Monday, April 13, 2009

How to Cook

By Azeem Ahmed

Cooking is seen as an enjoyable activity by quite a number of people. It is important for the cook to have knowledge of the cooking basics if cooking is to be enjoyable. Cooking basics also entail the basic cooking terms whose knowledge is imperative if one is to follow recipes and come up with the intended dish. Marinade and sauce are used in the basting of meat and the whole process is called baste. If chicken and lambs are to be kept moist, juices are used to baste them.

In cooking beat is associated with eggs and involves the cook continuously hitting the eggs with a whisk or fork inside a bowl. Al dente identifies a term that pasta fans can identify with and it means using little bite to cook pasta. Blanch is normally used when one is cooking vegetables and involves vegetables being dropped in boiled water for a single minute. Tomatoes are among the vegetables that are usually blanched; several fruits are blanched as well to remove the covering skin.

Chop can be counted among the most common terms in cooking and is at least known by most cooks. There are some words that precede chop and one should be careful with those words as they determine the end results of the meal; such words are like roughly and finely. When baking the term cream usually comes up. Butter, sugar and margarine can be creamed together. Dice is term that comes up when the cook has to slice their ingredients into small, even and neat cubes.

Filleting can be a complicated process but once one masters it, it turns out to be impressive. The process entails removing bones from either meat or fish. Vegetables are sometimes cut into even, long and fine strips when one uses some recipes. Julienne is a chopping form that has people chop vegetables in a fine manner. Some people do not know the meaning of the term pare and they cook vegetables and eat fruits frequently. The term simply means peeling fruits or vegetables.

Marinate in cooking means letting fish or meat soak up earlier made marinate (sauce). The duration that is needed for the fish or meat to get marinated depends on the recipe that one is using and can be between a few minutes and the whole night. One should always refrigerate marinated fish or meat. Poach is a cooking term used when one cooks food using gently using simmering water. Other liquids can be used to poach as well. Cooking essentially identifies an art that necessitates dedication, patience, time, skill and effort.

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