April 14, 2008

The Joy of Cooking - Why We Love to Cook

Eating is often made into a social occasion.

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by Alice Sy

People say that the surest way that a woman will get to a man's heart is through his stomach. That is true. In the course of history, no person has ever said no to food. Cooking is a universal favorite and it has done much to human being - livelihood, entertainment, etc. Indeed, the joy of cooking is undoubtable.

Before fire was discovered by man, human beings used to eat their food raw and fresh from a catch. Over time, they have learned which food can be eaten raw without any undesired effects to the body. Aside from seafood, they have learned that fruits, vegetables and insects can be eaten raw.

When fire was discovered, the joy of cooking started to spark among the hearts of men. Many tried to experiment cooking different foods directly over the fire since pottery wasn't available then. They either cooked the food directly over the fire or they wrapped and steamed them over embers.

There are two types of cooking. They are cuisine bourgeois, or home cooking, and haute cuisine. Haute cuisine is the form of cooking that seeks to find pleasure. In principle, the differences of the two are laid between practical skills in cooking and the artistic way of cooking. In actual, on the other hand, the two principles cannot be identified. It has remained in vague for years. This was further increased by home cooks who are now better equipped, well informed, and well supplied than they were in the past. But whatever type cooking maybe, anyone will always feel the joy of cooking.

When fire was discovered, the joy of cooking began to fill the hearts of man. The change in flavor and texture once food was exposed to fire changed and it changed in an even better way, sparking man's interest. Man either cooked the food directly over the fire or chose to wrap and steam his food over hot embers.

Humans first roasted or toasted their food directly from the fire. This was before they invented pottery, around 7,000 and 12,000 years ago. They also wrapped and steamed their food over embers. With the development of pottery, cooking became sophisticated. The methods of cooking, like boiling, stewing, frying, and baking, were soon realized. Later, it successfully evolved to what is now modern cooking.

There are five forms of cooking with the help of heat. They include cooking through liquid, like boiling, poaching, and stewing; cooking in fats and oil, or frying; coking by exposing to vapor, like steaming, poaching, and braising; exposing to dry heat, like baking, broiling, and roasting; and subjecting to hot oil or sauting. So, in whatever forms you may wish to cook, just feel the joy of cooking.

Everybody loves to eat food, however, cooking it in different ways made eating food a much more memorable experience. It is this appreciation that man needs to feel in order to understand the joy of cooking.

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Filed under Cooking Tips and Recipes, Food and Drink by Alice Sy

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