Introduction: Cooking and Cooking Methods

The term cooking is often misinterpreted by Russian-speaking learners. Most often it is translated into Russian as “готовка”, “приготовление пищи”, but the two words do not completely coincide in meaning. The Russian word “готовка” is much broader in meaning and includes various food preparation processes – washing, peeling, cutting, seasoning, cooking, etc.; whereas cooking is the preparation of food for eating by means of heat. That is why it would be incorrect to say, for example, “to cook salad”, because cooking may be just a part of salad preparation (e.g., boiling potatoes or grilling asparagus); the proper variant is “ to make salad ”.

Thus, all cooking methods can be differentiated by the way food is cooked and the type of heat that is used. They are divided into two general groups:

· Moist-heat cooking methods

· Dry-heat cooking methods

In moist-heat cooking methods, liquid is used as a medium to cook the food. Such medium could be water (or steam), coconut cream, stock, sauce, wine or any other liquid. Cooking temperatures are much lower than those used in dry-heat cooking – anywhere from 140 °F (60 °C) to a maximum of 212 °F (100 °C), because water doesn't get any hotter than that. Examples of moist-heat cooking methods include: boiling, simmering, poaching, blanching, steam-based methods (e.g., steaming, bain-marie, etc.), basting, braising, stewing, etc. Some sources rate braising and stewing as combination cooking methods, as foods in both of them are often supposed to be seared before being put in a cooking liquid. In our opinion, such classification is not appropriate, because (1) the use of other cooking techniques is optional, and (2) both methods are meant to use liquid to achieve the final result anyway.

Dry-heat cooking refers to any cooking technique where the heat is transferred to the food item without using any moisture. Such techniques utilize hot air or fat. Dry-heat cooking typically involves high heat, with temperatures of 300 °F (148 °C) or hotter. Dry-heat cooking methods include: baking, roasting, grilling, broiling, deep frying, pan frying, etc.

Some methods can be further divided into sub-methods with their own peculiarities. For example, pan frying includes shallow frying, searing, sweating, sauté ing and stir-frying.

While studying cooking methods, one should remember that some English terms have no Russian equivalents. To such terms as broiling or basting only descriptive translation can be applied, that means students must pay special attention to these words to make sure they understand them properly.

VOCABULARY:

cooking ['kukɪ ŋ ] тепловая кулинарная обработка

misinterpret [ˌ mɪ sɪ n'tɜ ː prɪ t] неверно истолковывать

coincide [ˌ kə uɪ n'saɪ d] совпадать

peeling ['piː lɪ ŋ ] чистка

seasoning ['siː z(ə )nɪ ŋ ] приправление

asparagus [ə s'pæ rə gə s] спаржа

moist - heat cooking method [mɔ ɪ st hiː t 'kukɪ ŋ 'meθ ə d] метод влажной тепловой кулинарной обработки (влажный нагрев)

dry - heat cooking methods [draɪ hiː t 'kukɪ ŋ 'meθ ə d] метод сухой тепловой кулинарной обработки (сухой нагрев)

liquid ['lɪ kwɪ d] жидкость

coconut cream ['kə ukə nʌ t kriː m] кокосовые сливки

stock [stɔ k] бульон

to rate [reɪ t] зд. считать

combination cooking method [ˌ kɔ mbɪ 'neɪ ʃ (ə )n 'kukɪ ŋ 'meθ ə d]

комбинированный метод тепловой кулинарной обработки

to sear [sɪ ə ] обжаривать до корочки

optional ['ɔ pʃ (ə )n(ə )l] необязательный

moisture ['mɔ ɪ sʧ ə ] влага

peculiarity [pɪ ˌ kjuː lɪ 'æ rə tɪ ] особенность

descriptive translation [dɪ 'skrɪ ptɪ v træ nz'leɪ ʃ (ə )n] описательный перевод

 

* перевод терминов, выделенных курсивом, будет дан в соответствующих разделах

I. MOIST-HEAT COOKING METHODS

Poaching, Simmering, Boiling and Blanching

Poaching

Cooking in liquid with a temperature ranging from 140 °F (60 °C) to 180 °F (82 °C) is called poaching. This method is typically considered to be appropriate for cooking eggs only, but actually poaching is reserved for cooking some other delicate items like fish as well.

Within this range of temperatures, the poaching liquid will not show any visible signs of bubbling at all, though small bubbles may form at the bottom of the pot. This means that the best way of checking that the temperature is correct is with an instant-read thermometer. It is very important to keep track of time as items can easily be overcooked or, in case of fish, for example, remain raw.

Simmering

With simmering, the cooking liquid is a bit hotter than poaching – from 180 °F (82 °C) to 205 °F (96 °C). Here we will see bubbles forming and gently rising to the surface of the water, but the water still is not at a full rolling boil.

Because it surrounds the food in water that maintains a more or less constant temperature, simmering cooks food very evenly. It is an excellent choice for culinary preparations including stocks or soups. Items like tougher cuts of meat, pasta, potatoes, rice and many others are all perfect for simmering.

One of the downsides to cooking this way is that it can cause the food to lose vitamins and other nutrients by leaching into the cooking liquid.

