maybe this can serve as a little introduction to the cooking threads

why do we cook food?


food is our body

the food we eat is the material that becomes our body


it is alchemy at its finest
you take a substance
put it in a box
and it becomes something different


from an abstract point of view
the human body has the ability to turn plant life into something that can speak



technically
a body in perfect health and existing in a perfect environment
cooks food on its own
with proper chewing
digestion begins in the mouth and the food is broken down throughout the digestive system


we currently live in an environment that does not really give the opportunity to do this for a couple of reasons
first - being exposed to pollution and a toxic environment can negatively affect the digestive system
second - we have began to depend on certain foods that are difficult for the body to digest
but
with proper preparation
these foods become very useful to the body



basically
cooking is a method of pre-digesting food

instead of digestion beginning in your mouth
you begin the digestion outside your mouth when you begin preparing food

preparation of food takes many forms
the application of heat is the one we are all familiar with

soaking and fermentation of foods like wheat and sprouts is another often used method

when you buy green bananas and let them ripen - this is also a method of cooking
- the only difference is that you dont do anything but wait
- the bananas slowly 'cook' themselves at room temperature



recently
in one of the local newspapers i read an article that claimed that the average meal preparation time has decreased from 6 hours a day in 1900 to barely 20 minutes a day in 2006

this is a symptom of a lot of things in our society

we are using bad techniques to prepare food too quickly

although mot of us cannot see the effects of this right away
we are eating food that is not ready to be digested
or
simply cannot be digested at all

these days
people eat often for the feeling of taste bud stimulation instead of the nourishment that the body really craves

i will clean this up and maybe add more to it later


please add on if you have any insights

peace