Food is our common ground, a universal experience.

James Beard

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Cooking Basics: What Everyone Should Know

The Great Courses in partnership with The Culinary Institute of America

Cooking Basics: What Everyone Should Know

Have you ever wondered how professional chefs are able to prepare multicourse meals that are not only delicious, but consistent and all prepared to the perfect time and temperature? Or how they pair items and create plates that are beautiful as well as tasty? It turns out it is easier than you might think, once you have learned the right tools and techniques. Presented in partnership with The Culinary Institute of America and filmed at the CIA's flagship facility in Hyde Park, New York, Cooking Basics: What Everyone Should Know provides the step-by-step instructions you need to become a confident, productive cook in your own home. Whether you're brand-new to cooking or want to up your game after years in the kitchen, these 24 easy-to-follow lessons demonstrate everything you'll need to create a wide variety of exciting, flavorful dishes

Cooking across the Ages

What was cooking like before the internet, before meat thermometers, grocery stores, and internationally standardized measurements? And more importantly, who were these cooks of the past and who did they cook for? Find out about the values and flavor preferences of ancient peoples, in addition to the labor that went into their daily tasks, and how regional foods in the Middle Ages reflected travel and trade among Mediterranean peoples. Discover who turned to cookbooks for medical and romantic advice and why, and why mid-century Americans idealized canned foods as the height of luxury.