Boiling

The hottest of these three stages is boiling, where the water reaches its highest possible temperature of 212 °F (100 °C). It is actually the least likely of the three to be used for cooking. That is because the violent agitation caused ​ by the rolling boil can be too rough on food and will often damage it.

Water at a full boil would be a bad choice for cooking an egg outside its shell, as we do when preparing poached eggs, because the agitation would cause the egg to fall apart. The same holds true for delicate fish as well as some pastas. Tender cuts of meat, root vegetables, and tougher grains like barley are all suitable for boiling.

Blanching

Blanching is primarily used to partially cook something, or to retain or improve colour before finishing cooking by another method, like sauté ingor grilling. Blanching is done by dropping food (usually vegetables) into boiling liquid (usually water) and cooking for about 1-5 minutes, going for an al-dente level of doneness (maybe even a little less depending on how you are using it later). This often brings out the colour of the food you are cooking, making it look more desirable; broccoli, asparagus, and green beans are great examples of this. Once you get it to the level of doneness you want, you remove it from the boiling liquid and plunge it into ice water. You then can finish cooking the item by reheating it using another method, like sauté ing, baking, or roasting. Over-blanching can lead to an excessive loss of nutrients and aromatic compounds, as well as softening of the food. In addition, this may also cause the release of more enzymes from the plant tissue, causing greater overall enzymatic activity and faster spoiling of the product.

VOCABULARY:

poaching [pə uʧ ɪ ŋ ] пашот

to range [reɪ nʤ ] варьироваться

appropriate [ə 'prə uprɪ ə t] подходящий

delicate ['delɪ kə t] нежный

bubble ['bʌ bl] пузырёк

bottom ['bɔ tə m] дно

instant-read thermometer ['ɪ n(t)stə nt red θ ə 'mɔ mɪ tə ] быстродействующий термометр

to keep track [kiː p træ k] следить

raw [rɔ ː ] сырой

simmering ['sɪ mə rɪ ŋ ] варка на медленном огне (при температуре ниже точки кипения воды)

surface ['sɜ ː fɪ s] поверхность

rolling boil ['rə ulɪ ŋ bɔ ɪ l] бурное кипение

to surround [sə 'raund] окружать

constant ['kɔ n(t)stə nt] постоянный

evenly ['iː v(ə )nlɪ ] равномерно

tough [tʌ f] жёсткий

nutrient ['njuː trɪ ə nt] питательное вещество

to leach [liː ʧ ] вымываться

boiling ['bɔ ɪ lɪ ŋ ] варка при бурном кипении

violent agitation ['vaɪ ə l(ə )nt ˌ æ ʤ ɪ 'teɪ ʃ (ə )n] бурное кипение

rough [rʌ f] грубый

shell [ʃ el] скорлупа

tender ['tendə ] нежный

root vegetable [ruː t 'veʤ (ə )tə bl] корнеплод

grain [greɪ n] злак

barley ['bɑ ː lɪ ] ячмень

blanching ['blɑ ː n(t)ʃ ɪ ŋ ] бланширование

partially ['pɑ ː ʃ (ə )lɪ ] частично

to retain [rɪ 'teɪ n] сохранять

to drop [drɔ p] опускать

green beans [griː n biː nz] стручковая фасоль

to plunge [plʌ nʤ ] погружать

excessive [ɪ k'sesɪ v] чрезмерный

aromatic compound [ˌ æ rə u'mæ tɪ k 'kɔ mpaund] ароматическое соединение

enzyme ['enzaɪ m] фермент

plant tissue [plɑ ː nt 'tɪ ʃ uː ] растительная ткань

 

EXERCISES:

I. Answer the following questions:

1. What is the range of temperatures for poaching?

2. Which items are usually cooked by simmering?

3. What is the main shortcoming of boiling?

4. Which steps does blanching involve?

5. How can over-blanching affect foods?

II. Find in the text the synonyms for the following words:

suitable, tender, undercooked, permanent, firm, to harm, to ameliorate, to immerse

III. Fill in the table:

Method	Temperature	Characteristics	Foods	Downsides

 

IV. Match the methods with pictures:

Poaching                                                                          

Simmering                                                                       

Boiling                                                                             

Blanching                                                                         

V. Match the words and their definitions:

1) liquid; 2) bubble; 3) stock; 4) pasta; 5) vitamin; 6) shell; 7) barley; 8) loss; 9) enzyme; 10) tissue.

a) the thin outer covering of a bird 's egg, which is hard and fragile;

b) a substance that flows freely but is of constant volume, having a consistency like that of water or oil;

c) any of the distinct types of material of which animals or plants are made, consisting of specialized cells and their products;

d) a substance produced by a living organism which acts as a catalyst to bring about a specific biochemical reaction;

e) a thin sphere of liquid enclosing air or another gas;

f) any of a group of organic compounds which are essential for normal growth and nutrition and are required in small quantities in the diet because they cannot be synthesized by the body;

g) the fact of no longer having something or having less of it than before;

h) liquid made by cooking bones, meat, fish, or vegetables slowly in water, used as a basis for the preparation of soup, gravy, or sauces;

i) a hardy cereal with coarse bristles extending from the ears, cultivated especially for use in brewing and stockfeed;

j) a type of food made from a mixture of flour, eggs, and water that is formed into different shapes.

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