cooking

Etymology

From cook + -ing. The noun and adjective follow from the verb. The use of the word cooking to describe cheap bitter was popularised by the title character of the BBC sitcom Oh No, It’s Selwyn Froggitt (1974-1978).

noun

1. (uncountable) The process of preparing food by using heat.
   The men resided in a huge bunk house, which consisted of one room only, with a shack outside where the cooking was done. In the large room were a dozen bunks; half of them in a very dishevelled state, […] 1913, Robert Barr, chapter 6, in Lord Stranleigh Abroad
   The cooking took a long time. Fionn built a spit from the ash that the salmon had knocked down. 1995, Padraic O'Farrell, chapter 6, in Ancient Irish Legends
   Of nutritional benefit in cooking is a short cooking time in a minimal amount of water or steaming the vegetables. Yet, there are times when just the opposite, that is lengthy cooking, with plentiful water may be desirable to achieve mild taste–foods such as mild tasting cooked onions may benefit from lengthy cooking and plentiful water. 2014, Vickie Vaclavik, Elizabeth W. Christian, Essentials of Food Science, page 97
2. (countable, rare) An instance of preparing food by using heat.
   In the tiny kitchen a dozen men and a boy tried to hush their breathing, and sweltered. For it was very hot, and the pent-up odor of past cookings was stifling to men used to the open 1904, Winston Churchill, The Crossing, page 1
   This culinary process is but the first in a series of cookings, of which the intracorporeal cookings constitute the rest. 1992, R. S. Khare, The Eternal Food: Gastronomic Ideas and Experiences of Hindus and Buddhists, page 194
   Historian Madeleine Pelner Cosman addresses the multiple cookings of single dishes in medieval recipes. Why would a veal stew require four changes of pot and five separate cookings? 2004, Michael Symons, A History of Cooks and Cooking, page 95
3. The result of preparing food by using heat.
   1. (uncountable) One's ability to prepare food; cookery.
      My cooking isn't very good. I don't have any idea how to prepare a good meal.
      I missed my mum's cooking while I was at university.
      "I know his cooking is bad, but […]" She fluffed the pillows and placed them behind Suzanne's neck. "I thought Josh's cooking was much worse than Matt's, but I guess the bad-cook crown goes to the big guy." 2005, Diana Kirk, Sex, Lies and Rodeo Games, page 67
      His cooking is good to mediocre and most of the time, simple and filling. 2012, J. M. Waters, Grey Falcon, page 14
      Azie is a charming and attentive host. His cooking is excellent and the meals he prepares seem healthy and nutritious. 2013, Anna Bromley, Wild Animals and Wedding Outfits, page 145
   2. (uncountable) The style or genre of food preparation.
      What you've produced is a perfect example of authentic Chinese cooking.
      One of the most common styles of Japanese cooking is called nimono. 2001, Reiko Weston, Cooking the Japanese Way, page 9
      No one, regardless of money and status, could work very successfully outside these variables, and as a result, people's diet and cooking were largely the same, although the rich could afford more food and more variety than could the poor. 2007, Andrea Broomfield, Food and Cooking in Victorian England: A History, page 3
      Though sesame is a minor spice in Indian cooking, it is an important export crop there. It has a somewhat neutral, nutty taste and it is used to texture delicate cooking. 2009, Pat Chapman, India Food and Cooking: The Ultimate Book on Indian Cuisine, page 53
4. (uncountable) The cheapest available beer for sale in a public house; cooking bitter or cooking lager.
   ‘Pint of bitter, please,” said Reggie. ‘Pint of cooking,” said the landlord. 2009, David Nobbs, Reginald Perrin Omnibus: (Reginald Perrin), page 189

adj

1. Designed for culinary purposes
   I filled the cooking pot with water
   I put a lid on the cooking pan
2. (informal) In progress, happening.
   The project took a few days to gain momentum, but by the end of the week, things were really cooking.
3. (of an alcoholic drink) Cheap; better suited for use in recipes than drinking.
   Bone a shoulder of mutton and lay in the following pickle for 24 hours, viz.:…half pint of cooking claret…and long peppers. 1885, Bacchus(pseud.), New guide for the hotel, bar, restaurant [&c.]. Pt. 1, by Bacchus & Cordon Bleu, page 255
   JOHN JASPER: Mama says for you to come on upstairs and bring her a pint of cooking sherry. BODIDDLY: You know your Mama ain’t gonna do no cooking this time of the night! 2001, Langston Hughes, Arnold Rampersad, Dolan Hubbard, The Collected Works of Langston Hughes: Gospel Plays, Opera, and Later Dramatic Works, page 204
   Add 1 pint of cooking sherry and boil again for 30 minutes. 2008, Henry Smith, The Master Book of Soups, page 188

verb

1. present participle and gerund of cook