Story of Cooking

Story of Cooking

In the remote, primitive beginning of mankind’s existence our ancestors led a life eating what has been described as raw meat with fur and blood. Archaeologists have conjectured that cooking began with forest fires. Lightning storms naturally caused forest fires. Primitive man would flee from the conflagration and return to the forests when the fire was over. The animals which had not escaped were now cooked, as it were hungry primitive man found the smell of burned carcass appetizing and the cook the meat better tasting than raw meat. Man came to know that cooking made his food tasty. He persevered kindling for fire, and discovered methods to make fire by rub bring sticks together striking flint and stone. Cooked food becomes a universal phenomenon. The art  of cooking originates from the use of fire in cooking

People learned to cook but they did not know how to flavor their food. It is possible that after so many years primitive peoples living in coastal areas left their kill on the seashore by chance. The meat may then have been covered with salt crystals from evaporated sea water. When these salt covered with meats were cooked, they tasted better. As a consequence primitive man learned to collect salt for flavoring, means flavoring and flavoring originated from the use of salt.

The discovery of cooking and flavoring played a significant role in the evolution of mankind and development of human society. The fact that man no longer ate raw meat differentiated human from other animals. Cooking and flavoring killed germs in food, made it more digestible and nutritious. People gradually cultivated the taking of meals at regular times of the day. Cooked food improved man’s physical and intellectual abilities and led to the development of his productive forces. Mankind gradually emerged from the age of barbarism and moved towards civilization.

Culinary arts have gone through thousands of years of refinement and development. When man first learned how to cook, the methods were very simple. They simple put food on the fire to bake on hot stones. Pottery was eventually invented and with it came a variety of cooking utensils. There were combinations of pots and stove. Different methods of cooking developed at the same time. Man began to cook by wrapping his food with mud and straw before roasting roasting food directly over the fire first slicing the meat and roasting the sliced meat on spit: putting the food in a cooking utensil with water to boil : putting  the food in a cooking , cooking came much later. They ate dried chicken and fish cooked in fat in the summer. Plant seeds were pressed for their oil. They use of these oils for cooking accelerated the development of culinary art. People learned first to fry and then to crackle fry sauté or stir- fry over blazing fire.

With progress, the increasing varieties and abundance of food , experimentation and study the culinary art have been perfected through they ages.

The preparation involved roasting , frying, and stewing. Ingredients included rice, flour, thick soybeans paste, vinegar and spices.

Flavorings included soy sauce, vinegar, salt, molasses, and honey to make the dishes taste salty pungent or sweet.

Cooking techniques were complicated and numerous. The resulting meeting of  cultures and customs naturally included an exchange of foods and cooking styles. Roasting and quick boiled meat slices came from the people of Xinjiang and the central Asia. Hot pepper oil and cooking sauce came from the peoples of south west. From south came roast and raw fish and from southeast coast China came distinctive seafood cooking.

Domestic stability and a flourishing culture attracted many people from other countries and they came to learn. Culinary arts were flourishing as well. Not only were color, smell and taste important, shape and design of the dish had become essential to gourmet cooking. Evidence of this can be found in “recipes”.

Food appeals to the senses through color, shape, aroma and taste. To achieve perfection in cooking , one must understand the techniques underlying the are.