When you hear the word cooking, most people instantly think of preparing a meal over the stove. Depending on the person, cooking could be considered as preparing a meal from the box or from scratch. As you learn while getting a culinary arts degree, cooking is more than heating food up and putting it together; it changes more than just the heat of the food being prepared.
Cooking firms the protein and causes them to lose moisture which is why the yolk of the egg becomes a firm substance when boiled or fried and why a well done steak becomes firmer than a rare steak. Although it firms protein, if cooked in a certain way, other proteins such as the collagens making up the connective tissues in meats breaks down.
Carbohydrates such as sugars and starches are transformed by heating. Sugars turn brown. An example of this is the browning of bread when baked; this is caused by the caramelization of the carbohydrates. A food containing a lot of starch will soak up water and grows in size as seen in pasta when cooked.
Fats tend to liquefy and eventually begin smoking when it gets too hot. Fiber breaks down and softens when cooked. This can be seen in cooked vegetables; a carrot becomes soft when cooked.
Cooking also affects the coloring of foods and can cause other, less obvious changes. Nutrients and flavor are released from the raw formation. When you walk into a room smelling the cooking aroma, you smell the flavors which were released into the air.
The heat of food changes the consistency and vitamin content of food. These facts are important to know whether you are trying to receive a culinary arts degree or if you cook or heat up food on a daily basis.
