What is oil, why do we cook with it, and why do things taste so much better with it?
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Surprised nobody has mentioned Maillard reactions yet.
Sure, humans crave oil. But we don’t chug sunflower oil or eat sticks of butter. There’s far more to cooking than just presenting oil or salt or whatever on a plate.
Maillard reactions occur when sugars and proteins are heated. Oil gets hotter than water before it evaporates, allowing the food to get hotter as well. So roasting or frying vegetables results in very different flavours to boiling or steaming them. Most (though I admit not all) would say a fried potato tastes better than a boiled one, and the same largely holds true for vegetables, starches, meats, and fish.
Maillard reactions are what cause the colour changes when foods turn brown and crispy. New molecules are formed (such as caramel) that provide flavours absent from raw or foods cooked at lower temperatures (such as boiling and steaming). Indeed, you could argue the whole ‘beige food’ thing has its roots in Maillard reactions, since those foods are predominantly produced by frying or roasting in hot oil, which improves flavour but also reduces nutritional value while raising calorie content.
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