need to learn, such as:4.1 Learning the correct way to cut vegetables, including onions, as it is an essential component of many dishes, can speed up the cooking process.4.2 Learning the correct way to make broth is useful in adding a stronger flavor to the different types of soups.4.3 Learn to cook rice well (both brown and white rice, with short or long gran) and avoid mixing its grains at the same time.4.4 Using the appropriate flavoring method for salads, it is possible to content with a mixture of oil and vinegar or to add lemon juice and fresh herbs to it.

5. Flavoring the food

The success of a professional chef depends on the way he flavors the food he cooks, in addition to the way how he chooses spices and flavors, including his reliance on the use of black pepper that is directly ground on the food to give it more flavor and taste. A professional chef makes sure to sprinkle salt on the food with fingers, in order to control the quantity. In the same way, he studies the appropriate time and temperature to use different flavors such as olive oil, sprinkled on vegetables before serving. Besides the acidic juices, and vinegar used as a final touch so that it gives shine to cooked meat and vegetables, In addition to how and when to add different fresh herbs such as thyme, coriander, parsley, etc.

Originally published on Live Positively.