Cook
Cooking is the activity of preparing food by processing and heating food ingredients so that they can be consumed. Cooking consists of various methods, techniques, equipment, and combinations of ingredients. This is done to regulate taste, make food easier to digest, change food in terms of color, appearance, taste, texture, appearance and nutritional value. Cooking in general is the preparation, process of selecting, adjusting the quantity, and mixing food ingredients in a certain order with the aim of getting the desired result. Heating foodstuffs generally, though not always, changes them chemically, resulting in changes in taste, texture, appearance, and nutritional value.

The beginnings of cooking are often identified with the change from hunter-gatherer times to agriculture and the invention of fire. During the hunter-gatherer era, humans ate raw and fermented foods. Food is provided by nature, and humans only collect and clean it. To be able to digest raw food, humans at that time developed several different head shapes, jaw muscles, and had longer intestines over millions of years. In addition, humans can only rely on the sense of taste in determining food that is suitable for eating. The presence of cooking opens up new sources of food, which previously could not be consumed to be cooked and consumed, making food smoother so it is easier to digest, kills germs, and can be stored longer.

The earliest cooking methods involved roasting and boiling with the help of earthen or stone stoves. Even this cooking method is still used today with various developments in tools and temperature control.

Cooking Ingredients
Cooking ingredients are all ingredients that are added in the cooking process to achieve the effect desired by the actor. This term also includes food additives.

Basic material
The basic ingredients for cooking are generally natural, that is, ingredients derived from living things. Vegetables, fruit, nuts and spices come from plants. Meanwhile, meat, eggs and milk come from animals. Cooking also uses water and minerals such as salt. There are three main nutrients in food, namely carbohydrates, proteins and fats which are also found in food ingredients. And there are some additional elements in the form of water and spices.

Carbohydrate
Carbohydrates are sugar molecules (glucose), which are the main source of energy in the body. Carbohydrates are found in foodstuffs in the form of wheat grains, fruits, milk, nuts.

Proteins
Protein functions to help the body develop and repair its cells. Protein is generally found in animal products such as meat and milk and is also found in soybeans and various nuts.

Fat
Fat helps absorb Vitamin A, Vitamin D and Vitamin E and is also a source of energy. Found in foodstuffs such as cheese, meat, cream, coconut oil, palm oil and salty foods.

Water
Water is one of the minerals used in cooking, especially in the wet heat cooking method.

Herbs and spices
The addition of spices in the cooking process generally aims to add flavor to food. Cloves, pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, andaliman, are some examples of common spices used in Indonesia.

Food Additives
Food Additives (BTP) are ingredients that are included in the cooking process which are capable of changing the nature and shape of a food. Such as preserving food, adding flavor, changing the color of food and preventing rancidity. There are two types of BTP namely natural and synthetic.

Common Cooking Methods
To know the meaning of cooking as a whole, the methods or techniques used in cooking.

Dry Heat Cooking
Also known as dry heat cooking. It is defined as a cooking technique in which heat is transferred to food without the aid of additional moisture. This method generally uses high temperatures, namely 146 C and above. The types of cooking techniques are as follows:

Fry
Food processing technique by putting food ingredients into hot oil, so that heat transfers from the oil to the food. It then produces a complex taste and a golden-brown color from the Maillard reaction. Maintaining the correct oil temperature is the key to deep frying. If the temperature is too low, the food will absorb more oil, whereas if it is too high, the food will only burn on the surface before it is completely cooked.

There are several techniques in frying, and are divided based on the amount of oil used and temperature. These techniques are pan frying, deep frying, shallow frying, stir frying and sweating.

Baking
A food processing technique by putting food into a roaster or in a pan in the oven (bake) to cook various kinds of meat.

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