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Introduction

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Foods
Foods

Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin and contains essential nutrients such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is ingested by an organism and assimilated by the organism's cells to provide energy, maintain life, or stimulate growth. Different species of animals have different feeding behaviours that satisfy the needs of their metabolisms and have evolved to fill a specific ecological niche within specific geographical contexts.

Omnivorous humans are highly adaptable and have adapted to obtain food in many different ecosystems. Humans generally use cooking to prepare food for consumption. The majority of the food energy required is supplied by the industrial food industry, which produces food through intensive agriculture and distributes it through complex food processing and food distribution systems. This system of conventional agriculture relies heavily on fossil fuels, which means that the food and agricultural systems are one of the major contributors to climate change, accounting for as much as 37% of total greenhouse gas emissions. (Full article...)


Cooking, also known as cookery or professionally as the culinary arts, is the art, science and craft of using heat to make food more palatable, digestible, nutritious, or safe. Cooking techniques and ingredients vary widely, from grilling food over an open fire, to using electric stoves, to baking in various types of ovens, reflecting local conditions. Cooking is an aspect of all human societies and a cultural universal.

Preparing food with heat or fire is an activity unique to humans. Archeological evidence of cooking fires from at least 300,000 years ago exists, but some estimate that humans started cooking up to 2 million years ago.

The expansion of agriculture, commerce, trade, and transportation between civilizations in different regions offered cooks many new ingredients. New inventions and technologies, such as the invention of pottery for holding and boiling of water, expanded cooking techniques. Some modern cooks apply advanced scientific techniques to food preparation to further enhance the flavor of the dish served. (Full article...)

This is a Good article, an article that meets a core set of high editorial standards.

Clockwise: A fried chicken breast, wing, thigh, and leg

Fried chicken, also known as Southern fried chicken, is a dish consisting of chicken pieces that have been coated with seasoned flour or batter and pan-fried, deep fried, pressure fried, or air fried. The breading adds a crisp coating or crust to the exterior of the chicken while retaining juices in the meat. Broiler chickens are most commonly used.

The first dish known to have been deep fried was fritters, which were popular in the European Middle Ages. However, the Scottish were the first Europeans to deep fry their chicken in fat. There is an English cookbook from 1736 which mentions fried chicken, the “Dictionarium Domesticum”, by Nathan Bailey. Meanwhile, many West African peoples had traditions of seasoned fried chicken (though battering and cooking the chicken in palm oil). (Full article...)

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Humans have been processing fish since neolithic times. This 16th-century fish stall shows many traditional fish products.

The term fish processing refers to the processes associated with fish and fish products between the time fish are caught or harvested, and the time the final product is delivered to the customer. Although the term refers specifically to fish, in practice it is extended to cover any aquatic organisms harvested for commercial purposes, whether caught in wild fisheries or harvested from aquaculture or fish farming.

Larger fish processing companies often operate their own fishing fleets or farming operations. The products of the fish industry are usually sold to grocery chains or to intermediaries. Fish are highly perishable. A central concern of fish processing is to prevent fish from deteriorating, and this remains an underlying concern during other processing operations. (Full article...)
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Still life with a peacock pie, 1627, by Dutch artist Pieter Claesz, showing various dishes from the 17th century including roast meat, breads, nuts, wine, apples, dried fruits, along with an elaborate meat pie decorated like a peacock. While common in the warmer climates of Southern Europe, lemons would have been a relatively new introduction to the Netherlands, requiring growing in a orangery.

The cuisine of early modern Europe (c. 1500–1800) was a mix of dishes inherited from medieval cuisine combined with innovations that would persist in the modern era.

The discovery of the New World, the establishment of new trade routes with Asia and increased foreign influences from sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East meant that Europeans became familiarized with a multitude of new foodstuffs. Spices that previously had been prohibitively expensive luxuries, such as pepper, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and ginger, soon became available to the majority population, and the introduction of new plants coming from the New World and India like maize, potato, sweet potato, chili pepper, cocoa, vanilla, tomato, coffee, and tea transformed European cuisine forever. (Full article...)

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Allium sativum, known as garlic, from William Woodville, Medical Botany, 1793.

Garlic (Allium sativum) is a species of bulbous flowering plant in the genus Allium. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, Welsh onion, and Chinese onion. It is native to South Asia, Central Asia and northeastern Iran and has long been used as a seasoning worldwide, with a history of several thousand years of human consumption and use. It was known to ancient Egyptians and has been used as both a food flavoring and a traditional medicine. China produced 73% of the world's supply of garlic in 2021. (Full article...)

