Food is a significant part of our culture. It represents hospitality, celebration and sociability. But the culture of eating out and convenience food have led to a loss of our cooking skills. We are also increasingly dependent on electrical appliances to automate the cooking process. The rice cooker is one of the many examples. It offers us a reliable and convenient way of cooking rice, but removes the joy and excitement of the time-honoured method of cooking over the stove. Many people have concentrated on careers and a certain set of academic skills, and perhaps have the opinion that cooking is not a skill they should be bothered with and would ever need to know.
I would like to share with you some of the basic cooking skills which have been forgotten or lost over the years. I would like to explain how we could cook better and also the rationale which underpins the techniques of cooking. Revisiting the forgotten skills of cooking will not only increase our enjoyment of food, but also helps us reconnect with the older generations. These are really life skills that will need not only to survive but also improve our quality of life. Kneading the dough, feeling the changes in texture during the process, and turning them into noodles or pasta, discovering the delightfully textured rice when the lid of the clay pot is lifted, and walking into the kitchen filled with the wonderful aroma of the simmering stock are blissful moments that I truly treasure.
Cooking Rice ……
Rice is a grain, the fruit of a grass plant. It is the staple food of more than half of the world’s population. There are countless varieties of rice, each with its own history, stories and cooking methods.
Read MoreMaking Noodles ……
Noodles are most commonly made from wheat flour. It can also be made from rice flour, buckwheat flour, mung bean starch, sweet potato starch, or a combination of different types of flour.
Read MoreMaking Pasta ……
Food historians have debated about the origin of pasta for a long time. Pasta is made differently in different parts of Italy.
Read MoreMaking Stock ……
Stock is the foundation of cooking. It plays a key role in many recipes, from soups, sauces, stews, braised dishes to poaching liquid.
Read More