Home-cooked food is five times cheaper than that of a restaurant. When cooking at home, you can stow leftovers in the refrigerator for later. This is not the case for restaurants that serve their food in standard portions. Prepping your meal at home means you can easily monitor the hygiene level. This reduces the probability of food poisoning. Additionally, you can control calorie intake and avoid food with allergens. Thus, learning how to cook your meal properly is necessary.
Prepare Tools and Ingredients
This is popularly termed as Mise-en-Place in the culinary world. It involves washing, chopping, measuring ingredients, and cleaning kitchenware and the workspace. Prepping accommodates time-consuming activities. For example, your recipe may include thawing and tenderizing pork cutlet. The preparation means you cook efficiently since you have what you need within easy reach.
Seasoning
Besides building flavor, seasoning adds an enticing color to the food. Seasonings include salt, herbs, and spices. Some spices have numerous health benefits. For instance, turmeric is anti-inflammatory, while ginger lowers blood pressure.
Salt is an important part of a healthy diet. It balances the water level of body cells to keep you hydrated. Iodized table salt is a source of iodine, whose deficiency causes goiter. Additionally, salt has been used to preserve food since time immemorial.
Heat Regulation
Some foodstuffs must be sufficiently cooked to ensure food safety. However, there are different levels of doneness. These vary by preference and type of dish. For meat, levels include:
- Rare
- Medium Rare
- Medium
- Well Done
Though some vegetables like broccoli are healthier when uncooked, some people prefer them cooked. Others eat their salmon raw, while some like it cooked.
Plating
Well presented food is visually appealing—the choice of kitchenware, the size of portions, and their arrangement. Always use clean utensils whose color compliments that of food. Rather than mixing different food components, layer them as this makes them look more interesting. Also, hot dishes should be served on hot plates while cold foods should be on cold plates.
Cooking your own food can be interesting. You get to eat what and how you want. Also, you may experiment with different seasoning and presentation of dishes to develop your palate.
