Cuisin

e
Meet 5
PSY 314
May
2020
 Evolutionary Perspective on
• Fire
Cooking
• Homo erectus started cooking cos

• Soften food reduced time spent chewing on food all day

• Increase in available energy directed to brain development
• Anatomical changes: guts shrank, bone and teeth structure
• With cooking came
• Meals –cooking required planning, preparation, time
• Techniques that worked used on others
• A single raw material (e.g. grain) turned into diverse foods
(e.g. bread, beer)
 What is
“cuisine?”
• Latin, meaning “to cook”
• Style of cooking with distinctive
• Ingredients
• Techniques
• Dishes
• Meals
• Ways of eating
 Development of
Cuisine
• Very much influenced by specific
• Geography, politics, economy
• climate, season, production, trade
• Philosophy and culture
• e.g. heaty vs cooling foods; social status; time
• Religion
• e.g. Jewish dietary laws
• Evolution of cuisine
• Innovation and cultural interaction
• Technology, creativity, migration
• E.g. fusion cuisine, fast food
 What is
Cooking?
• Preparation of food for consumption
• A lot of time and effort goes into cooking:
• soaking, chopping, peeling, rolling, freezing, fermenting, marinating,
…
• Changing temperature
• Changing shape, size, texture
• Changing chemical characteristics (e.g. ceviche)
• Encouraging biochemical activity
 Methods of
Cooking
• Roasting/ baking
• Barbecue/ grill/ broil, rotisserie, searing
• Boiling
• Frying
• Steaming
• Smoking
 Cooking Using Heat
Transfer
• Conduction
• Direct contact of heating medium and target.
• Heat transfer by collision of particles within a body.
• Convection
• Bulk movement of material (usually liquid or gas)
• Hot air/ liquid will have lower density, rises up, comes back down when
cooled
• Radiation
• No direct contact needed
• Transfer of energy through electromagnetic waves moving through
space
 Effects of Heat on Sugars and
• Caramelisation Starches
• Pyrolysis of sugar (breaking down of sugar at high temperatures)
• Complex appealing flavour, rich brown colour
• Potatoes, onions, sugar
• Maillard Reaction
• Reaction of sugar and amino acids at high temperature (149°C)
• Because water cannot be heated above 100°C (unless under pressure), foods
cooked with moist heat will not brown. Therefore, meats are browned before
liquid is added.
• Steak, bread, nuts, chocolate
• Gelatinization
• When starch is combined with water and heated, individual starch granules
will absorb the liquid and swell, causing liquid to thicken.
• Sauces, pudding, cream
 Denaturing
Proteins
• Natural proteins are shaped like coils.
• When exposed to heat, salt, or acid, will
denature (coils unwind).
• When proteins denature, they coagulate
and form solid clumps (e.g. egg changes
from transparent fluid to opaque solid).
• As proteins denature, they lose capacity to
hold water (hence why they give off moisture
when cooked).
• After roasting meats, allow to rest
before carving to regain moisture.
Emulsion
s
• Immiscible ingredients joined together by a third ingredient
• Emulsifiers: egg yolk (lecithin), salt, mustard, garlic, corn starch
 Function of Fats in
• Visual appeal Cooking
• Moist, creamy, shiny
• Rich flavour, silky mouthfeel
• Baking: chemical functions
• Tenderising, leavening, moisture retention, flaky/ crumbly texture
• Non-stick properties
• Thickening agent
• Holds heat in food
• High smoke point
• Vegetable oils: 232°C
• Animal fats: 191°C
 Kitchen
Equipment
• Material
• Size
• Care and hygiene
French
Cuisine
 A Typical French
Meal
• Hors d'œuvre or entrée (appetizer, starter)
• Also soups

• Plat principal (main course)

• E.g. pot-au-feu (beef stew)
• Baguette commonly present

• Fromage (cheese course) or Dessert, or Pâtisserie

• E.g. crème brûlée, crêpe
• Salad may be served before cheese course/ dessert

• Declining specialty shops increasing supermarkets

 French
Meals
• Long lingering meals
• 2 hour lunch breaks
• Tighter work
schedules, longer
commutes →
quicker lunches
(e.g. sandwiches)
• Staple food
• Bread
• Cheese –every
region is known for
its own cheese
 Art and
• Very Aesthetics
important to the French
• E.g. Middle ages: Swan or peacock sewn back into its skin with feathers intact
• Haute Cuisine
• Books on the preparation and presentation of food for the nobility were
published.
• After French Revolution, chefs moved out of the homes of the aristocrats into
the public sphere where they built upon their foundation of an aesthetic of
cooking to make cuisine not only a respected profession but also to make it a
French profession.
• In the Industrial Age, the new bourgeoisie competed for the best chefs for
their homes and entertained at restaurants with renowned chefs.
• Fine dining associated with French cuisine.
Trubek,
2000
 Rou
x
• 60% all purpose flour
• 40% fat (butter, vegetable oil,
chicken fat, lard)
(or can be 1:1)

1. Heat the fat over medium

heat
2. When completely melted,
slowly add flour, stirring to
combine
Use roux to make
soups or thicken
sauces.

