The History of Culinary Arts

Cooking was once seen as either a hobby or a chore. Up till now, it is regarded as a very skilled line of work within a multi-billion industry. Students taking up culinary arts are equipped with distinct levels of skills and knowledge, but they all share the same thing and that is the passion for cooking. You will never go supplementary and study culinary arts if, in the first place, you don't have interest in cooking, now would you?

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Food is the one thing that has all the time been and will continue to be a big part of our daily lives as a corollary of the family recipes that we carry with great care from many generations passed. For some, they learn new cuisines while others even go to culinary schools to perfect their skills and touch and collect a degree in culinary arts. Knowing that every person needs food is so much easy to understand, but aren't you curious to know as to when and where do the distinct types of taste, presentations and features of the food started? If you are, then lets us witness the history of culinary arts.

The history of culinary can be traced back in the 1800s when the very first cooking school in Boston was teaching the art of American cooking along with establishment the students to pass on their knowledge to others. The first cookbook ever published was written by Fannie Merrit Farmer in 1896, who also attended the Boston cooking school and whose book is still widely used as a reference and it remains in print at present.

The next phase in the history of culinary arts was taken through the television where in 1946 James Beard, who is also recognized as father of the American cuisine, held quarterly cooking classes on the art of American cooking. On the other hand, the French cuisine was brought to life in the American community by Julia Child in 1960s when, through the power of the radios, she entered all the kitchens nationwide.

Later on the history of culinary, the Culinary found of America (Cia) was founded and was the first culinary school to hold career-based courses on the art of cooking. Its first location was in the campus of Yale University in Connecticut, which was later moved in 1972 to New York. But before the Cia was established, those who wanted a occupation in culinary arts regularly had to go through apprenticeships under seasoned chefs to gain on-the-job training. This learning formula was a customary policy in Europe, but rather a inspiring arrangement as organized apprenticeships were a quite new belief in the history of culinary arts in the Us. Any way today, apprenticeships continue to offer an perfect culinary touch to aspiring chefs.

The History of Culinary Arts

Caribbean Food - A microscopic History

The Arawak, Carib, and Taino Indians were the first inhabitants of the Caribbean islands. These first inhabitants occupied the present day islands of British Virgin Islands, Cuba, Dominica, Grenada, Haiti, Trinidad, and Jamaica. Their daily diet consisted of vegetables and fruits such as papaw, yams, guavas, and cassava. The Taino started the process of cooking meat and fish in large clay pots.

The Arawaks are the first people known to make a grate of thin green wood strips on which they slowly cooked meat, allowing it to be enhanced by the flavor of the wood. This grate was called a barbacoa, and the word we know today as barbeque is taken from this early Indian cooking method.

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The Carib Indians added more spice to their food with hot pepper sauces, and also added lemon and lime juice to their meat and fish recipes. The Caribs are said to have made the first pepper pot stew. No recipes exist since every time the Indians made the dish, they would always add new ingredients. The Carib had a big impact on early Caribbean history, and the Caribbean sea was named after this tribe.

Then the Caribbean became a crossroads for the world . . .

Once the Europeans brought Africans slaves into the region, the slaves diet consisted mostly of food the slave owners did not want to eat. So the slaves had to be inventive, and they blended their primary African foods with staples found on the islands. The Africans introduced okra, callaloo, fish cakes, saltfish, ackee, pudding and souse, mangos, and the list goes on.

Most present day Caribbean island locals eat a present diet that is reflective of the main ingredients of primary early African dishes, and includes cassava, sweet potatoes, yams, plantains, bananas and corn meal.

African men were hunters in their homeland, and often away from home for long periods of time. They would cook spicy pork over hot coals, and this tradition was refined by the early slaves in Jamaica. The technique is known today as "jerk" cooking , and the incommunicable involves a slow meat cooking process. Jamaica is preeminent for jerk chicken and pork, and you'll find jerk all over the island.

After slavery was abolished, the Europeans went to India and China for labor, and more cooking styles were introduced. Much of the Indian cooking culture remains alive and well in the Caribbean of today with the introduction of curried meats and curry powder. Indians call it kari podi, and we have come to know this pungent flavor as curry.

The Chinese introduced rice, which is always a staple in home cooked island meals. The Chinese also introduced mustard, and the early Portuguese sailors introduced the popular codfish.

Most visitors to the Caribbean have no idea that the fruit trees and fruits so well-known to the islands were introduced by the early Spanish explorers. The fruit trees and fruits brought from Spain comprise orange, lime, ginger, plantains, figs, date palms, sugar cane, grapes, tamarinds and coconuts.

Even the Polynesian islands play an important role in Caribbean cooking. Most of us remember the movie "Mutiny on the Bounty", but do not know that single ship carried breadfruit, which was loaded on board from the islands of Tahiti and Timor. In the movie the crew took over the ship, forced the captain into a small boat to fend on his own, and they threw the breadfruit, which they carefully "strange fruit" overboard. an additional one ship was more successful in bringing breadfruit from Polynesia to Jamaica and the St Vincent and the Grenadines. Breadfruit is a staple diet in the current day Caribbean

America is responsible for introducing beans, corn, squash, potatoes, tomatoes, and chili pepper to the Caribbean. In fact these single foods had never been seen in Asia, Europe or Africa, so America indeed introduced these foods the rest of the world via the Caribbean.

So it's no wonder Caribbean cooking is so rich and creative with the flavors of Africa, India, and China, along with Spanish, Danish, Portuguese, French and British influences. Food served in the Caribbean islands have been influenced by the cultures of the world, but each island adds its own extra flavor and cooking technique.

