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WASSCE SHS

WASSCE Food and Nutrition: Food preparation

A method is not only a name. Say what the heat does to the food, and which nutrient is easily lost.

The idea

Moist methods include boiling, steaming and stewing. The food is cooked in water or in the steam from water. Dry methods include baking, roasting, grilling and frying. Heat moves by conduction, convection and radiation. Protein coagulates and becomes firm. Starch gelatinises and thickens a liquid. Sugar caramelises when it is heated strongly. Vitamin C dissolves in water and is lost in a long cook. Steaming keeps more of it than boiling, because the food is not left sitting in the water. Say that effect when the question asks why one method is better.

Cereals, legumes, vegetables, fruit, meat, fish, eggs, milk, fats and oils are different commodities. A choice answer says how you would pick one sound item, and how you would store it. Flour mixtures rise because of air, steam, or carbon dioxide from yeast or from a chemical raising agent. Name the method the question asked about. Baking powder is not yeast. Yeast is a living thing and needs warmth. A chemical raising agent works when it meets liquid and heat.

The Food and Nutrition tips guide sets out the papers, the practical, and the mistakes that cost marks. WASSCE Food and Nutrition tips

What earns the marks

Name the method and the effect. "Boiling cooks the food" is too thin. Steaming and boiling are both moist, and they are not the same mark when the question is about vitamin C. Yeast and a chemical raising agent are different sources of carbon dioxide. Do not invent an oven temperature.

Practice questions

These are practice questions in the style of the paper, with a model answer and a mark scheme. They are not a promise of what your paper will ask.

1Question 1

4 marks

(a) Distinguish between boiling and steaming. (2 marks)

(b) Explain why steaming can keep more vitamin C than boiling. (2 marks)

Model answer

(a) Boiling cooks food in water that is bubbling. Steaming cooks food in the steam above the water, so the food is not left in the liquid.

(b) Vitamin C dissolves in water. In boiling, some of it passes into the water and is thrown away. In steaming, the food is not sitting in that water, so less of the vitamin is lost.

Mark scheme

  • Boiling: food cooked in bubbling water1 mark
  • Steaming: food cooked in steam, not left in the water1 mark
  • Vitamin C dissolves in water1 mark
  • Less of it is lost when the food is not sitting in the cooking water1 mark

2Question 2

4 marks

State two raising agents used in flour mixtures, and say what gas each one produces. (4 marks)

Model answer

Yeast produces carbon dioxide as it feeds. Baking powder, a chemical raising agent, also releases carbon dioxide when it meets liquid and heat. Air beaten in, and steam, are other true answers.

Mark scheme

  • One raising agent, such as yeast, baking powder, air or steam1 mark
  • The gas or the way that agent raises the mixture1 mark
  • A second raising agent, different from the first1 mark
  • The gas or the way the second agent raises the mixture1 mark

3Question 3

2 marks

Give one change that happens to protein when it is heated, and one change that happens to starch. (2 marks)

Model answer

Protein coagulates and becomes firm. Starch gelatinises and can thicken a liquid.

Mark scheme

  • Protein coagulates, or sets firm1 mark
  • Starch gelatinises, or thickens1 mark

Practise Food and Nutrition with Anna

More questions on this topic are inside glearn, marked as you answer, with the reason written out. The first ones need no account.

Practise Food and Nutrition free

All WASSCE Food and Nutrition past questions

Other topics in this subject

  • Nutrients and health
  • Meal planning
  • Kitchen hygiene
  • Food service
  • All WASSCE Food and Nutrition past questions

Questions about Food preparation

What is the difference between a moist method and a dry method?+

A moist method uses water or steam, such as boiling, steaming or stewing. A dry method uses dry heat or fat, such as baking, roasting, grilling or frying. Name the effect on the food, not only the method.

Why is vitamin C easy to lose?+

It dissolves in water and it is damaged by a long cook. Steaming keeps more of it than boiling because the food is not left in the water. Do not invent a temperature. All WASSCE Food and Nutrition past questions

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