WHAT IS COOKING?

Cooking or cookery is the process of preparing food for consumption with the use of heat. Cooking techniques
and ingredients vary widely across the world , reflecting unique environmental, economic, and cultural
traditions and trends. The way that cooking takes place also depends on the skill and type of training an
individual cook has. Cooking can also occur through chemical reactions without the presence of heat, most
notably with ceviche, a traditional South American dish where fish is cooked with the acids in lemon or lime
juice. Sushi also uses a similar chemical reaction between fish and the acidic content of rice glazed with
vinegar.
Preparing food with heat or fire is an activity unique to humans, and scientists believe the advent of cooking
played an important role in human evolution . Most anthropologists believe that cooking fires first developed
around 250,000 years ago. The expansion of agriculture, commerce, trade and transportation between
civilizations in different regions offered cooks many new ingredients. New inventions and technologies, such
as pottery for holding and boiling water, expanded cooking techniques. Some modern cooks apply advanced
scientific techniques to food preparation.