Short answer: cooking methods are generally divided into dry heat (roasting, grilling, sautéing, frying), moist heat (boiling, steaming, poaching, blanching) and combination methods (such as braising). The choice changes texture, flavor and preparation time. This quiz helps you recognize the main ones. It is general cooking material.
How to use it
Read each description and try to say which method it is. The answer follows.
Questions
- Food cooked in boiling water. Answer: boiling. Good for pasta, vegetables and eggs. The temperature is high and the agitation greater.
- Food in hot liquid, below boiling, with small bubbles. Answer: simmering (or poaching, in even gentler liquid). Preserves delicacy, as with eggs and fish.
- Food briefly immersed in boiling water and then in ice water. Answer: blanching. Sets the color and texture of vegetables.
- Food cooked by the steam from water, without touching the liquid. Answer: steaming. Keeps flavor and nutrients and needs no fat.
- Food cooked in the oven, with hot air around it. Answer: roasting or baking. Forms a crust and browns breads, meats and vegetables.
- Food cooked over embers or a very hot griddle. Answer: grilling. Creates marks and a toasted flavor.
- Small pieces cooked quickly in little fat, while stirring. Answer: sautéing. Quick, with flavor and color.
- Food submerged in a lot of hot fat. Answer: deep-frying. Crispness, but it requires temperature control and safety.
- Meat browned and then cooked slowly in a little liquid, covered. Answer: braising. Combines dry and moist heat and tenderizes tough cuts.
- Food cooked slowly, at low temperature, in a flavorful liquid for many hours. Answer: slow cooking (stewing). Develops flavor and tenderness.
How to choose
- Want crispness and browning? Dry heat: roasting, grilling, frying.
- Want softness and to keep color? Moist heat: steaming, poaching, blanching.
- Firm, fibrous cut? Braising or slow cooking.
- Want speed? Sautéing, stir-frying.
Safety tips
- Respect safe temperatures for meat and poultry.
- Be careful with hot oil and splashes.
- Dry food well before frying or searing.
- Keep pan handles turned inward on the stove.
Limits of the quiz
Terms vary between regions, and many preparations combine techniques. What matters is understanding what heat does to food.
