cooking

cooking

I

cook‧ing¹ /ˈkʊkɪŋ/ noun [uncountable]1. the act of making food and cooking it:
    My mother does all the cooking.
    I love cooking.
2. food made in a particular way or by a particular person:
    My compliments on your cooking.
    Indian cooking
    simple basic home cooking (=good food like the food you get in your own home)
     

COLLOCATIONS

■ verbs
   ▪ do the cooking Who does the cooking in your house?
   ▪ share the cooking (=both cook the food) Pete and I usually share the cooking.
   ▪ like/enjoy cooking I enjoy cooking at the weekend.
■ ADJECTIVES/NOUN + cooking
   ▪ home cooking (=food cooked at home, not in a restaurant) Home cooking always tastes best to me.
   ▪ Italian/French etc cooking Fresh herbs are used a lot in Thai cooking.
   ▪ traditional cooking Traditional Asian cooking uses a lot of oil.
   ▪ vegetarian cooking a book on vegetarian cooking
   ▪ slow cooking Slow cooking gives the dish a better flavour.
■ cooking + NOUN
   ▪ cooking facilities (=somewhere to cook, with the equipment you need) The apartment has one bedroom and a sitting-room with cooking facilities.
   ▪ cooking time (=how long you cook something for) Adjust the cooking time according to the size of the bird.
   ▪ cooking utensils (=pots, spoons, knives etc that you use when cooking) The kitchen has all the cooking utensils you will need.
   ▪ a cooking method Adjust your cooking methods for healthy eating.
     

THESAURUS

■ preparing food
   ▪ grate to cut cheese, carrot etc into small pieces by rubbing it against a special tool: Grate the cheese and sprinkle it over the top of the pasta.
   ▪ melt to make butter, chocolate etc become liquid: Melt the butter, chocolate, and 1 teaspoon of cream over a low heat.
   ▪ sieve British English, sift American English to put flour or other powders through a sieve (=tool like a net made of wire, which you use for removing larger grains or pieces): Sift the flour and cocoa before adding to the rest of the mixture.
   ▪ chop to cut something into pieces, especially using a big knife: Chop up the vegetables.
   ▪ dice to cut vegetables or meat into small square pieces: Dice the carrots and then fry them in butter.
   ▪ season to add salt, pepper etc to food: Season the meat before grilling.
   ▪ crush to use a lot of force to break something such as seeds into very small pieces or into a powder: Add one clove of crushed garlic.
   ▪ mix to combine different foods together: Mix together all the ingredients in one bowl.
   ▪ beat/whisk to mix food together quickly with a fork or other tool: Whisk the egg whites until they form soft peaks.
   ▪ stir to turn food around with a spoon: Stir the sauce gently to prevent burning.
   ▪ fold something in to gently mix another substance into a mixture: Fold in the beaten egg whites.
   ▪ knead to press dough (=a mixture of flour and water) many times with your hands when you are making bread: Knead the dough for ten minutes, until smooth.
   ▪ drizzle to slowly pour a small amount of a liquid onto something: Drizzle with olive oil.
   ▪ let something stand to leave something somewhere, before you do something else with it: Let the mixture stand for a couple of hours so that it cools naturally.
   ▪ serve to put different foods together as part of a meal: Serve with rice and a salad. | Serve the aubergines on a bed of lettuce.

II

cooking² adjective [only before noun] suitable for or used in cooking:
    The rooms all have cooking facilities (=there is cooking equipment in the rooms).
    cooking pot/utensils/equipment etc
    cooking apples