In this case I made a

cream of leek and
carrot soup.
 Some
tips
• Avoid temperature extremes to prevent lumping.
• Cool or room temperature roux can be incorporated into hot liquid
more easily than ice-cold roux because the fat is not as solid.
• Very cold liquid should not be used , as it will initially cause the roux
to harden.
• Extremely hot roux may spatter when combined with a liquid.
 Japanese Influence: The Iron
Chef
• Competitive cooking reality TV show started in 1993
• Started the trend of such shows globally

• Kitchen Stadium
• Sports feel to cooking –competition
• Host, judges
• Spectators, music, layout
• Specifically defined challenge
• Contestants with background stories
Number of Competition Shows Airing on Food
Network
Why
?
• Psychological impact of being a contestant?
• E.g. Masterchef Junior

• Viewership and $$
• What is it that appeals to viewers?
• Psychological impact of viewers?
 Competitive
• Nathan’sEating
Hotdog eating
contest held on the 4th of July
every year since the 1970s.
• In 2001, Takeru Kobayashi
downed 50 hotdogs smashing
previous record of 25.5
hotdogs.
• Current champion (2017): Joey
Chestnut 72 hotdogs
• Others
• Pies, hamburgers, ribs, steaks
• Spicy food challenges
• Alcohol
• Live roaches and worms

• Criticisms
• Gluttony –some parts of the world have no food
• Norms that are set as examples to children
• Health risks –obesity, gastrointestinal problems (e.g. ulcers, gastroparesis),
chocking
 Why do ppl do
it?
• It’s a sport (seriously)
• Training and preparation
• Regulatory body: International Federation of Competitive Eating (IFOCE)
• Aired on ESPN
• Trainers, promoters, fans, cheerleaders, media interview with winners, prize
• It’s not about the food, but an obstacle to overcome.
• “… extreme eating is not really about eating at all. It is all about “drive
and dedication.” Much like other sports that push the body to its limits,
competitive eating is extreme (Chestnut, 2017).”
 French Influence: Michelin
StarMichelin brothers published the a guide for
• 1900 tyre manufacturers
French motorists. At the time there were fewer than 3,000 cars in
France and the Michelin guide was intended to boost the demand for
cars, and thus for car tyres.
• List of restaurants and hotels were included at the back of the book.
• Growing popularity of restaurant list –a team recruited to review
restaurants.
• 1926, started awarding one star
History of Malaysian Cuisine
• Melaka as trading port
•  China, Middle East, Persia, Turkey, India
• 1511 –Portuguese turned Melaka into a hub for the world’s spice
trade.
• 1826 –British further encouraged trade with neighbouring countries
cos of their crops (e.g. tea, rubber).
Malaysian Chinese Cuisine
• Marriage between Chinese men and local Malay women = Peranakan
•  Baba (men); Nyonya (women); Bibik (senior women)
• Peranakan/ Nyonya Cuisine
•  Penang has more Thai influence; Melaka has more Indonesian Javanese
influence
• 19th century migration of Chinese (mostly Southern Chinese) brought
about hawker stalls to cater to cravings of Chinese food.
•  Cantonese, Hokkien, Teochew, Hakka
•  Char kuey teow, rojak, prawn noodles, popiah
Malaysian Indian Cuisine
• Spice trade and 19th century migration of plantation and railway
workers.
•  Tamil (Southern India), Sikhs, Punjabs, Malayalees
• Malaysian Northern Indian Cuisine
•  Mainly breads made from wheat –e.g. chapatti, roti, naan
•  Curries, meats, vegetables, yoghurt, cheese, spices
• Malaysian Southern Indian Cuisine
•  Rice, fish, dhal, vegetables, coconut milk, spices
• Mamak stalls, nasi kandar
•  Teh Tarik, roti canai, tosai
Malaysian Malay Cuisine
• Strong influence by neighbouring countries
•  Thailand in the northern regions (Kedah, Penang)
•  Indonesia in the southern regions (Negeri Sembilan –e.g. Nasi Padang from
Sumatera; Johor –e.g. mee bandung, roti jala, lontong from Bugis and Java).
• Distinct styles:
•  Masak lemak –coconut milk
•  Masak pedas –chilli
•  Masak asam –tamarind juice
•  Masak hitam –dark sweet soy sauce
•  Masak asam pedas –chilli and tamarind juice
The Psychology of Malaysian
Food
• Living in Malaysia, has the food culture influenced your food choice/
eating habits?
•  E.g. Of Malay descent, but Chinese food has been incorporated into diet.
•Commercially, we have seen halal pau, Malay style chicken rice, pork satay, chi kut teh
•  International students, how have your food choices/ eating habits changed?
• Are the changes welcomed?
• What do you miss about food at home?