Unit-1 Introduction to the Art of Cookery
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Advance Food Production HM-102 UNIT-1 INTRODUCTION TO THE ART OF COOKERY STRUCTURE 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Objective 1.3 Culinary history 1.3.1 Culinary history of India 1.3.2 History of cooking 1.4 Modern haute kitchen 1.5 Nouvelle cuisine 1.6 Indian regional cuisine Check your progress-I 1.7 Popular international cuisine 1.7.1 French cuisine 1.7.2 Italian cuisine 1.7.3 Chinese cuisine 1.8 Aims and objectives of cooking 1.9 Principles of balanced diet 1.9.1 Food groups 1.10 Action of heat on food 1.10.1 Effects of cooking on different types of ingredients Check your progress-II 1.11 Summary 1.12 Glossary 1.13 Check your progress-1 answers 1.14 Check your progress-2 answers 1.15 Reference/bibliography 1.16 Terminal questions 1.1 INTRODUCTION Cookery is defined as a ―chemical process‖ the mixing of ingredients; the application and withdrawal of heat to raw ingredients to make it more easily digestible, palatable and safe for human consumption. Cookery is considered to be both an art and science. The art of cooking is ancient. The first cook was a primitive man, who had put a chunk of meat close to the fire, which he had lit to warm himself. He discovered that the meat heated in this way was not only tasty but it was also much easier to masticate. From this moment, in unrecorded past, cooking has evolved to reach the present level of sophistication. Humankind in the beginning ate to survive. Now also we still eat to survive, however efforts have been made to make the food more enjoyable like cooking meats and vegetables in different ways to make them more easily eaten, digestible and to make them more attractive, palatable and to have wider choice. This is the art associated with the preparation of food. However it is not solely the artful manipulation and Uttarakhand Open University 1 Advance Food Production HM-102 combination of food which results in good tasting products. Nutritional aspects, the effects of combining various foodstuffs and the use of modern technology can be considered the science of cooking. The ―how of cooking‖ can be considered to be the art and the ―why of cooking‖ could be the science. Balancing the art and science must be the goal of every professional chef. 1.2 OBJECTIVE The objective of this unit is to make the students learn and understand: The evolution of cookery from ancient times to modern age. To understand the most popular cuisines of the world. To gain knowledge about human feeding habit and their well-being. 1.3 CULINARY HISTORY Development of the culinary art from the middle ages to modern cookery: The phrase ―a brief history of culinary preparation‖ is, at best, misleading and, at worst, a bald faced lie. It is not possible to do justice, in a brief manner, to a subject, which is equivalent to the history of human race. This art and science began more than 300,000 years ago when, according to carbon dating, man began to use fire for the preparation of food. There have been very few discoveries or inventions of humanity since fire that have been not affected, in some manner, the preparation of food. When was salt first used in food preparation? How did various spices and herbs begin to be used? These and many other questions concerning the history of food preparation cannot be answered. However, as archaeology has slowly uncovered the ancient civilization around the world, it has unearthed an increasingly large body of knowledge concerning the world over. When humans first used herbs and spices is not known, but their importance in the ancient world is known. The acquisition of these and other foodstuffs was a prime factor in the development of trade routes throughout both the western and eastern hemispheres. Alexander the great brought to Greece spices from the Orient and melons and other fruits from Persia. The trade routes begun by Alexander were later used by the Ptolemy‘s of Egypt and then by the Roman Empire. Spices and herbs hold a special place in the history of mankind, having been as eagerly sought as gold, silver and jewels. A less glamorous culinary cousin of spices, grain has always been the key to the might of nations. The treasures of Africa were not simply gold, ivory and jewels of Rome. Africa was more important as the breadbasket of the Empire. The pound of grain, which was the right of every citizen of Rome, came from the fertile fields of North Africa. It was to protect these shipments of grain that the Roman Empire cleared the Mediterranean Sea of pirates and built a system of roads, many parts are still in use today. Historically, the procuring of various foods has always been of great significance for the Roman