What is cooking?

Before to start cooking. Did you ever ask yourself what is cooking? I wonder myself about this question many times. Everyone know this word but what does it  really mean?

I opened my dictionnary and: Cooking is the process of preparing food.

In my case, i think that cooking is to contribute of the taste of the food by many process as heating, mixing ingredients..

What about you?
I'm really thank you if you let me know your idea.