0_Wizard
I love cooking.  It's interesting to think that preparing food with heat or fire is unique to humans.
Preparing food with heat or fire is an activity unique to humans.
chosen_Cooking_0
Cooking
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Cooking
Cooking or cookery is the art, technology, science and craft of preparing food for consumption with or without the use of heat. Cooking techniques and ingredients vary widely across the world, from grilling food over an open fire to using electric stoves, to baking in various types of ovens, reflecting unique environmental, economic, and cultural traditions and trends. The ways or types of cooking also depend on the skill and type of training an individual cook has. Cooking is done both by people in their own dwellings and by professional cooks and chefs in restaurants and other food establishments.
A Bite of China
A Bite of China () is a Chinese documentary television series on the history of food, eating, and cooking in China directed by Chen Xiaoqing (), narrated by Li Lihong () with original music composed by Roc Chen (). It first aired May 14, 2012 on China Central Television and quickly gained high ratings and widespread popularity. The seven-episode documentary series, which began filming in March 2011, introduces the history and story behind foods of various kinds in more than 60 locations in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. The documentary has also been actively encouraged as a means of introducing Chinese food culture to those unfamiliar with local cuisine.
Kitchen
A kitchen is a room or part of a room used for cooking and food preparation in a dwelling or in a commercial establishment. In the West, a modern residential kitchen is typically equipped with a stove, a sink with hot and cold running water, a refrigerator, counters and kitchen cabinets arranged according to a modular design. Many households have a microwave oven, a dishwasher and other electric appliances. The main function of a kitchen is serving as a location for storing, cooking and preparing food (and doing related tasks such as dishwashing), but it may also be used for dining, entertaining and laundry.
Barbecue grill
A barbecue grill is a device that cooks food by applying heat from below. There are several varieties of grills, with most falling into one of two categories: gas-fueled or charcoal. There is debate over which method yields superior results. Grilling has existed in the Americas since pre-Colonial times. The Arawak people of South America roasted meat on a wooden structure called a barbacoa in Spanish. For centuries, the term "barbacoa" referred to the wooden structure and not the act of grilling, but it was eventually modified to "barbecue." It was also applied to the pit-style cooking techniques now frequently used in the Southeastern United States.
Outdoor cooking
Outdoor cooking differs substantially from kitchen-based cooking, the most obvious difference being lack of an easily defined kitchen area. As a result, campers and backpackers have developed a significant body of techniques and specialized equipment for preparing food in outdoors environments. Such techniques have traditionally been associated with nomadic cultures such as the Berbers of North Africa, the Arab Beduins, the Plains Indians and pioneers of North America, and have been carried down to and refined in modern times for use during recreational outdoors pursuits. Currently, much of the work of maintaining and developing outdoor cooking traditions in Westernized countries is done by the Scouting movement and by wilderness educators such as the National Outdoor Leadership School and Outward Bound, as well as by writers and cooks closely associated with the outdoors community.
Elizabeth David
Elizabeth David, CBE (born Elizabeth Gwynne, 26 December 1913 – 22 May 1992) was a British cookery writer. In the mid-20th century she strongly influenced the revitalisation of home cookery in her native country and beyond with articles and books about European cuisines and traditional British dishes. Born to an upper-class family, David rebelled against social norms of the day. In the 1930s she studied art in Paris, became an actress, and ran off with a married man with whom she sailed in a small boat to Italy, where their boat was confiscated. They reached Greece, where they were nearly trapped by the German invasion in 1941, but escaped to Egypt, where they parted.
Homemaking
Homemaking is a mainly American term for the management of a home, otherwise known as housework, housekeeping, or household management. It is the act of overseeing the organizational, day-to-day operations of a house or estate, and the managing of other domestic concerns. A person in charge of the homemaking, who is not employed outside the home, is in the U.S. and Canada often called a homemaker, a term for a housewife or a househusband. The term "homemaker", however, may also refer to a social worker who manages a household during the incapacity of the housewife or househusband. Housework is not always a lifetime commitment; many, for economic or personal reasons, return to the workplace.
1_Apprentice
It sure is.  I'm very thankful for my oven and microwave though.
0_Wizard
Microwaves are amazing.  Dielectric heating is a very interesting process where polar molecules in the food rotate to produce heat.
