Cookery

Cooking or cookery is defined as the art, technology, science and craft of preparing food for
consumption. Cooking techniques and ingredients vary widely across the world, from grilling
food over an open fire to using electric stoves, to baking in various types of ovens, reflecting
unique environmental, economic and cultural traditions and trends. Cookery has been present
in the history since human beings existed. This is due to the fact that food and eating are both
integral part of human survival. Cooking is as old as civilization itself, and observers have
perceived it as both an art and a science. Its history sheds light on the very origins of human
settlement, and its variety and traditions reflect unique social, cultural, and environmental
influences. The precise origins of cooking are unknown, but, at some point in the distant past,
early humans conquered fire and started using it to prepare food. Researchers have found what
appear to be the remains of campfires made 1.5 million years ago by Homo erectus, one of the
early human species. In fact, anthropologists such as Richard Wrangham have argued that
cooking played an essential role in human evolution. Cooking foods makes them more
digestible, so the calories and some of the nutrients in them are easier to absorb. Thus, cooking
allowed early humans to tap a wider variety of food sources and gain more nutrition from
them.

According to britanica.com in the most traditional societies, the task of daily food preparation
fell primarily to women—though both men and women were heavily involved in food
procurement. Civilization allowed more people to specialize in other occupations, and that
trend eventually produced a class of professional chefs, whose main job was cooking for others.
Tomb paintings, sculptures, and archaeological remains from more than 5,000 years ago clearly
show that ancient Egypt already had many different food-related jobs, including butchery,
baking, brewing, and winemaking. Beer brewing may have been initiated much earlier by the
production of cereal crops, possibly 10,000 years ago. All of those professions had their own
shops and facilities, often with multiple employees working in well-organized kitchens.

Cookery has also played a big role in forming norms and traditions within nations. It has also
been a form of expression of social status, political views, traditions, culture and even religious
principles. In early civilizations, wealth was nearly always synonymous with political or religious
power, so the primary employers of professional chefs were kings, aristocrats, or priests. Much
the same phenomenon occurred in the arts. Painters produced commissioned works for the
king or the high priest, jewelers made the king’s crown and the queen’s jewels, and architects
designed palaces and temples. Cooking preferences differs from nation to nation. The cuisine of
the United States reflects its history. The European colonization of the Americas yielded the
introduction of European ingredients and cooking styles to the U.S. Later in the 20th century,
the influx of immigrants from many foreign nations developed a rich diversity in food
preparation throughout the country. As the world becomes more globalized, it is easier to
access cuisines from different cultures.