There are many cooking verbs because of the way they are cooked, how long they are cooked, or with what they are cooked with. We have definitely advanced in forms of cooking techniques. We first began with just wood and fire, which was used just to cook our raw food to avoid illness. We then advanced with more technology such as ovens and stove tops. We learned to boil, fry, bake, and broil. With new technology and new techniques, new cooking verbs emerged. Each main verb also can be broken down into sub-categories because the cooking technique becomes more specific.

The reading gives the example for the verb "to brown". "To brown" has sub-categories "toast", "rissoler", "sear", "parch", and "flamber". All of them serve the general purpose of browning the surface (changing the texture of the material). However, they all have a specific technique in doing the "browning". Flamber requires some sort of alcohol in order to create a certain type of flame. Parch requires baking. Rissoler and sear requires frying, but rissoler requires a long period of time. Toast requires direct heat.