This induces polar molecules in the food to rotate and produce thermal energy in a process known as dielectric heating.
partner_Microwave_oven_1
Microwave oven
partner_0_Microwave_oven
Microwave oven
A microwave oven (also commonly referred to as a microwave) is a kitchen appliance that heats and cooks food by exposing it to  electromagnetic radiation in the microwave frequency range. This induces polar molecules in the food to rotate and produce thermal energy in a process known as dielectric heating. Microwave ovens heat foods quickly and efficiently because excitation is fairly uniform in the outer of a homogeneous, high water content food item; food is more evenly heated throughout than generally occurs in other cooking techniques. The development of the cavity magnetron in the UK made possible the production of electromagnetic waves of a small enough wavelength (microwaves).
Dielectric heating
Dielectric heating, also known as electronic heating, RF (radio frequency) heating, and high-frequency heating, is the process in which a high-frequency alternating electric field, or radio wave or microwave electromagnetic radiation heats a dielectric material. At higher frequencies, this heating is caused by molecular dipole rotation within the dielectric. RF dielectric heating at intermediate frequencies, due to its greater penetration over microwave heating, shows greater promise than microwave systems as a method of very rapidly heating and uniformly preparing certain food items, and also killing parasites and pests in certain harvested crops.
Microwave
Microwaves are a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths ranging from one meter to one millimeter; with frequencies between and . Different sources define different frequency ranges as microwaves; the above broad definition includes both UHF and EHF (millimeter wave) bands. A more common definition in radio engineering is the range between 1 and 100 GHz (300 and 3 mm). In all cases, microwaves include the entire SHF band (3 to 30 GHz, or 10 to 1 cm) at minimum. Frequencies in the microwave range are often referred to by their IEEE radar band designations: S, C, X, K, K, or K band, or by similar NATO or EU designations.
Microwave burn
Microwave burns are burn injuries caused by thermal effects of microwave radiation absorbed in a living organism. In comparison with radiation burns caused by ionizing radiation, where the dominant mechanism of tissue damage is internal cell damage caused by free radicals, the primary damage mechanism of microwave radiation is thermal, by dielectric heating. Microwave damage can manifest with a delay; pain and/or signs of skin damage can show some time after microwave exposure. The depth of penetration depends on the frequency of the microwaves and the tissue type. The Active Denial System ("pain ray") is a less-lethal directed energy weapon that employs a microwave beam at 95 GHz; a two-second burst of the 95 GHz focused beam heats the skin to a temperature of 130 °F (54 °C) at a depth of 1/64th of an inch (0.4 mm) and is claimed to cause skin pain without lasting damage.
Properties of water
Water () is a polar inorganic compound that is at room temperature a tasteless and odorless liquid, which is nearly colorless apart from a hint of blue. It is by far the most studied chemical compound and is described as the "universal solvent" for its ability to dissolve many substances. This allows it to be the "solvent of life". It is the most abundant substance on Earth and the only common substance to exist as a solid, liquid, and gas on Earth's surface. It is also the third most abundant molecule in the universe. Water molecules form hydrogen bonds with each other and are strongly polar. This polarity allows it to separate ions in salts and strongly bond to other polar substances such as alcohols and acids, thus dissolving them.
Intermolecular force
Intermolecular forces (IMFs) are the forces which mediate interaction between molecules, including forces of attraction or repulsion which act between molecules and other types of neighboring particles, e.g., atoms or ions. Inter-molecular forces are weak relative to intramolecular forces – the forces which hold a molecule together. For example, the covalent bond, involving sharing electron pairs between atoms, is much stronger than the forces present between neighboring molecules. Both sets of forces are essential parts of force fields frequently used in molecular mechanics. The investigation of inter-molecular forces starts from macroscopic observations which indicate the existence and action of forces at a molecular level.
Film capacitor
Film capacitors, plastic film capacitors, film dielectric capacitors, or polymer film capacitors, generically called “film caps” as well as power film capacitors, are electrical capacitors with an insulating plastic film as the dielectric, sometimes combined with paper as carrier of the electrodes. The dielectric films, depending on the desired dielectric strength, are drawn in a special process to an extremely thin thickness, and are then provided with electrodes. The electrodes of film capacitors may be metallized aluminum or zinc applied directly to the surface of the plastic film, or a separate metallic foil.
1_Apprentice
So I was thinking about that you said about human being the only ones that cook food. I've never really considered that before.  Animals eat food raw whether it is meat or vegetables.  I can't eat raw meat though, no, no, no! 
