Can I be a great cook by tomorrow?

Dr. Burke, can I come over and talk to you for a few minutes? I'm getting married in two weeks, and I have never cooked." I frequently receive phone calls from students who are sure a food scientist can help them. They hope that a few minutes of theory will be all they need.

Cooking is as much a science as it is an art, but skilled cooking does not occur overnight. However, an aspiring cook can turn out masterpieces by keeping some food science principles in mind.

A quality pan. Choose a pan that is a good conductor of heat. Aluminum conducts heat a little better than copper, copper is a better heat conductor than cast iron, cast iron is a much better heat conductor than stainless steel, and stainless steel is a much better conductor of heat than glass.

Some like the elegant look of copper. Since copper toxicity can occur if copper is in contact with the food, choose copper pans with tin or stainless steel on the inside next to the food.

Choose thick metal; it diffuses the heat, decreasing hot spots and the likelihood of burning food. Also, a pan should have a tight-fitting lid. A good lid decreases moisture loss as well as the oxidation of some vitamins such as vitamin C. And it will mean more tasty food.

Cooking produce. For cooking fresh fruits and vegetables on top of the stove, choose a pan that the produce nearly fills so that there will be less space for loss of heat, vapor, flavor, and vitamins. After washing the produce, place it in the pan with a minimum amount of water. Turn the burner on high until steam first begins to escape from around the lid, then turn the burner as low as possible to allow food to simmer until just done.

The more often you take off the lid, the longer the produce takes to cook, and the less flavorful it will be. The secret is to time the cooking with a timer. Remember to avoid overcooking. The most common error in cooking fruits and vegetables, whether fresh or frozen, is overcooking.

Tips for meatless cooking. If you decide to reduce or eliminate meat, try doing so gradually. A gradual change will give you time to develop new skills and tastes as well as allow your body to adapt to the new lowerfat lifestyle.

Here are some things to pay special attention to if you want to develop your own animal-free recipes:

Binding agents. If you delete meat from a familiar recipe, you ma have to add a binding agent. Vegetables, legumes, and grains do not hold foods together in the same way as do the native proteins in raw meat, fish, and poultry. Try one or more of the following: egg whites, grated potatoes, grated apples, grated carrots, oat flour, dehydrated potatoes, starches, dry soybeans blended with water.

Gelling or firming agents. If your food product is not as firm as you would like, try adding one or more of these agents: egg whites, agar, tapioca, cornstarch, flour, instant pudding, gelatin, dehydrated potatoes, modified starches.

Sweetening agents. Sweetening agents are not much of a problem to most cooks. Dried fruits, fruit juices, honey, corn syrup, malt, and increased vanilla are some alternatives to decreasing table sugar. However, keep in mind that in baked goods, these substitutions will likely cause your product to be a darker brown with a thicker crust. There will likely be a decreased protein quality because of the Maillard reaction in granola-type products, cakes, cookies, and crackers. It involves the reaction of protein with all sugars except common table sugar. It's even more marked in products containing baking soda or baking powder.

We make favorable use of the Maillard reaction when we brush egg or milk on pastry for a golden appearance It is partly responsible for the delightful smell and appealing crust of bread. It gives maple syrup its characteristic color and flavor.

On the unfavorable side, it causes the scorching of milk or milk-containing foods. To decrease the Maillard reaction, you can increase acidity, decrease temperature, decrease concentration of protein, or increase water content or completely dehydrate.

Remember, in most recipes sugar can be reduced by as much as one fourth with no substitution. However, in cakes, muffins, and some types of cookies, the reduction of sugar may allow the product to "firm up" at a lower temperature than is required to activate the baking powder. The result will be a compact, tough, inedible product.

Fats. Fats can be decreased in many recipes, but you must be cautious in reducing fat in pastry, cake, muffins, and some cookies. Some of these fat replacers may be used as substitutes: natural fats - nuts, seeds, olives, avocados. Refined fats - margarine, vegetable oils. Fat replacers - instant pudding mixes, vegetable gums, pureed fruits such as prunes, or applesauce.

Sour taste or acids. Sometimes a, product is improved by making it,,. more tart, or you may want to substitute one tart ingredient for another, for example, lemon juice instead of vinegar. But keep in mind that lemon juice does not inhibit microbial growth nearly as much as vinegar, so the keeping quality is greatly reduced.

Spices. Specific spices are used in specific cuisines. For a Mexican flavor, try cilantro, cumin, and onion. Spices such as oregano, basil, and garlic are used in Italian food and Middle Eastern and Indian flavors include anise, cardamom, coriander, and garlic.

Legumes. Dried beans and peas are an underutilized source of inexpensive protein and good nutrition. They may be prepared in a variety of ways, and you'll find some good recipes in specialty cookbooks.

Soak dried beans overnight or boil for about five minutes and let stand for one hour. Then cook till done. To decrease flatulence, drain water and rinse the beans before adding fresh water for the final cooking (there will be some loss of water-soluble B-vitamins).

Food preservation. If you have more food than your family can readily consume, you might want to preserve some of it for later use.

When canning fruits, using a little sugar will help preserve the color, texture, and flavor. When drying fruits, disulfite reduces browning. (Browning is acceptable for raisins and prunes, but not dried apples, peaches, etc.) Most of the sulfite will be steam distilled out of the product if the dried fruit is rehydrated by simmering in water in an uncovered pan. A small percent of the population is sensitive to sulfites.

For freezing, add a little vitamin C-containing product to fruits, along with a little sugar. Then serve just before thawed. Crisp vegetables do not freeze well; other vegetables need to be blanched to destroy maturing enzymes that make the product woody.

Fresh fruits and vegetables should be kept in the refrigerator at 36 to 40[degrees] F. Grains and legumes should be stored in a cool, dry place. Nuts, especially those with a high fat content such as pecans or walnuts, should be frozen at O[degrees] F or colder.

Enzymatic browning. The enzyme polyphenol oxidoreductase," found in such plants as apples, peaches, lettuce, and potatoes, is released during the preparation of the raw produce. It transfers molecular oxygen from the air to compounds in the plant material, forming brown pigments called "melanoids" that have a characteristic color and flavor. In most fresh fruits and vegetables this "enzymatic browning" is undesirable. To prevent it, you can: * destroy enzyme activity by cooking. decrease enzyme activity through increasing the acidity. * tie up the molecular oxygen by using an antioxidant such as vitamin C. * prevent the contact with oxygen by squeezing air out of the plastic bag containing the food and tightly closing it, or by coating the food with salt or sugar. * decrease the temperature, thus decreasing the speed of the reaction. * add bisulfite ("sulfering") to decrease the enzyme's action.

To retain as much of the nutritional value as possible during food preparation, keep the following in mind: * The finer food is cut up, the more vitamins are destroyed. * At a given temperature, the longer the food is cooked, the greater the vitamin loss. * For a given length of time, the higher the temperature, the greater the vitamin loss. * Since food cooked at a higher temperature requires less time to reach doneness, high-temperature cooking generally greatly reduces vitamin loss. * The more water food is cooked in, the greater the soluble nutrient loss. Often the best-fed member of the family is the sink drain. * The longer food is held before serving, the greater the vitamin loss.

"Sure," I answer my students. "Come on over and we'll talk." When I have given the guidelines I've given you, I say, "Keep these principles in mind. Experiment. With time and experience, you'll become a great cook."

Kenneth L Burke, Ph.D., R.D., is professor and associate chairman of the Department of Nutrition and Dietetics in the School of Allied Health Professions, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, California.