A Rainbow of Words

What is love without compassion?What is life without pain?

Friday, May 15, 2009

First Draft to be continued....

To me food is more than just a part of survival it is a form of self expression. Many people assume that cooking is just a lazy way of making money but honestly it is one of the most mentally challenging jobs. You require skills that will be the foundation to every recipe. The way you present your dishes will represent your personality and even deeper your life. I believe that the your emotions come through your food, if you feel happy your dishes will be pleasing to both mind and body, if you are upset or mad your dishes will taste salty and bitter. Naturally i am a happy person which has drawn me to a conclusion that i will produce foods that will please those who are willing and ready. But before i even begin cooking in the kitchen i need to know the basic vocabulary, skills and preparation.
The most essential thing to learn about cooking is the vocabulary, of course if you were to step into a professional kitchen and everyone starts throwing you words like "saute, aromatic and chiffonade" you would be a little disoriented. To saute something is when you brown something often using butter, oil or another type of fat. An aromatic is a food added to enhance the natural aromas of another food; aromatics include most flavorings; such as herbs and spices, as well as some vegetables. Chiffonade is to finely slice herbs like spinach basil etc. For example when i make my breaded tomato and basil chicken i would Saute the chicken till its brown on both sides before adding breading to create a crisp skin on both sides to help sear in the natural juices and flavors then i would chiffonade my basil and dice my tomatoes lastly i would add my aromatics, my dried oregano to bring out the sweetness of the basil and tomatoes.
Now that you know some basic vocabulary its time to learn the most important part of cooking, preperation. When preparing chicken you should rub warm water and salt on it to remove any excess bacteria. When preparing steak you should always keep it at room temprature and you should always wash all vegetables and fruits before cooking.
After you have picked up a few tips on how to prepare foods its best to learn some basic skills like how long you should cook certain foods. I learned that when cooking chicken to get the nice tender and juicy texture you should cook it 15 mins on one side then flip it to cook it for 10 mins on the other. When cooking steak if you would want it rare pinch the middle of you thumb and pointer finger it would be the same as the feeling of a rare steak.
I have decided that cooking is my passion because i have learned all this on my own, also, i take in every bit of information i learn and use it in my own kitchen. Like they say practice makes better.

http://www.reluctantgourmet.com/culinary_schools_new_york_cia.htm
http%3A%2F%2Fwww.swccd.edu%2FPdfs%2FCatalog%2FCulinaryArts.pdfv
http://www.culinaryprograms.com/cheftraining.htm

Slid down the rainbow at 8:36 PM

1 Comments:

At May 25, 2009 at 4:03 PM, lsueoka said…

Hi Ashly,
It sounds like you have both experience and passion for cooking :)

For your research, what new things are you learning about your chosen topic? What information were you looking for in the two links you provided? That would go into your research.

Then, your product or performance would be something that would effectively document your new knowledge.

good luck :)
mrs s