0_Wizard
Right!  When I think of raw food I usually think of Sushi.
Food is any substance consumed to provide nutritional support for an organism.
partner_Food_0
Food
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Raw feeding
Raw feeding is the practice of feeding domestic dogs, cats and other animals a diet consisting primarily of uncooked meat, edible bones, and organs. The ingredients used to formulate raw diets can vary. Some pet owners choose to make home-made raw diets to feed their animals but commercial raw food diets are also available. The practice of feeding raw diets has raised some concerns due to the risk of food borne illnesses, zoonosis and nutritional imbalances. People who feed their dogs raw food do so for a multitude of reasons, including but not limited to: culture, beliefs surrounding health, nutrition and what is perceived to be more natural for their pets.
Sushi
Sushi can be prepared with either brown or white rice. It is often prepared with raw seafood, but some varieties of sushi use cooked ingredients, and many others are vegetarian. Sushi is often served with pickled ginger, wasabi, and soy sauce. Daikon radish is popular as a garnish. Sushi is often confused with sashimi, a related Japanese dish consisting of thinly sliced raw fish or occasionally meat, and an optional serving of rice. Sushi originates in a Southeast Asian dish, known today as "narezushi" ( – "salted fish"), stored in fermented rice for possibly months at a time. The lacto-fermentation of the rice prevented the fish from spoiling; the rice would be discarded before consumption of the fish.
Raw foodism
Raw foodism (or following a raw food diet) is the dietary practice of eating only, or mostly, uncooked, unprocessed foods. Depending on the philosophy, or type of lifestyle and results desired, raw food diets may include a selection of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, eggs, fish, meat, and dairy products. It may also include simply processed foods such as various types of sprouted seeds, cheese, and fermented foods such as yogurts, kefir, kombucha or sauerkraut, but generally not foods that have been pasteurized, homogenized, or produced with the use of synthetic pesticides, chemical fertilizers, industrial solvents or chemical food additives.
Japanese cuisine
Japanese cuisine encompasses the regional and traditional foods of Japan, which have developed through centuries of social and economic changes. The is based on rice with miso soup and other dishes; there is an emphasis on seasonal ingredients. Side dishes often consist of fish, pickled vegetables, and vegetables cooked in broth. Seafood is common, often grilled, but also served raw as sashimi or in sushi. Seafood and vegetables are also deep-fried in a light batter, as tempura. Apart from rice, staples include noodles, such as soba and udon. Japan also has many simmered dishes such as fish products in broth called oden, or beef in sukiyaki and nikujaga.
History of sushi
The history of sushi began with paddy fields in Southeast Asia, where fish was fermented with salt and rice, after which the rice was discarded. The dish is today known as "narezushi", and was introduced to Japan around the Yayoi period. In the Muromachi period, people began to eat the rice as well as the fish. During the Edo period, vinegar rather than fermented rice began to be used. In pre-modern times and modern times, it has become a form of fast food strongly associated with Japanese culture. The earliest form of sushi, a dish today known as narezushi, has its probable origin with paddy fields along the Mekong river in Southeast Asia.
Dog food
Dog food is food specifically formulated and intended for consumption by dogs and other related canines. Like all carnivores, dogs have sharp, pointed teeth, and have short gastrointestinal tracts better suited for the consumption of meat. In spite of this natural carnivorous design, dogs have still managed to adapt over thousands of years to survive on the meat and non-meat scraps and leftovers of human existence and thrive on a variety of foods. In the United States alone, dog owners spent over $8.6 billion on commercially manufactured dog food in 2007. Some people make their own dog food, feed their dogs meals made from ingredients purchased in grocery or health food stores or give their dogs a raw food diet.
Sashimi
Sashimi (; , ) is a Japanese delicacy consisting of very fresh raw meat or fish sliced into thin pieces. The word "sashimi" means "pierced body", i.e. "刺身" = "sashimi", where 刺し = "sashi" (pierced, stuck) and 身 = "mi" (body, meat). This word dates from the Muromachi period, and was possibly coined when the word "切る" = "kiru" (cut), the culinary step, was considered too inauspicious to be used by anyone other than samurai. This word may derive from the culinary practice of sticking the fish's tail and fin to the slices for the purpose of identifying the fish being eaten. Another possibility for the name could come from the traditional method of harvesting.