Caribbean Food - A microscopic History

The History Of Italian Food

While some of the most beloved dishes connected with the Italian culture consist of a tempting slice of pizza and a heaping plate of pasta, there is much more to the world of Italian cooking. Throughout the many regions in Italy, the distinctive cuisine of the Italians shines through in a wide-range of eating habits, styles of cooking, and selection of local ingredients. The changing of the times has also influenced Italian food, as the meals served in the pre-Roman era possess both similarities and differences in the cuisine of today.

The culinary history of Italy established a prestige more than 2,000 years ago, which includes an paramount movement during the Roman Empire. Culturally, food making ready was quite important in the past where flashes of point have been captured in the only surviving cookbook (Apicius), which dates back to the first century Bc.

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The spread of Italian food diversity began after the fall of the Roman Empire when individual city states began to uphold detach identities and traditions. Each region began to display its own unique way of cooking, right down to the formation of a meatball to the characteristic cheeses and wine produced in a locale. The north advanced Tuscan beef, while black truffles were very beloved in Marches. Provolone and mozzarella cheeses advanced in the south, as well as a host of spellbinding citrus fruits.

Diverse types of bread, variations in pasta, and varying food making ready techniques also differed agreeing to region. The southern regions of Italy embrace hard-boiled spaghetti, while the north often prefers a soft egg noodle. Milan is known for their risotto, while Bologna has a deep history concerning tortellini, and Naples is paramount for their pizzas.

Over the years, Italian cuisine has greatly evolved in part because of a wealth of outside influences that have added to its characteristic flavor and appeal. In the beginning, ancient Greek cookery became an integrated part of Italian cuisine. Eventually, a wealth of imports found their way into the kitchens of early Italians, who sent Roman ships to get a collection of important foods, including wheat, wine, exotic ingredients, and fine spices from nearby the world. Some ships even traveled to faraway locations, such as China, to bring back edible resources that catapulted the depth and collection of Italian cooking styles.

Coastal regions are known for their developments in appetizing fish and seafood dishes. For example, the island of Sardinia supplies a more original and easy style of cuisine, which often incorporated delicacies, connected with the sea. Swordfish, lobster, anchovies, sardines, and other Mediterranean treats relate Italian cooking of the area. In Sicily (another island region), a great deal of the cooking drew heavily from North African influences. An Arab influence also affected cuisine on the island and within the rest of the south, especially with the introduction of varied spices and sweets, such as the Sicilian ice cream cake called cassata.

As for one of the most beloved Italian dishes, while the history books often state that pasta was a product of the Chinese brought back by Venetian merchant, Marco Polo, it was de facto a rediscovery of a food item eaten during Etruscan and Roman times. It is believed that the first pasta in Italy was made similar to the noodles of today - from the same durum wheat - which was cooked in ovens instead of boiled in water.

Today, the differences in Italian cooking still show through in the distinctions in the middle of the north and the south. Each region still carries their own traditions in cooking that reflects deep history and culture with a never ending provide of main courses, appetizers, and desserts that continuously tempts the taste buds.

The History Of Italian Food

History of Baking

Baking has been many cultures' beloved technique for creating snacks, desserts, and accompaniments to meals for many years. Now, it is very well-known as the formula for creating sweets and all sorts of wondrous mouthwatering pastries. In antique history, the first evidence of baking occurred when humans took wild grass grains, soaked it in water, and mixed everything together, mashing it into a kind of broth-like paste. Then, the paste was cooked by pouring it onto a flat, hot rock, resulting in a bread-like substance. Later, this paste was roasted on hot embers, which made bread-making easier, as it could now be made anytime fire was created. Around 2500 B.C., records show that the Egyptians already had bread, and may have absolutely learned the process from the Babylonians. The Greek Aristophanes, Around 400 B.C., also recorded information that showed that tortes with patterns and honey flans existed in Greek cuisine. Dispyrus was also created by the Greeks Around that time and widely popular; was a donut-like bread made from flour and honey and shaped in a ring; soaked in wine, it was eaten when hot.

In the Roman Empire, baking flourished widely. In about 300 B.C., the pastry cook became an occupation for Romans (known as the pastillarium). This became a very highly respected profession because pastries were thought about decadent, and Romans loved festivity and celebration. Thus, pastries were often cooked especially for large banquets, and any pastry cook who could manufacture new types of tasty treats, unseen at any other banquet, was highly prized. Around 1 A.D., there were more than three hundred pastry chefs in Rome alone, and Cato wrote about how they created all sorts of diverse foods, and flourished because of those foods. Cato speaks of an huge number of breads; included amongst these are the libum (sacrificial cakes made with flour), placenta (groats and cress), spira (our contemporary day flour pretzels), scibilata (tortes), savaillum (sweet cake), and globus apherica (fritters). A great selection of these, with many different variations, different ingredients, and discrete patterns, were often found at banquets and dining halls. To bake bread, the Romans used an oven with its own chimney and had grain mills to grind grain into flour.

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Eventually, because of Rome, the art of baking became widely known throughout Europe, and finally spread to the eastern parts of Asia. Bakers often baked goods at home and then sold them in the streets-children loved their goods. In fact, this scene was so coarse that Rembrandt visible a work that depicted a pastry chef selling pancakes in the streets of Germany, and young children surrounding him, clamoring to get a sample. In London, pastry chef sold their goods in handcarts, which were very convenient shops on wheels. This way, they advanced a system of "delivery" baked goods to people's households, and the query for baked goods increased greatly as a result. Finally, in Paris, the first open-air café of baked goods was developed, and baking became an established art throughout the entire world.

History of Baking