Cooking Basics (Part 1)






by Owen Jones


Without a doubt, the greatest difficulty confronting the human race is the growing of enough food for the populace of the world. After all, food, including water, is the one thing that we can not do without. Everybody has to eat enough, although many people do eat too much each day. However, it is not only a question of putting something or enough in our mouths, the food has to provide enough energy and enough nutrients.

Our bodies need the nutrients it has to have to permit it to fight off attacks from disease, repair itself if it temporarily loses one of those battles and to only grow as we mature from childhood. We also need nutrients and energy to be able to get around, do our job and raise our offspring. Therefore, in order to get the most out of life, we all need to eat enough food of the correct quality.

However, having enough of the right sort of food is merely part of the problem. You also have to know how to get the most out of that food by preparing it in the correct manner and combining it with complimentary foods. This normally involves cooking.

Therefore, the capacity to cook is one of the most vital skills that a person can acquire otherwise lots of the nutrients will be wasted and so costly food will get lost as well. However, cooking does not just mean preparing the ingredients in the right manner so as not to squander nutrients, it also means providing the whole range of nutrients and fibres that we need over the period of, say, a week.

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

This all points to a requirement for everyone to learn how to cook. Each man an and woman ought to understand at least the essentials of cookery so that they can take care of themselves or / and take an active role in taking care of their family. This is not an simple task, if you prefer to get it correct. In many societies, children begin helping their parents and grandparents prepare food from an early age.

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

The family cook has further responsibilities other than only those outlined above, the family cook also has to learn how to use the household budget judiciously. In many families, the food budget is the largest part of the total household budget. That is a big obligation. This only emphasizes the importance of cooking properly, getting the most nutrients they can from food and minimizing waste.




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