The methods you use to cook your foods can make a big difference to the nutritional value they contain. We all know that fruits and vegetables are healthy, but it must be remembered that vital vitamins and nutrients are destroyed by subjecting them to very long and very hot cooking processes. Heat changes the chemical makeup for vitamins and minerals, breaking them down so there's much less left for your body to absorb.
The most punishing cooking methods are baking and grilling because of the very high heats used in these processes and the long times the food is exposed ot them. Vitamins C and B are particularly vulnerable to this kind of destructive effect. Even broiling (covered in another article of mine) which has a poor health food reputation may be a better option than these two. This leaves the question - what options does a health conscious chef have open to them? The option o eating everything raw and filling up on salads is unlikely to prove a popular mealtime option. However the following tips should provide you with some simple methods to get more of a nutrient kick into your regular meals.
Don't overcook your food, or make it too crispy
Crunchy browned off food is often better tasting and more pleasing to the eye but achieving that texture and taste is usually the result of some brutally intensive cooking methods. Meat cooked in this fashion is literally burned, and proteins are destroyed making it impossible for the body to absorb them.
Select a more gradual cooking method
Steaming
There are plenty of wet cooking methods that destroy the nutritional value just as much as the dry grilling and baking methods, the water just absorbs the nutrients that can dissolve in water. One way to minimise this is to steam the food, avoiding submerging it in water and preventing key nutrient leakage. Keeping the cooking time short is important to maximise the health benefits so wait until they are 'just cooked' and no longer.
Poaching
Delicate poaching rather than intensive boiling can work wonders with fish and fragile fruits. The brief submersion in simmering water reduces the exposue to the destructive heat to a minimum, and the remaining water can be reduced to form a delicous sauce. People who think they have no time to cook can reall produce some excellent dishes in no time if they master poaching.
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The key to this method is cooking fast at a high heat with little or no added fat. The food cooks quickly and retains it's nutrients and it remains firm and generally intact, as opposed to the soggy unappealing fare that so often results from over cooking. The most important thing to do is prepare fully - ading ingredients in the order in which they cook (longest first, quickest last) allows you to have everything finish together at the perfect moment. During cooking water or rice wine are commonly used rather than fat to combat a drying pan which is also far more healthy than fat.
The final word
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