Every time you prepare a meal, you participate in one of humanity's oldest and most important scientific practices. Cooking transforms raw ingredients at a molecular level, making them more nutritious, safer to eat, and easier to digest.

Ancient humans discovered cooking long before they understood the science behind it. They observed that meat held over fire became more pleasant to eat and easier to chew. They found that certain plants became edible after soaking or grinding. These early cooking innovations gave our ancestors a major evolutionary advantage by allowing them to access more nutrients with less digestive effort.

Today, we can understand what actually happens to our food when we cook it. This knowledge serves a practical purpose. When you grasp what cooking does to food, you can improvise, troubleshoot problems, and make better decisions in the kitchen rather than simply following recipes.

In this lesson, we'll explore cooking at its most fundamental level, the different methods we use to transform food, and why these transformations matter for both taste and nutrition.