Cooking Meat and Seafood

We all know what meat is but few know the technical definition of it. Meat is properly defined as, ‘the flesh of an animal found beneath the skin and above or around the bone’ that is eaten as food. This course will view the diverse options of meat and seafood readily available in today’s market. You will analyze why beef generally costs more than other red meats, and why prices can vary according to the rearing method, the cut and the cattle breed. Learn which breeds are considered the most expensive, taking in what the difference between Charolais or Waygu (sometimes seen as ‘wagu’), for example, compared to mass-raised cattle. Next, consider how the size and texture of your cut of beef influences its cooking time and technique, and how you can ensure it is fresh and healthy to consume.

Other components of the red meat group are also considered in this course. A very versatile red meat is pork. The pig is an extremely versatile animal, with almost every part of it being edible, from the nose right down to the tail. You will learn which popular cured products are derived from pork and how modern pigs were domesticated from wild hogs and boars, including looking at how their fat content was reduced to suit contemporary preferences. The next animal to be analyzed is sheep: what are the differences between lamb and mutton, and how do their individual cooking processes differ?

Finally, you move onto to studying poultry and seafood, both very wide food groups of what is known as ‘white meat’. Poultry, for example, describes all domestic fowl, including chicken, turkey, goose and duck as well as more unusual birds like guinea fowl, pheasant quail. You will learn how their meat’s textures and flavours differ, and which cooking styles suit each best. Then, improve your knowledge of seafood: what are the two types of shellfish? What group do octopus, squid and cuttlefish belong to? Throughout this course, you will study recipes connected to each type of meat or seafood and understand how different cuts, cooking times and preparation methods all come together to affect this foodstuff in different ways. This free course on meat and seafood cookery will be beneficial to those working in catering or even home chefs, carers or childminders who want improve their culinary knowledge to offer their families or clients better meat and seafood dishes.