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Valencian paella

Paella (/pˈɛlə/, /pɑːˈjə/, py-EL, pah-AY-yə, Valencian: [paˈeʎa]; Spanish: [paˈeʝa]) is a rice dish originally from the Valencian Community. Paella is regarded as one of the community's identifying symbols. It is one of the best-known dishes in Spanish cuisine.

The dish takes its name from the wide, shallow traditional pan used to cook the dish on an open fire, paella being the word for a frying pan in Valencian language. As a dish, it may have ancient roots, but in its modern form, it is traced back to the mid-19th century, in the rural area around the Albufera lagoon adjacent to the city of Valencia, on the Mediterranean coast of Spain. (Full article...)

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A savoy cabbage and a cross section

Cabbage, comprising several cultivars of Brassica oleracea, is a leafy green, red (purple), or white (pale green) biennial plant grown as an annual vegetable crop for its dense-leaved heads. It is descended from the wild cabbage (B. oleracea var. oleracea), and belongs to the "cole crops" or brassicas, meaning it is closely related to broccoli and cauliflower (var. botrytis); Brussels sprouts (var. gemmifera); and Savoy cabbage (var. sabauda).

A cabbage generally weighs between 500 and 1,000 grams (1 and 2 lb). Smooth-leafed, firm-headed green cabbages are the most common, with smooth-leafed purple cabbages and crinkle-leafed savoy cabbages of both colours being rarer. Under conditions of long sunny days, such as those found at high northern latitudes in summer, cabbages can grow quite large. , the heaviest cabbage was 62.71 kilograms (138 lb 4 oz). Cabbage heads are generally picked during the first year of the plant's life cycle, but plants intended for seed are allowed to grow a second year and must be kept separate from other cole crops to prevent cross-pollination. Cabbage is prone to several nutrient deficiencies, as well as to multiple pests, and bacterial and fungal diseases. (Full article...)

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A bunch of grapes
A bunch of grapes
Credit: USDA photo by Bob Nichols.
Commercial vineyards have planted more than one million of the ARS-developed Crimson Seedless grapevines.

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Title page of "La Physiologie du Goût" ("The Physiology of Taste") by French gastronome Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (1755-1826) with a portrait of the author. 1848 edition.
Title page of "La Physiologie du Goût" ("The Physiology of Taste") by French gastronome Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (1755-1826) with a portrait of the author. 1848 edition.
Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin
B. April 1, 1755, Belley, France – d. February 2, 1826, Paris

"Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are."

Brillat-Savarin

Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (French pronunciation: [ʒɑ̃ ɑ̃tɛlm bʁija savaʁɛ̃], (2 April 1755 – 2 February 1826) was a French lawyer and politician, who, as the author of Physiologie du goût (The Physiology of Taste), became celebrated for his culinary reminiscences and reflections on the craft and science of cookery and the art of eating.

Rising to modest eminence in the last years of France's Ancien Régime, Brillat-Savarin had to escape into exile when the Reign of Terror began in 1793. He spent nearly three years in the United States, teaching French and playing the violin to support himself, before returning to France when it became safe to do so, resuming his career as a lawyer, and rising to the top of the French judiciary. (Full article...)

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Garden strawberries grown hydroponically
... that chewing gum, in various forms, has existed since at least the Neolithic period?

...that Pao cai is a type of pickle, usually pickled cabbage, often found in Chinese, and particularly Sichuanese cuisine?
...that the Garden Strawberry originated in Europe in the early 18th century, and represents the accidental cross of Fragaria virginiana from eastern North America?
...that horseradish root itself has hardly any aroma. When cut or grated, however, enzymes from the damaged plant cells breakdown sinigrin (a glucosinolate) to produce allyl isothiocyanate (mustard oil), which irritates the sinuses and eyes?
...that a "Chinese restaurant" in a Western country will serve mostly Cantonese food, or an adaptation thereof?

