Healthy cooking

The cooking process is an important way of transforming food and can alter both its sensory appeal and its nutritional quality. Some types of food do not require cooking, whereas for others cooking is essential.

The principal reasons for cooking food are:

• to give the food an inviting appearance and colour;
• to make it more appetizing by enhancing its aroma and flavour;

• to soften the ingredients, making the food easier to chew and to digest;
• to destroy any bacteria which may be present, so making the food cleaner and safer to eat;
• to allow the food to keep better;
• to neutralize certain “anti-nutrients” which appear naturally in certain raw foods.

Cooking can also produce certain negative effects. These include the formation of noxious substances as a result of heating the food (for example: carbonization from char-grilling, or the formation of polymers from frying); the destruction of thermolable vitamins which are heat-sensitive (in particular Vitamin C and the Vitamin B group); the destruction of certain essential amino-acids during prolonged cooking, and the dispersal of certain vitamins and salts in the cooking water.
There are many different cooking methods, each with certain positive aspects or defects. It is very important to choose the appropriate cooking method for the food concerned, in order to best preserve its nutritional qualities, flavour and appearance.

GRILLING 
Cooking on a spit or grill is probably the departure-point for all types of cooking. It is an extremely “natural” method, which can be done in the open air and even without any special equipment. A hearth and a simple skewer, even made of wood, can serve in an emergency or at a picnic to prepare a tasty, healthy, fish or meat meal. Food, and in particular meat, which is grilled or cooked on a spit over a fire, cooks in a dry atmosphere. There is no build-up of the steam which forms around food cooked in an oven, and the flavour of the food is better maintained. In both cases the cooking-method is relatively simple, requiring very little attention, although there are some points that should be noted.
Food can be grilled using a variety of heat sources. It is the form of cooking which reaches the highest external temperature. This method can be used for cooking vegetables as well as meat and fish and enhances their organoleptic characteristics, avoiding an excessive loss of nutrients. However, the thermolable vitamins of groups B and PP are destroyed by between 15 and 20%. Whatever the heat-source is (charcoal, wood, gas or electricity) the metal of the grill has to reach a very high temperature before the food is placed on it, especially if that food is beef.  When the metal reaches its maximum temperature it is advisable to wipe it with a wet cloth and grease it with a bit of oil to stop the food sticking. Grilling is a very rapid method of cooking and for this reason is very difficult to do it perfectly. If you cook the food a moment too long or too little, or mistake the temperature (using too much heat for a thin slice of meat, or not enough for a thick steak) then your dish can be ruined. One learns by experience. In any case, it is worth remembering that small pieces of meat or fish should be cooked nearer the heat source and larger pieces kept further away.

LA BOILING
Boiling is probably one of the oldest and most traditional ways of cooking, together with the method of exposing the food directly to the heat of the fire (roasting). Boiling is similar to steaming because it does not require the addition of any oils (which often make the food more fattening). Also, it does not cause any substantial changes to the principal nutrients, due to the relatively low cooking temperature required, although cooking the food for a prolonged period can have the opposite effect. This method also allows the food to be given extra flavour by the addition of seasonings and spices.

LA STEAMING
Steaming is considered the healthiest and most “dietetic” cooking method.  Under this method the food cooks in the humid heat of boiling water, but without coming into direct contact with it, so the dissolving effect is minimized. The food also cooks at a relatively low temperature, of less than100° if one is not using a pressure-cooker. So there is almost no loss of vitamins and minerals, and the food retains its flavour and aroma with very little alteration. By choosing to steam food you can avoid or minimize the need for condiments, which in any case do not cook properly owing to the low temperature. As a result of this, the food is very light and easily digestible.

STEWING
This is the classic method of cooking food in liquid at low temperature. It allows one to preserve almost all the organoleptic and nutritive qualities of the food without loss of the mineral salts and other hydro-soluble elements.