page_title: Cooking
section_title: Fats
hierarchical_section_title: Cooking / Ingredients / Fats
caption_attribution_description: English: pumpkin doughnuts by Waldo Jaquith on Flickr
context_page_description: Cooking or cookery is the art, technology, science and craft of using heat to prepare food for consumption. 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.
  Types of cooking also depend on the skill levels and training of cooks. Cooking is done both by people in their own dwellings and by professional cooks and chefs in restaurants and other food establishments. Cooking can also occur through chemical reactions without the presence of heat, such as in ceviche, a traditional South American dish where fish is cooked with the acids in lemon or lime juice or orange juice.
  Preparing food with heat or fire is an activity unique to humans. It may have started around 2 million years ago, though archaeological evidence for it reaches no more than 1 million years ago.
  The expansion of agriculture, commerce, trade, and transportation between civilizations in different regions offered cooks many new ingredients.
context_section_description: Types of fat include vegetable oils, animal products such as butter and lard, as well as fats from grains, including maize and flax oils. Fats are used in a number of ways in cooking and baking. To prepare stir fries, grilled cheese or pancakes, the pan or griddle is often coated with fat or oil. Fats are also used as an ingredient in baked goods such as cookies, cakes and pies. Fats can reach temperatures higher than the boiling point of water, and are often used to conduct high heat to other ingredients, such as in frying, deep frying or sautéing. Fats are used to add flavor to food (e.g., butter or bacon fat), prevent food from sticking to pans and create a desirable texture.
caption: Doughnuts frying in oil
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