It's easy to prepare simple, nutritious meals that taste great without spending a lot of time or money. Your own cooking can quickly be rewarding by learning a few common cooking terms, following some basic recipes, and using a bit of creativity.
Cooking involves a basic set of techniques that can be varied to produce a range
of foods differing widely in flavor, texture, and nutritional content. Though cooking generally implies that the food is cooked, a cook can also prepare dishes that require no cooking at all, such as salads. When you select the foods that are most appealing within your dietary needs and budget, then prepare them in the kitchen, the end result depends on the combination of techniques you choose. You can keep meats and vegetables separate, or mix them with different sets of flavorings to end up with a stir-fry, a curry, or a stew. You can combine fresh ingredients into a tossed salad, or cook them together to make a soup.
Recipes rely heavily on conventional terms for basic cooking techniques. Because recipes are so useful for preparing new dishes, having a quick reference for these terms will make the whole process easier to understand.
Common preparation steps involved in cooking include:
- Washing food and selecting the edible parts
- Cutting the food, either so it will cook faster or so it's easier to eat
- Adding flavorings
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Terms used to describe techniques used for these preparation steps include:
Wash, rinse, scrub use water to remove any dirt and debris
Trim, pare and peel use a knife or vegetable peeler to separate any parts of the food that won't be used, like stems of root vegetables or skin of oranges
Slice use a knife to cut the food into wedges or slices
Chop, dice, mince use a knife or food processor to cut the food into smaller pieces
Shred, grate rub food against a knife or grater to make strips or very small pieces
Mash, puree use a food processor to make a smooth texture, like mashed potatoes
Add a pinch or a dash add a small amount of flavoring
Marinate let food absorb a mixture of flavoring and tenderizing ingredients including oil, an acidic liquid like vinegar, wine, or lemon juice, and salt
Common cooking steps include:
- Putting the food into the cooking container
- Cooking the food with a source of heat
- Mixing the ingredients
Terms used to describe techniques used for these cooking steps include:
Add, pour put solid or liquid ingredients into a pot or panStir, mix, blend combine ingredients with a mixing spoon or sometimes a food processor
Turn flip a flattened piece of food onto its other side
Brown let food darken to a brown color while exposed to heat
Baste add liquid on top of a food to flavor it and keep it from drying out
Boil cook in boiling, continuously bubbling water
Steam cook over boiling water using a steamer
Poach, simmer, stew, braise cook in liquid below boiling temperature
Fry, stir-fry cook at high temperature in oil
Saute cook at lower temperature in oil
Grill, barbecue, broil cook near a source of high heat like a grill
Roast, bake cook in the dry heat of an oven
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