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Methods of Cooking Food P1
Methods of Cooking Food P1
PURPOSE OF COOKING
Some foods, such as fruits and vegetables, are highly palatable when
eaten raw. However, most foods must be cooked to be acceptable to
the human palate. The main purposes of cooking food are: • to
improve its natural flavor and palatability; • to destroy pathogenic
organisms and injurious substances which may be found on raw
foods; • to improve its digestibility; and• to make its maximum
nutritive value available in a palatable form.
Natural Flavor and Palatability
Fruits and vegetables are highly palatable because of its natural
texture and nutritive value when they bare remain unsoaked and
uncooked. The flavor of the food is depends on its influence of flavor
and to maintain the natural flavor of the object. Used a short process
of cooking without adding any flavoring materials.
When mixing some food, you can developed an interested blend.
The process of cooking this food are long time to develop the new
flavor. For example, casserole dishes, pudding, and the local Sinigang
and Nilaga are enjoyed for their interesting blend of different flavors.
Overcooking, however, is destructive of flavors and food may become
soggy or stringy.
The effect of cooking on the color and texture of food has a great
influence on flavor. The methods of cooking used must be those which
are conserving of the natural color of food or developing the new,
desired color.
Pathogenic Organisms and Injurious Substances on Food
All foods in their natural state are subject to spoilage or
deterioration because of pathogenic organisms and injurious
substances found in them. Microorganisms, such as molds, yeasts,
and bacteria, grow at certain temperature generally between 0 degree
to 75 degrees. However, with heat application or exposure to
temperatures near the boiling point of water, microorganisms are
easily killed.
Digestibility of Food
All foods undergo softening as a result of cooking, which may
render food more digestible. Some cooking processes are identical with
the processes involved in the breakdown of food during digestion. For
example: the transformation of starch into dextrin’s and the
hydrolyses that takes place during the cooking of meat break down
the protein collagen in connective tissues. Digestibility to a layman,
refers not only to the completeness of digestion and absorption but
also the general feeling and after effect of eating. When food is hard to
digest, it is easily manifested by a feeling of discomfort. Some fruits
and vegetables have to be cooked to be palatable, soft and easy to
digest.
There are some raw foods that have to be cooked in order that
their nutritive value can be used by the body. For example, root crops
have to be cooked to fully enjoy their carbohydrates content. The
protein content of most fish and meat are fully utilized when cooked.
To develop, enhance, or alter the flavor of foods and to maximize its
nutritive value, control must be exercised by the method of cooking
used and the length of cooking time
COOKING MEDIUM
The methods of cooking are classified according to the cooking
medium, namely, air, water, steam, fat, and a combination of one or
more of these mediums. Air and Heat as Cooking Mediums
Foods are also cooked by convection currents or the transfer of
kinetic energy by heated air or liquid, and by radiation or transfer of
kinetic energy by means of waves.
Broiling is cooking over or
under a source of direct heat
such as coals, a gas burner,
or a glowing electric unit.
Much of the heat is derived
from radiant energy; some is
conducted from the air and from the broiler rack.
Baking is cooking in an
oven, whereby, convection
cur rents aid in heating the
air and equalizing the oven
temperature.