ACE Class Report #81 – Culinary Arts 1, Professional Chef.
Begin: 9/30/2024
Finish: 12/16/2024
Title: Culinary Arts 1, Professional Chef
Instructor: Culinary Institute of America
Why I choose to take this class:
Learn more about different types of cooking, preparations of ingredients, method of cooking, cooking for large party, coordination, safe technique to keep food, proper and safe ways to serve food.
What I learned from this class:
Cuisines:
The cuisines (cooking styles) of many cultures begin with ingredients traditionally available in a particular region, combination of ingredients forms the foundation of a particular cuisine, for example Cantonese cuisine, makes much use of scallions, garlic and ginger. Greek Dishes often include garlic, olive oil, and oregano.
Preparation of Ingredients:
Many ingredients must be prepared before cooking, some fruits and vegetables must be washed and peeled. Cooks may remove the skin, bones and fats from meat or shells from seafood. Cooks may also cut ingredients in a variety of ways, including dicing (cutting into small cubes) and mincing (chopping extreme fine). The size of the pieces helps determine how fast they cook, as well as texture of the finished dish. Many cooks season food with salt, spices, and herbs before cooking.
Ingredients must be prepared with safety in mind. Fruits and vegetables should be rinsed to remove and residue from soil or chemicals. Raw meat may contain disease causing organism. Proper cooking usually kills such organism. Anything that meat touches can also become contaminated. They can prevent food-borne illness by using soap and hot water to wash their hands, along with any surfaces that has touched raw meat. Practice good hygiene when working with food.
Cooking Methods:
Heat can transform the flavor and texture of ingredients. Browning meat and other ingredients involves complex reactions. Fruits and vegetables contain sugar that caramelized when browned. The reaction in browning protein produces many new chemical compounds and gives it new flavors and aromas. The browned bits of food that sticks to a pan are called fond, a French word meaning bottom. Many sauces make use of the rich complex flavors of fond. Browning can only occur at temperature above the boiling point of water which is 212 degrees F. However, cooking in high temperature for too long removes moisture, turning the food dry and chewy.
Cooking With Dry Heat:
Involves exposing food to hot air. As the air moves around the food’s surface, its heat is transferred to the cooler food.
Roasting –
Traditionally involved cooking large pieces of meat – or even whole animal – over an open fire or in a hot oven. Roasting meat or vegetables in a high temperature oven – above 400 degrees F causes food to brown quickly. But it can also dry out food. Cooks sometimes brown meat then finish it in a lower temperature oven to keep moisture inside.
Baking –
Similar to roasting, usually refers to making bread, cakes, cookies and pastries. Some dishes that are baked in oven: Lasagna, whole potatoes and squash.
Grilling and Broiling –
Expose food to intense direct heat from an open flame, quickly browning and cooking it. Grilling usually involves an outdoor gas or charcoal grill, with flame below the food. Broiling uses a heat source above the food.
Cooking With Fat:
Uses oil, butter, or other fatty substances at high temperature. Hot fat transfer heat to food more efficiently than hot air does. Cook use oil more often than butter because butter starts to burn at a relatively low temperature.
Sauteing –
Is cooking food in a shallow pan – such as a skillet – coated with small amount of fat. Moisture quickly evaporate, the food can then brown. Crowding the skillet with too much food prevents browning because not enough moisture can evaporate. Cooks often saute large cuts of meat first to develop browning the finish cooking in oven. Some cooks coat foods in flour or bread crumbs before sauteing, add texture. After sauteing, cook can add small amount of liquid to the hot pan and scrape of the fond. This process, called deglazing, is used to create flavorful sauces. Sauteing is similar to stir-frying. But cook typically stir-fry in a wok.
Frying –
Involves cooking food in a large amount of fat than sauteing. Fat must be 350 degrees F or hotter. If fat is not hot enough, the food may absorb too much of it, becoming greasy. In pan frying, fill a shallow pan with fat halfway up the sides of the ingredients. The ingredients are cooked on one side then usually flipped to cook the other side. In deep frying, submerge entire ingredient in a pan filled with fat.
Cooking With Moist Heat:
Make use of hot water or such water-based liquids such as broth or wine to heat foods. Water can only gets as hot as 212 degrees F which is too low for browning food. But moist heat method can heat food more gently for longer periods.
Boiling –
Cooking food in rapidly boiling water. Cook pasta, broccoli and peas. Usually salt is added for flavor and to boil at higher temperature. Meat is generally not boiled because it can become tough and chewy.
Simmerling –
Cooking in liquid that has reached boiling point of water but not bubbling vigorously. Use to boil rice, potatoes, poaching eggs and stews. Simmering breakdown stringy connective tissues in tough meats, making them tender. In some stews, meats are first sauteed to develop flavor from browning. A fricassee is a light-colored stew often made with veal or chicken, typically without browning the meat.
Braising –
Is similar to stewing, but the ingredients are only partially covered with simmering liquid.
Steaming –
Cooking food with water vapor and it does not brown food. Food typically placed on a rack or pan with holes, so only the steam touches the food. Steaming can preserve nutrients that would leach out in simmering or boiling. Steaming for vegetables, dumplings and pork ribs.
Other Cooking Methods:
A Latin American dish called Ceviche uses acid from lemon, limes and other citrus fruits to cook seafood.
Microwave cooking –
Inside a microwave oven, food is bombarded by microwaves. Moisture inside food absorbs the energy from microwaves turning to steam. This process cooks food quickly, without browning. People use microwave to heat beverages, leftovers and frozen food.
Vacuum Cook –
Sous-Vide cooking of food in a sealed plastic pouches. The pouches are submerged in warm water, cooking the food slowly, gently. It preserve the food’s flavor and moisture. But some microorganisms, such as bacteria that cause food poisoning, Botulism can survive in a vacuum.
How will this class contribute to my success upon release:
Culinary class will help me tremendously as it will allow me to work or volunteer in the food industries. The culinary class knowledge in addition with my ServeSafe certification will open new opportunities for me to work and volunteer in communities that serve food.
