"No one who cooks, cooks alone. Even at her most solitary, a cook in the kitchen is surrounded by generations of cooks past, the advice and menus of cooks present, the wisdom of cookbook writers."
The above quote by Laurie Colwin beautifully expresses how the combination of both knowledge and skill works together to inspire superb cooking. The talented cook is one who has mastered the craft through careful study and practice as well as the wisdom of other cooks, Once the basics are understood and the skill is mastered, a cook develops the confidence to be creative and experimental; and to add the flair and artistry to her cooking that will yield exceptional results.
The science of cooking requires an understanding of how certain combinations of ingredients are needed to produce a successful finished product. The following example will help to illustrate.
To make bread, all of the following ingredients are necessary to achieve success.
o Flour: It contains the proteins needed to produce gluten. When the flour protein comes into contact with the liquids in the recipe, gluten is formed. The gluten gives the dough its ability to stretch and expand, enabling it to hold on to the gas produced by the yeast. When the dough is kneaded, the gluten becomes stronger and more elastic giving the dough the structure it needs to support the weight and shape of the loaf. The best flour for yeast bread is made from hard wheat, which has the highest amount of gluten producing proteins.
o Salt: Salt helps to control the yeast action and prevents it from getting out of control. Salt also makes the gluten stronger and enhances the flavor of the finished product.
o Sugar (or other sweeteners): Provides the food needed for the yeast to work and improves the flavour and moistness. It also helps to give the bread its golden crust.
o Yeast: Yeast is a heat sensitive, living organism which produces carbon dioxide when mixed with liquid and sugar. The carbon dioxide, when trapped within the strong network of gluten, will cause the dough to rise.
o Liquids: Liquids are essential to change the protein in the flour to gluten and to activate the yeast; and to bind all the ingredients together.
o Fats: Fats add tenderness and flavour to breads and also increase the storage life of the bread by helping it to retain moisture.
This is the more scientific part of bread making. Take a recipe, measure the ingredients carefully and follow the instructions for its preparation. If you eliminate one of those ingredients or fail to follow the instructions in the recipe, your bread will not turn out well. On the other hand, if you never go beyond the basic recipe you may have a fine loaf of bread but no variety or innovation.
The artistry of cooking is the capability to take that basic recipe for making bread and to transform it into something that is a unique, artistic expression. Applying the knowledge of how to change ingredients and techniques, and possessing confidence and creativity, will produce an exceptional finished product. Cooking is both an art and a science and successful cooks are able to master that perfect combination.
Pat Lockhart is the author and publisher of the website: SuperCookbooks.com, a comprehensive cookbook resource. It includes a cookbook directory, information about how to create your own cookbook , a weekly featured recipe, and articles and reviews. Currently, we are collecting recipes for an exciting project: The Valley Cookbook which will feature healthy recipes from food produced locally in the Okanagan region of BC, Canada. We welcome submissions to this and other cookbooks.
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