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CULINARY HISTORY:
The origins of cooking are obscure. Primitive humans may first have savoured roast meat by chance, when the flesh of a beast killed in a forest fire was found to be more palatable and easier to chew and digest than the customary raw meat. They probably did not deliberately cook food, though, until long after they had learned to use fire for light and warmth. Roasting spitted meats over fires remained virtually the sole culinary technique. People of southern France apparently began to steam their food over hot embers by wrapping it in wet leaves. Aside from such crude procedures as toasting wild grains on flat rocks and using shells, skulls, or hollowed stones to heat liquids, probably no further culinary advances were made until the introduction of pottery. The earliest compound dish was a crude paste made by mixing water with the cracked kernels of wild grasses. This paste, toasted to crustiness when dropped on a hot stone, made the first bread. Advances in Cooking Techniques Culinary techniques improved with the introduction of earthenware, the domestication of livestock, and the cultivation of edible plants along with the development of settled communities. A more dependable supply of foodstuffs, including milk and its derivatives, was now assured. The roasting spit was augmented by a variety of firedclay vessels, and the cooking techniques of boiling, stewing, braising, and perhaps even incipient forms of pickling, frying, and oven baking were added. Early cooks probably had already learned to preserve meats and fish by smoking, salting, air-drying, or chilling. New utensils made it possible to prepare these foods in new ways.
B.C.: The cultivation of soybeans in China predates recorded history & spread from
there to other countries in eastern Asia before the modern period. So essential was soybean to Chinese civilization that it was considered one of the 5 sacred grains (others being rice, barley, wheat & millet). The popularity of soybeans in the Orient was due to their wide use as a food. The origins of tea culture and the brewing of dried tea leaves into a beverage are obscure; experts believe, however, that the tea plant originated in a region encompassing Tibet, western China, and northern India. According to ancient Chinese legend, the emperor Shen-Nung learned how to brew the beverage in 2737 BC when a few leaves from the plant accidentally fell into water he was boiling.
Water-treatment knowledge dates from 2000 BC, when Sanskrit writings indicate that methods for purification of foul water consisted of boiling in copper vessels, exposing to sunlight, filtering through charcoal, and cooling in earthen vessels. Onions mentioned as a food source by Sumerian Scribes.
cuisine is characterized by lighter, more delicate dishes, without heavy sauces and overcooked vegetables, and an increased emphasis on presentation. The modern usage can be attributed to authors Henri Gault and Christian Millau, who in the 1960's used nouvelle cuisine. Gault and Millau discovered the formula contained in ten characteristics of this new style of cooking: 1. Rejection of excessive complication in cooking. 2. The cooking times for most fish, seafood, game birds, veal, green vegetables and pts was greatly reduced in an attempt to preserve the natural flavors. 3. Steaming was an important trend from this characteristic. 4. The cuisine was made with the freshest possible ingredients. 5. Large menus were abandoned in favor of shorter menus. 6. Strong marinades for meat and game ceased to be used. 7. Stopped using heavy sauces such as Espagnole and bchamel thickened with flour based roux, in favor of seasoning their dishes with fresh herbs, quality butter, lemon juice, and vinegar. 8. Regional dishes for inspiration instead of haute cuisine dishes 9. New techniques were embraced and modern equipment was often used, Chef Because even used microwave ovens 10. The chefs paid close attention to the dietary needs of their guests through their dishes finally; the chefs were extremely inventive and created new combinations and pairings.
Garnishes and accompaniment play a key role in French cuisine and dishes are identified by them. Food items are cooked in a sauce or they accompany a dish. e.g. Roast beef is served with Yorkshire pudding and is accompanied with horse-radish sauce. Great emphasis is lad on the presentation of the dishes and garnishes and accompaniment make the dish colourful. Ingredient plays an important role as it has climatic variation in the South of France the cooking medium used is butter; olive oil or salad oil. Thus the dishes are not greasy, but give lightness to the taste. Spices and herbs give a subtle flavours, taste and originality to the dishes. Some of the spices and herbs are Parsley, Celery, basil, tarragon, thyme, rosemary, chives, shallots, allspice, bay-leaf, peprika, pepper, nutmeg etc. popular vegetable are asparagus, artichokes, carrots, turnips, aubergine, broccoli, swede, seakale, cardoon, Brussels- sprouts, mushroom etc. Vegetables are served with main course and serve as one of the accompaniments; they act as fillers to meat dishes. They add colours to the menu and make them colourful. Vegetables are arranged as a painter arrange colour. A meal is completed with potatoes as they give a satiety value. They also accompany the main dish. The main dish consists of flesh foods such as lamb beef, veal, pork, chicken, duck, turkey, fish etc. they fleshy food should be of the best quality. Cheese is extensively used and can be used as a base of dish garnish to soups, blended with sauce or grated and sprinkled on top of the dishes and gratinated, cheese in a French menu forms a separate course during the meals and is called Fromage in French. Almost every region of France has its own cheese and a few popular cheeses are Camembert, Menfehotel, Roquefort, Brie etc. Red and white wines are used for cooking. Wine is much more them just a flavouring agent and in marinades it acts as tenderizers for the drier and tougher cuts of meat. Sauces have the quality of giving contrast or blend with the ingredients, enhance taste, flavour and give colour to the dishes.
Since ancient times, spices have been the foundation of Indian cooking. Black pepper mustard, turmeric, black pepper, ginger, garlic, coriander, cumin, saffron, cardamom, green mango powder, tamarind, pomegranate, chili, almonds, asafetida, cinnamon, nutmeg, mace and cloves have long been Indias most valuable commodity. Spices were always important for their medicinal properties and to religious life, especially the Hindus. According to their holy scriptures, spices should be used to create balance and harmony in life and in ones body temperature. Most meals include a combination of basmati rice, bread, dhal legumes, pickles, chutneys or relishes. Different curries or spice blends, whether, hot or cool, dry or in a paste form, are associated with the food item itself, or the regional tastes or the method of cooking. A few authentic popular Indian masala spice blends are garam masala best known around the world include cumin, ground coriander, black pepper and bay leaves, chat masala sharp, hot lemony spice used to flavor salad type dishes, and panch phoron cumin, mustard, fennel, fenugreek and nigella. Because of the Ganges River and the Bay of Bengal, freshwater and ocean fish and shellfish are the most important sources of protein. Mustard plants are grown throughout the region, and are used both as a spice and for mustard-seed oil. Throughout India, both lunch and dinner are the main meals. Indians often indulge in traditional snacks throughout the day. Breakfast is simple with just bread, butter and tea in most areas, but sometimes varied according to regional tastes. Indias six tastes of sweet, sour, salty, bitter, pungent and astringent balance the meal.