Cooking Vocabulary

Knowing how to cook is a one of the most useful skills we can learn. If we can cook, we can eat healthy dishes made at home with fresh ingredients instead of having to buy unhealthy fast food or expensive pre-cooked or frozen meals. Cooking our own meals is not only healthy and cheap, but can also be fun if we explore cookbooks and cooking websites and find new recipes to try.

Frying, boiling and steaming

Even if you only have a small stove or cooker with a couple of hotplates, you can cook delicious food at home. You can fry meat, fish or eggs in a frying pan with oil or butter. You can also chop or slice vegetables and sauté or stir-fry them in a pan or a wok. Another way of cooking vegetables and grains like rice is by boiling or steaming them. You can peel vegetables like potatoes and carrots before cooking them, and even mash them after they’re cooked if you like. You can also boil other foods like spaghetti, eggs and certain meats, or steam fish and other seafood like crabs and mussels.

With a simple hotplate you can also make soups and stews. The ingredients for these often include diced meats and vegetables as well as a pinch of salt. You can also sprinkle in spices like pepper or paprika or add herbs like basil or parsley. You can even make sauces by melting butter in a saucepan and mixing in flour and milk before adding other ingredients like grated cheese and then stirring until your sauce is smooth.