Principles of Cooking

Food is cooked for the following reasons –

(a) To render meat and vegetables more digestible by loosening the muscular fibres in meat and breaking starched grains in vegetables.
(b) To make it more appetizing to the sight, taste and smell. Always make dishes as attractive as possible and taste all dishes twice during cooking.


Braising
Braising is a combination of roasting and stewing. Inferior joints being used are – flank, plate and mid ribs. The heat required is the same as for stewing (170 – 180%). The time needed is 20 minutes to the lb and 20 minutes extra, according to joint being used. The estimated loss is 20 – 25%.

Stewing
Stewing is the most profitable of cooking, if properly performed; tough meat is made tender, wholesome and more nourishing. Stewing is not boiling; the temperature required is 170 – 180%. Joints used are shin, shanks, thin flank, plate, sticking piece and flat ribs. The time
required is 1 ½ to 2 hours. The estimated loss in cooking is 12 – 15%.

Frying (deep)
Fat must be smoking hot. The heat required is 350 – 400%. Further test for heat, place in a small piece of bread in the fat, which should quickly colour, if frying is performed properly there is very little loss. Cooking time varies greatly according to the article being fried. Articles usually fried are potatoes, fish, fish cakes, croquettes and fritters.

Frying (shallow)
Sufficient fat required, barely covering the bottom of the pan. Fat should be hot and the article quickly covered on both sides. Some food requires finishing in the oven. Articles used are bacon, kidneys, steaks, chops and Vienna steaks. When frying meat dish, always remove surplus fat and use residue for sauce and gravy.

Boiling
Boiling is cooking by immersing food in boiling water or other liquid. This method of cooking is one of the simplest if carried out correctly. In order to retain nutrients and flavour in food, it should be put into the liquid when it s fast boiling and kept at that temperature for approx 10 minutes, this seals the pores thus retaining the juices.

Roasting
Roasting consists of cooking in a hot oven with sufficient fat to baste the joint form time to time, to help the browning process, and also to prevent the joint becoming dry. This also seals the outside of the meat preventing the juices from escaping. This method is most suitable for the best parts of the meat. During the cooking process a fork should never be used for turning the meat, as this breaks the seal and allows the juices to escape. Roasting joints are loin, wing end, fore rib, mid rib, chuck rib, topside rump, thick flank and leg of mutton. The time needed – is 15 minutes to the lb and 15 minutes over. The average loss in cooking is 30 – 35%.

Steaming
This is a method of cooking by means of vapour. It is suitable for the cooking of vegetables and puddings. The steam pressure must be maintained during the time the food is in the steamers and the doors kept tightly closed.
Note
Steamers should be warmed for a few minutes before the article is put in. The estimated loss is 15%.