Tuesday, December 30, 2008

The Joy of Cooking - Why We Love to Cook

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.

At the time, there was no fire to cook your food with and no potter to cook your food on. What man did was to eat his food directly from a catch. Man then discovered that there are certain foods that can be eaten raw such as fish, fruits, vegetables, and insects.

The history of cooking can be traced back between the time humans discovered fire and the Neolithic period, otherwise known as the Stone Age. Before they learned to make fire, and use it to prepare food, they ate their food fresh. They also consumed fruits and vegetables, fish, and insects.

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. - 15485

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