What Does cooking Mean
Originating in the Latin word coctĭo , the concept of cooking refers to the consequence and the process of cooking something . This verb, for its part, describes the fact of leaving a raw food in conditions suitable for consumption through a procedure based on boiling or the action of steam . In a similar sense, cooking is exposing a certain thing to the action of heat so that it acquires certain properties .
Cooking, as many of you will know, makes most products softer and tastier. The process also contributes to the good preservation of meals. However, most fruits and vegetables do not require cooking as they can be eaten while raw. Also, it is worth remembering that there are times when meat and fish are eaten raw, although they are exceptions.
When talking about cooking food, it is important to emphasize that depending on the product, the properties it has, the time of this action will vary. Thus, for example, it is established that fresh legumes, among which are green beans or artichokes, should be between five and ten minutes.
In contrast, dry legumes such as lentils or chickpeas have characteristics that determine that the time established for cooking is around twenty minutes.
Pasta, for its part, requires about six minutes; the fish require a cooking time between four and ten minutes; and the meat is normally around ten minutes.
It should also be noted that cooking causes an alteration in the biochemical and physical compounds of each food , either through softening, coagulation, swelling or dissolution. Heat also ensures the total destruction of disease- causing or disease- transmitting agents that are present in raw foods.
The Salmonella and Escherichia coli , for example, can be removed by firing. Certain natural amino acids and alkaloids that are toxic to humans can also be destroyed by cooking processes.
The most common cooking methods are three: cooking in an aqueous medium , cooking in a fatty medium and cooking in an air medium .
The most usual aqueous medium cooking consists of immersing the food in boiling water or in a water bath. Cooking, on the other hand, can be done steamed or in a pressure cooker.
As for the fatty medium, the most common cooking is carried out in oils or fats that are at temperatures that exceed one hundred degrees Celsius.
Finally, cooking in an airborne environment consists of establishing close and direct contact with the flame or any other heat source, such as in a grill or an oven .
In addition to all the above, we have to emphasize that firing is also one of the most important phases that take place within the artisanal manufacture of ceramics. Specifically, for professionals in this artistic sector it is the most important stage since it is the moment in which the pieces are given their decorative properties.
In this way, it is established that the cooking phase of said artisanal procedure will be adequate and perfect when it has been possible to avoid that the piece lacks defects and that, therefore, it has the best possible quality to be useful and to be launched on the market where may be purchased by buyers who wish.