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Food topics

The following are topics relating to food

Beverages Alcoholic beverage, Beer, Cocktail, Coffee, Distilled beverage, Energy drink, Espresso, Flaming beverage, Foodshake, Juice, Korean beverages, Liqueur, Milk, Milkshake, Non-alcoholic beverage, Slush, Smoothie, Soft drink, Sparkling water, Sports drink, Tea, Water, Wine
Cooking Baking, Barbecuing, Blanching, Baking Blind, Boiling, Braising, Broiling, Chefs, Coddling, Cookbooks, Cooking school, Cooking show, Cookware and bakeware, Cuisine, Deep frying, Double steaming, Food and cooking hygiene, Food processor, Food writing, Frying, Grilling, Hot salt frying, Hot sand frying, Infusion, Kitchen, Cooking utensils, Macerating, Marinating, Microwaving, Pan frying, Poaching, Pressure cooking, Pressure frying, Recipe, Restaurant, Roasting, Rotisserie, Sautéing, Searing, Simmering, Smoking, Steaming, Steeping, Stewing, Stir frying, Vacuum flask cooking
Cooking schools Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale, Cambridge School of Culinary Arts, Culinary Institute of America, French Culinary Institute, Hattori Nutrition College, International Culinary Center, Johnson & Wales University, Le Cordon Bleu, Louisiana Culinary Institute, New England Culinary Institute, Schenectady County Community College, State University of New York at Delhi
Dining Buffet, Catering, Drinkware, Food festival, Gourmand, Gourmet, Picnic, Potluck, Restaurant, Salad bar, Service à la française, Service à la russe, Table d'hôte, Thanksgiving dinner, Vegan, Vegetarian, Waiter, Wine tasting
Foods Baby food, Beans, Beef, Breads, Burger, Breakfast cereals, Cereal, Cheeses, Comfort food, Condiments, Confections, Convenience food, Cuisine, Dairy products, Delicacies, Desserts, Diet food, Dried foods, Eggs, Fast foods, Finger food, Fish, Flavoring, Food additive, Food supplements, Frozen food, Fruits, Functional food, Genetically modified food, Herbs, Hors d'œuvres, Hot dogs, Ingredients, Junk food, Legumes, Local food, Meats, Noodles, Novel food, Nuts, Organic foods, Pastas, Pastries, Poultry, Pork, Produce, Puddings, Salads, Sandwiches, Sauces, Seafood, Seeds, Side dishes, Slow foods, Soul food, Snack foods, Soups, Spices, Spreads, Staple food, Stews, Street food, Sweets, Taboo food and drink, Vegetables
Food industry Agriculture, Bakery, Dairy, Fair trade, Farmers' market, Farming, Fishing industry, Food additive, Food bank, Food co-op, Food court, Food distribution, Food engineering, Food processing, Food Salvage, Food science, Foodservice distributor, Grocery store, Health food store, Institute of Food Technologists, Meat packing industry, Organic farming, Restaurant, Software, Supermarket, Sustainable agriculture
Food organizations American Culinary Federation, American Institute of Baking, American Society for Enology and Viticulture, Chinese American Food Society, European Food Information Resource Network, Food and Agriculture Organization, Institute of Food Science and Technology, Institute of Food Technologists, International Association of Culinary Professionals, International Life Sciences Institute, International Union of Food Science and Technology, James Beard Foundation, World Association of Chefs Societies
Food politics Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, European Food Safety Authority, Food and agricultural policy, Food and Agriculture Organization, Food and Drugs Act, Food and Drug Administration, Food and Nutrition Service, Food crises, Food labelling Regulations, Food Safety and Inspection Service, Food security, Food Stamp Program, Food Standards Agency (UK), Natural food movement, World Food Council, World Food Prize, World Food Programme
Food preservation Canning, Dried foods, Fermentation, Freeze drying, Food preservatives, Irradiation, Pasteurization, Pickling, Preservative, Snap freezing, Vacuum evaporation
Food science Appetite, Aristology, Biosafety, Cooking, Danger zone, Digestion, Famine, Fermentation, Flavor, Food allergy, Foodborne illness, Food coloring, Food composition, Food chemistry, Food craving, Food faddism, Food engineering, Food preservation, Food quality, Food safety, Food storage, Food technology, Gastronomy, Gustatory system, Harvesting, Product development, Sensory analysis, Shelf-life, Slaughtering, Taste, Timeline of agriculture and food technology
Meals Breakfast, Second breakfast, Elevenses, Brunch, Tiffin, Lunch, Tea, Dinner, Supper, Dessert, Snack
Courses of a meal Amuse bouche, Bread, Cheese, Coffee, Dessert, Entrée, Entremet, Hors d'œuvre, Main course, Nuts, Salad, Soup
Nutrition Chronic toxicity, Dietary supplements, Diet, Dieting, Diets, Eating disorder, Food allergy, Food energy, Food groups, Food guide pyramid, Food pyramid, Food sensitivity, Healthy eating, Malnutrition, Nootropic, Nutraceutical, Nutrient, Obesity, Protein, Protein combining, Yo-yo dieting
Occupations Baker, Butcher, Chef, Personal chef, Farmer, Food stylist, Grocer, Waiter
Other Food chain, Incompatible Food Triad

Categories

The following are categories relating to food.

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Food list articles

See also: Lists of foods and Category:Lists of drinks

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