copyright 2021 Art of Living, Prima Media Inc/Maria Liberati
Food preparation can seem like a big process. There are many foods to choose from, proper ways to store it, and cooking techniques and seasoning to make it taste good. While food preparation can come with complexity, it doesn’t have to. All you need to know is a few basic principles.
Elements of Flavor
There are 5 different tastes: sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami. Elements of flavor are essential to enhancing these different tastes. These elements are salt, fat, acid, and heat. Salt is a great flavor enhancer. You can use a small amount to bring out sweetness, or more to bring out umami (savory) flavors. Fats like oils can add to the flavor and texture of the meal. Acid, like lemon or vinegar, helps to balance out flavors and lightens the pallet. Acid can also help to tenderize meats. Heat is the process of cooking food. Applying heat makes chemical changes that are necessary for a good dish.
Food Safety
Contaminated food can make you sick. To prevent this, follow the food safety principles which are clean, separate, chill, and cook. Clean means to wash your hands often and to wash all surfaces thoroughly. You should separate raw foods from ready-to-eat foods such as to prevent contamination. Food needs to be chilled to prevent bacteria from growing. Foods should be cooked to proper temperatures to kill any bacteria. You can apply critical control points to ensure that your food is safe. These are steps taken to prevent the contamination of food, such as storing the raw chicken in the refrigerator. Critical control point is often used in the restaurant industry to prevent food contamination.
Techniques
There are different food preparation techniques that you need to know. There is baking which is a process in which dry heat is applied to the food, often used for pastries and breads. There is frying which involves cooking in fat which includes stir-fry, sauté. There is roasting which is baking at a high heat and dries the food more so than regular baking. Other food preparation techniques include grilling, steaming, poaching, simmering, broiling, blanching, braising, and stewing.
Food preparation doesn’t need to be complex. Knowing basic food principles can help to remove some of the complexity. These principles help you to cook safely and help you have great tasting food.
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