Cooking is an art, which we either inherit or learn as we grow up.
Interestingly, most of our early cooking lessons are from the elders of the family and we follow these culinary tips and tricks throughout our lives.
But are all of these cooking tips worth believing? There are so many culinary tips and tricks passed on from generations and many of these hacks end up sounding bizarre.
So, read on as we run you through some age-old culinary beliefs that existed for over 100 years.
1. Salt helps in cooking faster
It was believed that adding salt to water can help in cooking or boiling faster. This bizarre kitchen hack is basically a myth as the boiling point of salt is higher than water, which actually takes a lot more time to cook to dissolve.
2. When to add spices and herbs
You must have heard that garlic should be sauteed first or cumin should be added before adding mustard. There are several weird beliefs that spices, herbs are to be added in a particular form in Indian cooking, but it is just a myth. Spices and herbs have their distinct flavour and health benefits, adding them at any time will give your dish the same taste.
3. Bake and Re-bake
Around the time of the Great Depression, the scarcity of money and food taught people a lot of hacks to reuse stale food. One such hack was to deconstruct the bread and re-bake it again. The bread slices were mashed and kneaded with water, poured in baking tins and rebaked to make it fit for consumption.
4. Two knives for better cutting
Using two knives to cut one fruit, may sound like the most weird thing. But in the 1920’s that was a common kitchen hack to cut the most exotic fruit of all times-Pineapple. One knife was used to cut the exterior of the pineapple and another knife to slice or chop the fruit. It was believed that the acidic nature of the fruit led to a swollen mouth, thus the same knives were never used to cut pineapple and other tarty fruits.
5. Grapefruit diet to lose fat
This was a classic diet that claimed that eating a serving of grapefruit before every meal helped in accelerating the weight loss process. This diet became a fad among celebs and health enthusiasts back in the 1930’s.
6. No proper way of measuring
In the 1900, ingredients were measured only in terms of pinch or handful. Yes, this may sound bizarre but that’s how cooking or baking was done. This was before Fannie Farmer introduced a simple and accurate way of measuring ingredients which are followed even today! This literally simplified our day-to-day cooking and baking.
7. Water to avoid burning of food
This was a common cooking and baking hack back in the 1920’s when it was believed that while baking a cake or bread or pie, placing a bowl with a little amount of water prevented the food from burning.
8. Mixing baking soda with milk
In the 1920’s mixing baking soda with sour milk was a popular way to sweeten and make it milk drinkable. This was majorly added to reduce the acidification of fresh milk.
9. Cooking with fire
In 1896 the hack to build a fire in the kitchen was a typical way of cooking delicacies, but you can’t take that risk now and end up bowling your whole kitchen. As per the 1896 Boston Cooking-School Cookbook, there were elaborate instructions on how to build a fire for your stove. These hacks became popular among people, which surely shows that we have come a long way in terms of culinary trends.
