Cooking Techniques Facts
Cooking Techniques Facts
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| Interesting Cooking Techniques Facts: |
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| The oldest evidence of cooking food dates back 1 million years, but it is suspected that it has existed in some form as far back as 2.3 million years. |
| Early cooking was enhanced when pottery was invented as it allowed for holding and boiling water or other liquids. |
| Evidence of hearths, burnt bones, and earth ovens date back 300,000 years in the Middle East and Europe. |
| During the Columbian Exchange (when plants and animals were transported back and forth between the New World and the Old World), cooking techniques advanced and changed. |
| During the Industrial Revolution cooking techniques advanced further to accommodate mass production of food products. |
| Common cooking techniques include frying, broiling, steaming, boiling, roasting, baking, and barbecuing. |
| Steaming food involves boiling water which vaporizes into steam and cooks the food. This form of cooking helps food maintain its nutrients better than other methods such as boiling. |
| Boiling involves heating a liquid such as water or broth to its boiling point and immersing food in it to cook. |
| Baking involves using dry heat, such as that found in an oven, to cook food. When baking, heat transfers from the surface of the food inward, cooking from the outside in. |
| Frying involves cooking food in a hot pan, usually in oil or fat and turning until both sides have cooked to the inside. |
| Deep frying involves placing food into hot oil or fat and cooked until crisp. |
| Smoking food involves cooking food with smoke, indirectly from burning a type of wood. |
| Roasting involves using dry heat, like that from an oven to caramelize the outside of meat or vegetables, and cooking from the outside inward. |
| Barbecuing involves cooking food over a grill, heated by charcoal or wood or gas such as propane or natural gas. |
| One form of cooking food, involves using the acid in lime or lemon juice to cook food. This is used to cook a seafood dish called ceviche, common in South America. Acid can be used to cook other foods in the same way. |
| Cooking techniques were invented to not only cook food but also as method to prevent foodborne illness, which can occur when eating meat or other food in its raw form. |
| Food poisoning continues to occur today, even in industrialized countries, due to unsafe food handling practices. |
| Safe cooking techniques involve using the right temperature, and right amount of time to cook a particular food. |
| Some cooking methods, such as deep frying, can have negative health consequences. |
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