What’s cooking?
In China, Wang Kow watches his mother make dinner. She pours some peanut
oil into a big, round, metal bowl called a wok. The wok sits on top
of a small charcoal stove. As the oil gets hot, it begins to hiss.
Quickly she puts meat, bean sprouts, onions, and pea pods into the oil.
They begin to crackle crisply. This kind of cooking is called
stir-frying.
On the island of Cyprus, Mikos’ mother is making- bread. She shares a
big, dome-shaped oven with many other women. Glowing coals fill the
bottom of the oven. Loaves of bread are put on shelves above the coals.
This kind of cooking is called baking.
On the island of Sicily, Lucca watches his brother cook a freshly caught
octopus by putting it in boiling- water. This kind of cooking is called
boiling.
There are other kinds of cooking, too. Roasting is very much like
baking. Broiling is done by putting food on a rack over heat. Throughout
the world, people have many ways of cooking all the foods they eat.
