Broad History of Culinary Arts

Renita Thornton Chef Jerome Culinary 1010 18 February 2013

A Broad History of the Culinary Arts

Introduction

Culinary arts describe the art involving the preparation and cooking of foods. Culinary artists are usually responsible for preparing meals skillfully, which implies that the food made is appealing to the eye and the palate. The culinary arts history dates back from 1800s, when the first school in Boston involved in teaching the art of cooking became discovered. Various changes have taken place in the culinary arts from the discovery time to the present.

For instance, various cooking methods are continuously being discovered. Although cooking was once taken as a household chore supposed to be carried out by women as men worked in the field, it has presently developed and has become a world’s wonder and highly attracting both men and women due to its ability to provide incomes. Today, cooking is not just a hobby but also a job to the American people. In this paper, I will discuss the evolution of the culinary arts commencing in the prehistoric times to the present. The history of culinary arts dates back to 1800s, a time when the first cooking school became established in Boston.

The cooking school established in Boston taught students how to prepare different foods and prepared them on passing knowledge to others. The Boston cooking school was a chief contributor in the creativeness of culinary professionals everywhere. However, more schools began popping up, and up to now, there are about 21,000 universities teaching culinary arts programs (Toussaint-Samat 29). Apart from the immense contribution of Boston cooking school, another vast contributor to the early culinary arts is Fannie merit book on American culinary arts and recipes.

This book became published in 1896; it became the first ever official cookbook in America. During the time, the book became highly demanded since every household demanded the book as it was valued and used in every day’s life. This original book of cooking is still utilized in the present age as a reference in the cooking profession (Glazer 103). The next phase involving the history of culinary arts describes the culinary arts being taken to the television, in 1946, where the father of American cuisine; also known as James Beard held regular classes of cooking.

This gave lesson to individuals desiring to know more regarding the cooking profession. The appearance of cooking lessons in the television brought a lot of changes to the cooking profession. Individuals desiring to become cooks became inspired since one was not required to pay anything in order to learn how to prepare and cook various cuisines; all that a person required was listening to cooking lessons on the television and then applying the learnt lessons practically. Many people did not understand how to prepare certain recipes not until there were free classes on televisions.

In the 1800’s, people had the mentality that cooking was meant for women and participation of men in the cooking became deemed as a failure of man’s responsibility. However, in the early 1900’s, people commenced appreciating the art of cooking with the emergence of industries. The emergence of businesses such as tourist hotels made cooking become a vast profession that could hold almost all individuals regardless whether one was a female or male (Mondschein 49). This exceedingly gave the culinary arts a bit of professionalism, although not to a vast deal. Later, in 1946, the Culinary Institute of America became established.

The establishment of the Culinary Institute of America brought changes in the professionalism of cooking. Since the institute is non-profit organization, it was capable of supporting professionalism in cooking without the objective of making a profit. This made most individuals join the cooking professionalism. Unlike the earlier days, most men joined the cooking profession. The college still offers professional education in cooking. Training materials, videos and books from the college have been used to train professionals and non-professionals in cooking.

Cooking techniques have changed over time, due to interaction between various individuals. For instance, the interaction between the Americans and Africans has led to learning of new techniques of cooking embraced by the different groups (Strauss 43). In the same way, the interaction of Americans with the Asians has led to the adoption of new cooking techniques (Labensky 36). Also, new techniques have developed with the advance of time; traditional cooking techniques have been replaced by new techniques that are still emerging with the advancement of the cooking profession.

Conclusion

Culinary art involves the art of preparing and cooking different cuisines. Various changes have taken place in the culinary arts from the discovery time to the present. For instance, various cooking methods are continuously being discovered. Although cooking was once taken as a household chore supposed to be carried out by women as men worked in the field, it has presently developed and has become a world’s wonder and highly attracting both men and women due to its ability to provide incomes. Changes have occurred in the cooking techniques emanating from the advancement of the cooking profession and integration of communities.

Works Cited Labensky, Steven. The Prentice Hall Dictionary of Culinary Arts.

• Upper Saddle River, N. J: Pearson/Prentice Hall Books, 2006. Print. Toussaint-Samat, Maguelonne. A History of Food. Chichester, West Sussex, U. K: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009.
• Internet resource. Glazer, Francine S. Blended Learning: Across the Disciplines, Across the Academy. Sterling, Va: Stylus, 2012.
• Print. Mondschein, Ken. Food and Culinary Arts. New York, NY: Ferguson, 2009.
• Print. Strauss, G L. M. Philosophy in the Kitchen: General Hints on Food and Drink. S. l: Vintage Cookery Books, 2008. Print.