Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Cooking Basics (Part 1)

By Owen Jones


Without a doubt, the greatest problem confronting the human race is the production of enough food for the population of the world. After all, food, including water, is the one thing that we can not do without. Everyone has to eat enough, although lots of individuals do eat too much each day. However, it is not just a question of putting something or enough in our mouths, the food has to supply enough energy and adequate nutrients.

Our bodies require the nutrients it takes to permit it to fight off attacks from disease, repair itself if it temporarily loses one of those battles and to just grow as we mature from childhood. We also require nutrients and energy to be able to get around, work and raise our children. Therefore, in order to get the most out of life, we all have to eat sufficient food of the right quality.

However, having enough of the right sort of food is only part of the difficulty. You also have to know how to get the most out of that food by serving it properly and mixing it with appropriate foods. This normally involves cooking.

Therefore, the capacity to cook is one of the most important skills that a person can learn otherwise many of the nutrients will be lost and so precious food will be lost too. However, cooking does not just mean serving the ingredients properly so as not to squander nutrients, it also means providing the complete range of nutrients and fibres that we need over the period of, say, a week.

Cooking has conventionally been seen as a woman's occupation in most parts of the world and this is understandable because women were often at home with children for a large part of their early lives, however, that has changed in numerous societies. Since the introduction of the birth control pill, numerous women have taken on a different, more equal function in society. Not just that, but more and more individuals are choosing to live alone and indeed individuals are also living longer.

This all points to a need for everybody to know how to cook. Each man an and woman should understand at least the rudiments of cookery so that they can take care of themselves or / and take an dynamic role in taking care of their family. This is not an simple job, if you want to get it right. In lots of societies, children begin helping their parents and grandparents prepare food from an early age.

This is something that went out of fashion in numerous Western countries in the Seventies and Eighties. Luckily, this trend is reversing, but what is noticeable is that young Asian people living in the East are shunning learning to cook as 'old fashioned' as they are becoming more affluent. This is a real shame , but we cannot expect Asian youth to learn from our mistakes.

The family cook has further responsibilities other than merely those outlined above, the family cook also has to learn how to use the household budget wisely. In many families, the food budget is the largest proportion of the total household budget. That is a big responsibility. This only emphasizes the importance of cooking in the correct manner, procuring the most nutrients possible from food and minimizing waste.




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