Thursday, 2 January 2014

I Dont Know How To Cook But Want To Learn

By Harriett Crosby


Mastering the art of preparation is a lot more complicated than you may have thought. Understanding appetite, how it works and why the instincts exist in the first place goes a long way to make one understand and a general theory of cooking as an art. You'll no longer need to say "I dont know how to cook".

Control over the experience of the food we eat belongs to a series of nerves in our tongue; The Umami, Sweet, Bitter, Sour and Salt Receptors. The mixing of these flavors in varying ways generates the taste that you feel when you eat something. It is impressive how complicated the human body is.

Provoked by the Bitter Receptor the taste of Bitterness is usually a taste that is not enjoyed by most people. Due to poisons usually having a Bitter taste it would seem that this is a defense mechanism to prevent poisoning. Regardless of the dislike by most people, some people do enjoy this flavor and it is usually brought about with Bay Leaf that can then be used to cook in this flavor.

The Sweet Receptor can be activated by common Sugar and is often a necessity in any fine meal. Humans convert sugar to glucose which is used in all the cells of your body. It can also come from the Carbohydrates that are already contained in the meal that you are cooking.

The Bitter taste is caused by the Bitter Receptor and is normally a taste that's not enjoyed by a lot of people. Survival instinct is the reasoning most conclude for its existence as poisons are often bitter. Sometimes however the Bitter taste is sought for and as such it can be added to your meal with simply Bay Leaf.

The Sour taste is provoked by Lemon & Vinegar interaction with our Sour Receptors. The sour taste could be a defense mechanism warding against spoiled food. Vinegar can be used for frying where Lemon is used for mostly vegetable based meals. The Sour flavor conflicts with the Umami flavor and so it is preferable to pick one or the other.

The Salt Receptor is activated by Salt which is contained in every living organism on the planet. It is found all throughout the oceans where it is extracted and bottled up for your convenience. Salt is a part of any kitchen in the world and is used quite liberally. Almost everything that you could eat is salted but even if it was not salted, it would already contain salt.

The tastes that you experience seem to be a Swash of the different receptors that are active at a time and based upon the activity, different tastes are experienced. From the taste buds an electrical signal is sent up the nerves and into the brain where this rainbow of tastes is all put together. Every different spice has an effect on taste of a meal in some way.

Instead of cooking that same recipe every time you could create your own recipe from scratch. You can also take an existing recipe and make it even better once you master your perception of the flavors that the tongue can experience.

Instead of thinking "I dont know how to cook", when you are cooking you must keep all of these receptors in mind and your own experience of that flavor for yourself. You should almost perceive what you are going to create tastes and smells like before you even put it together. By thinking in terms of what the flavor tastes like first and what the ingredients taste like second you can truly master the art of cooking a delicious meal.




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