ACE Class Report: Culinary Class.
Begin: 3/14/2024
Finish: 5/30/2024
Title: Culinary Class
Instructor: Culinary Institute of American
Why I Choose to Take This Class:
To learn more about the different types of cooking, preparations of ingredients and methods of cooking.
What I learned from this class:
Cuisines:
The cuisines (cooking styles) of many cultures begin with ingredients traditionally available in a particular region. Certain combination of ingredients forms the foundation of a particular cuisine. For example, Cantonese cuisine, make 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 peeled. Cooks may remove the skin, bones, and fats from meat or shells from seafood. Ingredients may be cut in a variety of ways, including dicing (Cut 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 mine. Fruits and vegetables should be rinsed to remove any 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 and proper hand washing when working with food.
Methods:
Heat can transform the flavor and texture of ingredients. Browning meat and other ingredients involves complex chemical reactions. Fruits and vegetables contain sugar that caramelized when browned. The reaction in browning protein produces many new chemical compound 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 rich complex flavors of fond. Browning can only occur at temperature above the boiling point of water which is 212 degree F. However, cooking at 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 – above 400 degree F cause the 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 the 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 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 temperatures. 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 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 the 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 developing browning, then finish cooking in oven. Some cooks coat food in flour or bread crumbs before sauteing, adding texture. After sauteing, cook add small amount of liquid to the hot pan and scrape up 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 large amount of fat than sauteing. Fat must be 350 degree F of hotter. If fat is not hot enough, the food may absorb to 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 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: Makes use of hot water or such water based liquids as broth or wine to heat foods. Water can get as hot as 212 degree F, which is too low for browning food. But moist heat method can heat fore more gently for longer periods.
Boiling – cooking food in rapidly boiling water. Use to 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.
Simmering – cooking with liquid that has reached boiling point of water but not bubbling vigorously. Use to boil rice, potatoes, poaching eggs and stews. Simmering breaks down stringy connective tissues in tough meat, making them tender. In some stews, meat are first saluted 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 with 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 with microwaves. Moisture inside the food absorbs the energy from microwaves, turning to steam. This process cook food quickly, without browning. People use microwave to heat beverages, leftovers, and frozen food.
Vacuum Cooking – Sous-Vide – cooking of food in 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 microorganism such as bacteria that cease food positioning Botulism can survive in a vacuum.
How will this Class Contribute to my success upon release:
Culinary class will help me tremendously as it allows me to work or volunteer in the food industries. The Culinary class knowledge coupled with my ServSafe certification will allow me to work and volunteer in communities that serves food.
