Online Culinary Courses: Three Important Staples to Master

7.53 billion people are scattered in different parts of the world, but we are all depending primarily on three essential staples: corn, rice and wheat! Let’s see how our Chefs are incorporating these common staples into our online culinary courses and food adventures.

Maize or corn

About 10,000 years ago, the Aztecs and Mayans domesticated this grain. Typically ground corn, or cornmeal, is processed in many different ways around the world - such as polenta in Italy, tortillas in Mexico, or sadza in Zimbabwe. Not only ground, maize can also be consumed by its kernels as cereals or directly from the cob. Not to mention corn starch, corn syrup, and fermented as the source of bourbon whiskey!

Learn how to be creative with corn and make Maja Blanca with Professional Chef Geronimo Flores in your online culinary course.

A Filipino dessert made from coconut milk, cornstarch, and sugar - often called Coconut Pudding

Rice

For thousands of years, rice has been cultivated across Asia, and now a signature staple around the world. The processing is quite similar in different cultures, but the grain length variety (long / medium / short) makes some differences for its purposes. For example, the medium grains are commonly used for Italian risotto or Spanish arròs negre; the long grains are good mixed with spices such as Indian biryani because the spice helps keep the rice fluffy and separated; and the short grains, which are stickier are perfect for rice puddings or Japanese sushi!

Learn how to cook rice differently and make Egyptian Rice Pudding (رز بلبن) with Home Chef Shery Mesbah in your online culinary course.

Usually served cold and known to be the dessert to eat after a seafood dinner in Egypt

Wheat

Wheat was domesticated and cultivated in the Middle East’s Fertile Crescent dating back to 9600 BCE. It slowly spread around the world. Now, it occupies 218,000,000 hectares of fields, which is larger than any other crop. Wheat can be processed in various ways like flour, semolina, bugler/groats, and malt. How you might see wheat on your table: bread, pasta, noodles, porridge, muesli, cereals, cakes, cookies, and of course, beer and vodka!

Learn how to cook with wheat and make Lachha dar Paratha with Professional Chef Farhan Ahmed in your online culinary course.

In punjabi “parat” means layer and layers, and this wheat treat is popular in North India, Pakistan and Bangladesh

Now that we had a mini history lesson about the three most popular staples around the world, which one will you plan to master first with ChefPassport?