Chicken Recipes
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Cooking
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The term “cooking” encompasses a vast range of methods, tools and combinations of ingredients to improve the flavour or digestibility of food. It generally requires the selection, measurement and combining of ingredients in an ordered procedure in an effort to achieve the desired result. Constraints on success include the variability of ingredients, ambient conditions, tools, and the skill of the individual cooking.
The diversity of cooking worldwide is a reflection of the myriad nutritional, aesthetic, agricultural, economic, cultural and religious considerations that impact upon it.
Cooking requires applying heat to a food which usually, though not always, chemically transforms it, thus changing its flavor, texture, appearance, and nutritional properties.Cooking proper, as opposed to roasting, requires the boiling of water in a receptable, and was practiced at least since the 10th millennium BC with the introduction of pottery. There is archaeological evidence of roasted foodstuffs at Homo erectus campsites dating from 420,000 years ago.
Food sources
Almost all foods are of plant or animal origin, although there are some exceptions. Almost every form of life has been used as food, either for nutritive or ritual purposes, by one or more human societies at some time in the past.
Foods from plants
Many plants or plant parts are eaten as food. There are around two thousand plant species which are cultivated for food, and many have several distinct cultivars. Plant-based foods can be classified as follows: Seeds, the ripened ovules of some plants, carry a plant embryo inside them along with the nutrients necessary for the plant’s initial growth. Because of this, seeds are often packed with energy, and are good sources of food for animals, including humans. In fact, the majority of all foods consumed by human beings are seeds. These include cereals (such as maize, wheat, and rice), legumes (such as beans, peas, and lentils), and nuts. Oilseeds are often pressed to produce rich oils, including sunflower, rape (including canola oil), and sesame.
Fruits are the ripened extensions of plants, including the seeds within. Fruits are made attractive to animals so that animals will eat the fruits and excrete the seeds over long distances. Fruits, therefore, make up a significant part of the diets of most cultures. Some fruits, such as pumpkin and eggplant, are eaten as vegetables. (For more information, see list of fruits.)
Vegetables are other plant matter which is eaten as food. These include root vegetables (such as potatoes and carrots), leaf vegetables (such as spinach and lettuce), stem vegetables (such as bamboo shoots and asparagus), and inflorescence vegetables (such as globe artichokes and broccoli). Many herbs and spices are highly-flavorful vegetables.
Foods from animals
Various raw meats
Meat is eaten, either from muscle systems or from organs. Often other animal products are eaten as well. Mammals produce milk, which in many cultures is drunk or processed into dairy products such as cheese or butter. Birds and other animals lay eggs, which are often eaten. Many cultures eat honey, produced by bees, and some cultures eat animal blood.
Other foods
Some foods do not come from animal or plant sources. These include various edible fungi, including mushrooms. Fungi and ambient bacteria are used in the preparation of fermented and pickled foods such as leavened bread, wine, beer, cheese, pickles, and yogurt. Many cultures eat seaweed, which is a protist, or blue-green algae (cyanobacteria) such as Spirulina. Additionally, salt is often eaten as a flavoring or preservative, and baking soda is used in food preparation. Both of these are inorganic substances, as is water, an important part of human diet.
Chef is a term commonly used to refer to an individual who cooks professionally. Within a restaurant however, chef (French for chief or head) is often only used to refer to one person: the one in charge of everyone else in the kitchen. This is usually the executive chef.
There are many kinds of kitchen organizations, with the titles and duties for each position varying depending on the particular restaurant. In general, the hierarchy in a classical kitchen brigade is as follows:
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* 1 Executive chef
* 2 Chef de cuisine
* 3 Sous chef
* 4 Expeditor
* 5 Chef de partie
* 6 Cooks and assistants
Executive chef
The executive chef is in charge of everything related to the kitchen, including menu creation, personnel management and business aspects. While the position requires extensive cooking experience and often involves actively cooking, it is not necessarily very hands-on.
The executive chef can also be referred to as the “chef” or even “head chef”. Although “head chef” may seem redundant, the word “chef” has come to be applied to any cook, kitchen helper or a fast food operator, making the distinction necessary.
Chef de cuisine
The chef de cuisine’s placement within the kitchen can vary depending on the individual restaurant’s hierarchy. In some restaurants, particularly smaller ones, the chef de cuisine takes the role of the executive chef. In people, it is equivalent to an executive sous chef position.
Sous chef
The sous chef (pronounced “soo-shef” — French for “sub chief”) is the direct assistant of the executive chef. The sous chef often shares some duties with the executive chef, such as menu planning, costing and ordering. Larger kitchens often have more than one sous chef, with each covering a certain shift or having their own area of responsibility, such as the banquet sous chef, in charge of all banquets, or the executive sous chef, in charge of all other sous chefs. Typically, a cook works every line cook position before being promoted to sous chef.