TITLE PAGE WHAT’S COOKING? Roberta Ann Muir Dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the coursework requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (Gastronomy) School of History and Politics University of Adelaide September 2003 ii TABLE OF CONTENTS TITLE PAGE.......................................................................................................................................................... i TABLE OF CONTENTS....................................................................................................................................... ii LIST OF TABLES................................................................................................................................................ iv ABSTRACT .......................................................................................................................................................... v DECLARATION................................................................................................................................................... vi 1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................1 2 ‘COOKING’ IN OTHER LANGUAGES.......................................................................................................3 2.1 Japanese............................................................................................................................................3 2.2 Tagalog ..............................................................................................................................................4 2.3 Indonesian..........................................................................................................................................4 2.4 Polish..................................................................................................................................................5 2.5 Norwegian ..........................................................................................................................................5 2.6 Arabic .................................................................................................................................................5 3 WHAT IS COOKING?.................................................................................................................................7 3.1 Dictionary ...........................................................................................................................................7 3.2 Scientific.............................................................................................................................................9 3.3 More than Heat ..................................................................................................................................9 3.4 Cooking versus Good Cooking .......................................................................................................10 3.5 Transformation.................................................................................................................................11 3.6 What Cooks Do................................................................................................................................13 4 WHY COOK? ............................................................................................................................................15 4.1 Make the Inedible Edible .................................................................................................................15 4.2 Increase Nutritional Value ...............................................................................................................16 4.3 Preservation.....................................................................................................................................17 4.4 Aesthetic...........................................................................................................................................18 4.5 Social................................................................................................................................................18 5 ACHIEVING THE DESIRED OUTCOMES OF COOKING WITHOUT HEAT........................................21 5.1 Make the Inedible Edible .................................................................................................................21 5.2 Increase Nutritional Value ...............................................................................................................22 5.3 Preservation.....................................................................................................................................23 5.4 Aesthetic...........................................................................................................................................24 5.5 Social................................................................................................................................................26 6 “DO YOU CONSIDER THIS COOKING?”...............................................................................................28 7 CATEGORIES OF COOKING TECHNIQUES NOT INVOLVING HEAT...............................................32 6.1 Before...............................................................................................................................................32 6.2 During...............................................................................................................................................34 6.3 After..................................................................................................................................................36 7 COOKING WITHOUT HEAT....................................................................................................................37 7.1 Smoking ...........................................................................................................................................37 7.2 Drying ...............................................................................................................................................38 7.3 Salting...............................................................................................................................................38 7.4 Putrefaction......................................................................................................................................39 7.5 Pickling .............................................................................................................................................40 7.6 Fermenting .......................................................................................................................................41 7.7 Curdling............................................................................................................................................41 7.8 Acidifying..........................................................................................................................................42 7.9 Marinating.........................................................................................................................................43 iii 7.10 Seasoning ........................................................................................................................................43 7.11 Whisking...........................................................................................................................................44 7.12 Churning...........................................................................................................................................45 7.13 Pounding and Grinding....................................................................................................................45 7.14 Chopping and Mincing.....................................................................................................................46 7.15 Slicing...............................................................................................................................................46 7.16 Blending and Pureeing ....................................................................................................................47 7.17 Juicing and Filtering.........................................................................................................................47 7.18 Freezing and Thawing.....................................................................................................................48 7.19 Assembling.......................................................................................................................................48 7.20 “Raw Food” ......................................................................................................................................49 7.21 Searing .............................................................................................................................................50 7.22 Blanching..........................................................................................................................................50 7.23 Sun Heat ..........................................................................................................................................51 7.24 Body Heat.........................................................................................................................................52