Empire it was gram, or the English Empire tea and sugar. Culinary development initially was tied to developments within an individual country or region; however as each region came in contact with people from other areas, ideas were Uttarakhand Open University 2 Advance Food Production HM-102 exchanged. The result was a traceable progression in the development of food preparation from the Egyptians, to the Assyrians, to the Babylonians, to the Greeks, to the Romans, and then directs forerunners of the French kitchen. The French kitchen is the cornerstone for most historians of the beginning of modern dining in the western world. A pattern of refinement and development of culinary preparation began with the early Egyptians rulers and continued to the time of Persians. The Greeks refined the tradition of cooking; in fact Greek contribution towards the kitchen was frying pan and few other things. The citizens of early Rome were admirers of all things Greek made and invented, but the development of cuisine in the region of Rome is an example of how cuisines have developed in regions all over the world. In the Roman Empire there were two levels of culinary development taking place simultaneously. The one most often discussed is that of the ruling elite and their effect on foods. The Romans are to be credited with introducing to the rest of Europe a sense of culinary art. At the age of 14 years a young man name Grillaume of Tirel was a kitchen boy who cooked huge roast in front of the open fire. This young boy was destined to be the founder of the movement towards the modern French kitchen. Throughout the twentieth century the kitchen and menu have been streamlined. Preparations have come to be viewed from the standpoint of nutritional value as well as taste. There is no question that the history of culinary preparation has just begun, whether the issue is kitchen organization, style of service, cuisine and many other issues. 1.3.1 CULINARY HISTORY OF INDIA Culinary skills and arts of a country are backed by the ―origin‖ which can precisely be termed as ―Culinary History‖. The origin of each country‘s eating habits however have arisen due to the influence from within the country itself or from its neighbors and some other influence such as climatic conditions, agriculture, religious aspects etc. Indian cooking has developed–from a purely vegetarian style to today‘s mixed style in the process, artistically absorbing the culinary styles of all the subcontinents, past invaders which include Persians, Greeks, Romans, Mugals, French, Portuguese and the British. Over 5,000 years of recorded history and even before, one gathers from its legends and great epics, India had been invaded by armies, traders and immigrants from all over the world. Some of the conquerors were the Aryans during the second millennium BC, the Greeks, led by Alexander the great in 326 BC, the Mugals in the 16th Century, the British in the 18th and 19th centuries, but these were interspreads with more observe and more exotic incursions of Mugals, Sythian, Pasthians, Kushans, Arabs, Turks, Afghans, Portuguese and Dutch and throughout this successions of invaders there remained pockets of tribal and aboriginal life in the more daunting mountain, country and in the less accessible inland areas. After the independence and partition of India, there was a mass exodus of people to Great Britain, Africa and other parts of the world. They took with them eating habits and spices, and soon Africa started cultivating those spices. The mass migration of Asians in the 60‘s and 70‘s from east Africa and the sub–continent to Great Britain and other parts of Europe brought Indian food to the notice of everyone. The sub-continent of India and Pakistan covers about 4 million sq. km. and comprises of many different cultures and Uttarakhand Open University 3 Advance Food Production HM-102 regions of which the main being Hindus and Muslims. Equally in the matter of religion an exceedingly important even crucial aspect of Indian life, the country displays a profession of faith, practices and observances as it is the home of Hinduism, and Buddhism and the religions of the Jains, the Sikhs etc. India as mentioned earlier has a large population of Muslims and Hindus and contains as well different seats of Christians, one of the oldest settlements of Jews in the world. Zoroastrians, animists and a number of minor faiths all of these have contributed too in their own manner and ways and attributed to the rich texture of Indian life and living. After all these centuries of foreign contact, India and most of the South East Asia should still be screened from the western would be such a formidable barrier of fantasy, half-truths, misconceptions and sheer ignorance.