[Illustration: Composition of food materials]
[Illustration: Composition of food materials]
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PREPARATION OF FOOD
REASONS FOR COOKING FOOD
25. The term cookery, as has been explained, means the preparation of
both hot and cold dishes for use as food, as well as the selection of
the materials or substances that are to be cooked. The importance of
cooking foods by subjecting them to the action of heat has been
recognized for ages; and while it is true that there are many foods that
appeal to the appetite in their raw state and still others that can be
eaten either raw or cooked, there are several reasons why it is
desirable to cook food, as will be seen from the following:
1. Cooking makes foods more palatable. This is true of such foods as
meat, cereals, and many vegetables, which would be very unappetizing if
they were eaten raw.
2. Cooking renders foods more digestible. For instance, the hard grains,
such as wheat, and the dried vegetables, such as beans, cannot be
readily digested unless they are softened by cooking. But while cooking
makes such foods more digestible, it renders others more difficult of
digestion, as in the case of eggs, the degree of digestibility depending
somewhat on the cooking method used and the skill of the cook. An egg in
an almost liquid form, or when only slightly cooked, as a soft-boiled
egg, is more easily digested than when it becomes hardened by cooking.
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