Flavours - Nourishment

The Principles of Cookery

'Why do we cook', most of us we cook because we have to and we want to.  I believe that everyone can cook.   How about we prepare to get the best out of the ingredients, so they can be more enjoyable and nutritious too.  How to go about it.  Well, we ought to know the basic principles of cookery.

I am sharing information from the book that I have:  one of my cooking books.   "Australian Cookery of Today. Illustrated". The Sun News-Pictorial Melbourne.

"Why do I cook?" it has two answers.  The first, to retain the flavour and nourishment of food.  The second to extract it.

To Retain Nourishment And  The Flavour.
There is in meat, one of the primary forms of food in this country-a large proportion of albumen which hardens, just as the white of an egg does, when it comes in contact with heat. That is why, when we want to keep the flavour in a boiled leg of mutton, for instance, we put it into boiling water, causing the albumen the outside to harden and so form a protective jacket that will prevent the goodness escaping.  If however, we continued the process of fast cooking, the whole of the joint would harden and would be most indigestible, if not unbeatable.

 Proper cooking utensil a heavy based pot
for slow cooking.

Therefore, the wise cook slackens the heat as soon as the water has boiled for two or three minutes, allowing it just to simmer gently until the food is tender.  Remember that "to simmer" means that the water just moving smoothly, not bubbling fast or rising in the saucepan.






The same principle of forming a protective jacket applies to roast, baking, grilling, and frying.  With all these methods, we desire to keep in the goodness.  It is therefore of no use to put food into a warm oven, under or cold grill or in a cold frying pan. Inevitably, the result would be tasteless meat because the thin coating of albumen would not be allowed to form. The oven must be the correct heat when the food is put in.
Similarly, the grill or the frying pan must be made hot first. Then the juice will be sealed inside, the outside nicely browned, and the inside moist and tender.  For this reason, we do not stick a fork in meat when turning it while grilling or frying as the fork would piece the albumen and allow the juices to escape.

The exception to this rule is salt meat. If it were put in boiling water, the salt would be all sealed inside and the meat made hard in consequence. So we put salt meat in warm water.

To Extract Flavour.
In contrast, when we wish to extract flavour and goodness, we put meat in cold water and simmer it the whole time until the meat is quite flavourless and devoid of nourishment.  This method applies to the making of beef tea, stock, broth or soup.



I am glad that I learnt and gained excellent information from the book, more so that I can share it with you all.  For you who are trying to learn about cooking as I do, I think it is useful, but for those who are excellent cooks and experts, maybe it is helpful as a reminder and to emphasise what they already knew.




The Principle of Cookery to be continued
Stay Tuned
Susy