Introduction to Cookery

What is Cookery?

At its simplest level, cookery is the application of heat to food ingredients. However, for a professional chef, it is much more than that.

It is often defined as a chemical process—the mixing of ingredients and the application of heat to change the structure, taste, flavor, and appearance of food.

• The Science: It involves chemistry (how proteins coagulate, how starches gelatinize).

• The Art: It involves creativity, presentation, and the balance of flavors.

Aims and Objectives of Cooking

Why do we cook food instead of eating everything raw? There are five main reasons every student must know:

A. Sterilization (Safety)

This is the most critical aspect. Raw food (especially meat and poultry) contains harmful bacteria and microorganisms.

• Heat kills these bacteria (usually above 75°C).

• It makes food safe for human consumption.

B. Digestibility

The human body cannot digest raw starch (like a raw potato) or tough fibers very well.

• Cooking breaks down collagen in meat, making it tender.

• Cooking swells starch granules in vegetables and grains, making them soft and absorbable.

C. Palatability (Taste and Flavor)

Cooking enhances flavor.

• Example: A raw onion is pungent and sharp. A sautéed onion is sweet and savory.

• Techniques like roasting create the Maillard Reaction (browning), which creates that delicious "cooked food" smell and taste.

D. Appearance (Visual Appeal)

We eat with our eyes first. Cooking changes the color and texture of food to make it appetizing.

• Example: A grey, raw prawn turns a vibrant pink/orange when cooked.

• Warning: Overcooking can ruin appearance (e.g., turning green vegetables olive-grey).

E. Variety

Cooking allows us to create different dishes from the same ingredient.

• Example: Potatoes can be boiled, mashed, fried, roasted, or baked. Same ingredient, five distinct experiences.

To cook food, heat must travel from the source (fire/oven) to the food. There are three ways this happens. Understanding this is the physics of the kitchen.

1. Conduction (Direct Contact)

Heat travels directly from the heat source to the vessel, and then to the food.

• Analogy: Touching a hot spoon.

• Kitchen Example: Searing a steak in a frying pan. The metal touches the meat directly.

2. Convection (Movement of Fluids/Air)

Heat is carried by currents in liquids or gases (such as air). The hot molecules rise, and the cool molecules sink, creating a cycle.

• Kitchen Example:

  • Liquid: Boiling potatoes (water moves around the potato).

  • Air: Baking in an oven (hot air circulates around the cake).

3. Radiation (Waves)

Heat travels in waves (rays) without needing a physical medium like a pan or water.

• Kitchen Example:

  • Infrared: Toasters or Salamanders (broilers).

  • Microwave: Agitating water molecules inside the food to create heat.

Methods of Heat Transfer

Basic Classification of Ingredients

To manage a kitchen, you must understand your raw materials. Most professional kitchens categorize ingredients into:

• Perishables: Items with a short shelf life (Milk, Meat, Seafood, Leafy Greens).

• Semi-Perishables: Items that last a few weeks if stored correctly (Root vegetables like onions and potatoes, Lemons).

• Non-Perishables: Dry goods with a long shelf life (Flour, Sugar, Rice, Pulses, Spices).

Texture Consistencies (Culinary Vocabulary)

As a chef, you cannot just say "the food feels weird." You must use proper descriptors.

• Firm: Offers resistance to the bite (e.g., a well-cooked steak).

• Crisp: Breaks with a crunch (e.g., potato chips, celery).

• Spongy: Springy and porous (e.g., Idli, Bread).

• Smooth/Velvety: No lumps or roughness (e.g., Sauces, Custards).

• Short: Crumbles easily (e.g., Biscuits, Shortbread).

The Professional Chef’s "Mise-en-Place"

One of the first French terms you must master is Mise-en-place (pronounced meez-on-plahs), which translates to "everything in its place."

In a professional kitchen, you don't start cooking until:

• All vegetables are washed and chopped.

• Stocks and sauces are simmered.

• Meats are marinated.

• Tools and equipment are sanitized and ready.