Culinary Arts: Audio/Visual

Cooking utensils and appliances come in all shapes and sizes, but the rules and basic tools of the kitchen are the same for everybody. This program offers guidance in meal preparation and is essential viewing for anyone training to work in a commercial kitchen. A professional chef takes viewers inside the heart of a restaurant, creating small masterpieces for the dining pleasure of customers and presenting a lively and comprehensive look at all sorts of equipment. Topics include general kitchen safety and a range of specific safety concerns; measuring and weighing; cutting, peeling, grating, and crushing; mixing, whisking, and processing; ergonomics; and new technology. (21 minutes)

It sounds simple, but scrambling an egg involves more than just heat, a frying pan, and a spatula. Using colorful, nontechnical demonstrations that any aspiring chef can understand and appreciate, this program illustrates important concepts regarding the cooking process and its effect on the basic biochemistry of food. Viewers learn what happens to fats, proteins, and carbohydrates during cooking; why foods taste either salty, sweet, bitter, or sour; how to interpret and make use of the glycemic index; and how the addition or substitution of an ingredient can make a dish unique, exciting, and typical of a certain country or region. (24 minutes)