Chapter 1: Introduction To Food

  Last Wednesday on 11 October 2017,my friend and i was in the second week class for class Theory Of Food. On that day,Sir Naim has teach us about the Introduction To Food in chapter one.

For this chapter,i have learn about;
1. What is food?
2. 5 categories of nutrients
3. 2 other substances in food
4. The effects of heat on food
5. Seasoning and flavoring

1.1 What is food?
 - For me, food is any substances that can be eaten for our growth,energy and to maintain life.

5 categories of nutrients;

• Carbohydrates also known as starch.-Main energy.(example: bread,rice)
• Fats.(example: butter)
• Minerals.-Helps cells to function normally.
• Protein.-To build and repair your body tissues. (example: fish,meat)
• Sugar.

2 other substances in food
-Water
-Fiber

What is cooking?
- Cooking is a skills of preparing food by mixing,combining and heating an ingredients.

There are 5 effects of applying heat which is texture,flavor,aroma,appearance and color.

What happens to the nutrients when we cook?

• The sugar will be caramelize
• Carbohydrate will be gelatinize
• The fats will melts and dissolve
• Protein will coagulates (example: the egg will be cooked and the color will change)
• Mineral will oxidize
• Water will evaporates

Why do we cook?
- We cook because we want to enhance the taste,kill the microorganisms,make the food palatable and to produce texture.

The 3 methods of heat transfer
1. Conduction
→the heat move within the item

2. Convection
→spread by the movement of air,steam and liquid
→two types of convection; natural and mechanical.

3. Radiation
→use microwave/infrared cooking

The cooking times must consider;

• cooking temperature
• the speed
• the size,temperature and individual characteristic

3 cooking methods which is;
⇨Dry-heat by air or fat.

⇨Moist-heat by water or steam

⇨Combination (both of it)

Dry-heat methods using fat

• Sauté - short time,high heat,little amount of oil , flat pan (example; kohor)
• Stir fry (use wook)
• Pan fry - the oil is more than the sauté
• Deep fry - more oil used which to cook fish or chicken
• Pressure fry

Dry-heat cooking methods

• Broiling (cook food by using heat above the food)
• Grilling ( air )
• Roasting ( use oven ) (air)
• Baking (air)
• Griddle (air)
• Pan-Broiling (air)

Moist-heat cooking methods

• Poaching - pouch in a soup
• Simmering - slow heat,temperature,small bubble
• Boiling - very high heat,high bubble,boiling point ( 100°C )
• Steaming - example; steam pou
• Blanching - example; mee soup (to maintain the texture and colour)

Combination of cooking methods
 First step: brown the main ingredients using dry heat
 Second step: Complete the cooking by simmering the food in liquid

• Braising ( small amount of liquid )
• Stewing (enough liquid to cover the food)

Moist-heat cooking methods

• Poaching - liquid moves slightly but no bubbles (example;eggs,fish)
• Simmering - small bubbles (example;meats,stems)
• Boiling - rapid movement and large bubbles (example;vegetables,pasta)
• Steaming - generated by a boiling liquid (example;shellfish)

Seasoning & flavoring
→What is seasoning? Seasoning is the natural flavor of the food without changing its flavor. Example; salt
→What is flavoring? Flavoring is adding a new flavor into the food and modify the original flavor which will be added at any time based on the entire cooking process.

Herbs & spices
→Herbs and spices is any of a large group of aromatic plants. Herbs will be used either dry or fresh while spices usually used in dry form,whole or ground.
→Herbs is from leaves,stems and flowers as a flavoring.
→Spices is from whose bark,roots,seeds buds and berries as the flavoring.

Commonly used herbs & spices
 Example;

• Cilantro
• Cinnamon
• Cloves
• Ginger
• Turmeric
• Anise
• Galangal
• Sesame seeds
• Wasabi
• Cardamom

Herb and spice blends
Chinese five-spice powder → Fine herbs → Herbs de Provence → Italian seasoning → Garam masala → Pickling spices → Quatre epices → Ras el Hanout → Seasoned salts [•remember to store fresh herbs at 34°F- 40°F]

Seasoning & flavoring consideration
- flavoring should not hide the taste or aroma.
- flavorings should be combined balance.
- flavoring should not be used to disguise poor quality of foods.
- the most basic seasoning is salt.