Tag: cooking

May 16, 2017 Food

Cooking with coconuts

Coconuts on a tree

Coconuts are known for their great versatility, not only in the culinary world but also for their varied uses in cosmetics. While coconut is considered a mainstay in the diet of nearly one-third of the planet, it is an exotic ingredient in the western world! They are classified as a fruit but frequently confused for being a nut, and are a one-seeded drupe (same family as peaches, plums and cherries).

Fresh coconut
Fresh coconut, ideal for cooking

The fruit is made up of three layers: the outside layer is known as the exocarp, and the fibrous husk or mesocarp is the inside of it. The thin woody layer surrounding the actual coconut is the endocarp.

The term coconut is derived from the 16th century Portuguese and Spanish word coco meaning head or skull, from the three indentations on the coconut shell that resemble facial features. The name supposedly came from Portuguese explorers, the sailors of Vasco da Gama in India, who first brought them in Europe.

It has generally been accepted that the coconut originated in the Indian-Indonesian region and distributed itself around the world by riding ocean currents. Most of the world production of coconuts is in tropical Asia, with Indonesia leading followed closely by Philippines and India. Together, the three countries account for 73% of the world’s production.

Canned coconut milk
Canned coconut milk can be solid on opening the can. Heating will make it liquid again.

Coconut milk is a common ingredient in many tropical cuisines. Coconut is also a very frequently used ingredient in South Indian cuisine. The most common way is the addition of freshly grated coconut to vegetable and spices at the end of the cooking. Also, the coconut chutney which accompanies most south Indian dishes like dosa and uttapams is a prime example of the extensive use and importance of coconut in the cuisine of the Southern states.

Coconuts are used extensively in Hindu religious ceremonies. Coconuts are usually offered to the Gods, and a coconut is smashed on the ground as part of a new beginning to a business or a construction or inauguration of new projects or also to launch a newly completed project. This act signifies a sacrifice of ego, the idea that wealth stems from divinity, and that, if due credit is not given, bad karma is taken on.

You may like to read Recipes with coconuts

July 21, 2016 Food, Weekly photo challenge

Details You Need To Look At While Cooking

Cooking is an art, technology, and craft of preparing food for consumption with the use of heat.  Across the globe, there are various techniques used from grilling food over an oven fire to gas stoves, to baking in various types of ovens which reflect the unique environmental, economic, cultural traditions and trends.

Go green with organic vegetables- Details of cooking ingredients.
Ecologically grown vegetables.

In cooking, you require Details about the ingredients used in a dish and the method of cooking to make that delicious meal. Ingredients comprise usually of  vegetables, fruits, grains, and nuts as well as herbs and spices come from plants, while meat, eggs, and dairy products come from animals. Mushrooms and the yeast used in baking are kinds of fungi. Cooks also use water and minerals such as salt. Cooks can also use wine or spirits.

Ingredients that occur naturally contain various amounts of molecules called proteins, carbohydrates, and fats. They also contain water and minerals. Cooking involves a manipulation of the chemical properties of carbohydrates, fats, proteins, water, vitamins and minerals.

All cooking ingredients are measured with Metric style measuring cup set. It is an important utensil in the kitchen. The typical cooking measuring cup sizes are 1 cup, ½ cup, 1/3 cup, ¼ cup and 1/8 cup and in the case of typical spoon sizes, 1 tablespoon, ½ tablespoon, 1 teaspoon and ¼ teaspoon.

Nasi Lemak - Cooking details while preparing this dish
Nasi Lemak
Image courtesy- traveldelight.biz

There are various methods of cooking since antiquity – baking, roasting, frying, grilling, barbecuing, smoking, boiling, steaming and braising. A more recent innovation is microwave. Various methods use differing levels of heat and moisture and vary in cooking time.

These major hot cooking techniques comprise of
•  Roasting – Barbecuing – Grilling/Broiling – Rotisserie – Searing

•  Baking
Baking – Baking Blind – Flash baking

•  Boiling
Boiling – Blanching – Braising – Coddling – Double steaming – Infusion – Poaching – Pressure cooking – Simmering – Smothering – Steaming – Steeping – Stewing – Vacuum flask cooking

•  Frying
Fry – Deep frying – Hot salt frying – Hot sand frying – Pan frying – Pressure frying – Sautéing – Stir-frying

•  Steaming
Steaming is usually done by boiling water continuously, causing it to vaporize into steam; the steam then carries heat to the nearby food, thus cooking the food. It is considered a healthy form of cooking, holding nutrients within the vegetable or meat being cooked.

• Smoking

Smoking is the process of flavouring, cooking, or preserving food by exposing it to smoke from burning or smouldering material, most often wood.

Similarly, there are temperature charts for details on cooking meats, poultry, eggs, leftovers, and casseroles.

A delicious meal prepared with details of cooking.
Chinese Prosperity Food with Salmon Photography: ProjectManhattan (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

 

Cooking has been around for centuries and everyone is connected to it in some form or the other from bringing friends and family together or planning to make a fulfilling home cooked meal instead of ordering one.