<P> The preparation of animal - based food usually involves slaughter, evisceration, hanging, portioning, and rendering . In developed countries, this is usually done outside the home in slaughterhouses, which are used to process animals en masse for meat production . Many countries regulate their slaughterhouses by law . For example, the United States has established the Humane Slaughter Act of 1958, which requires that an animal be stunned before killing . This act, like those in many countries, exempts slaughter in accordance to religious law, such as kosher, shechita, and dhabīḥah halal . Strict interpretations of kashrut require the animal to be fully aware when its carotid artery is cut . </P> <P> On the local level, a butcher may commonly break down larger animal meat into smaller manageable cuts, and pre-wrap them for commercial sale or wrap them to order in butcher paper . In addition, fish and seafood may be fabricated into smaller cuts by a fish monger . However, fish butchery may be done on board a fishing vessel and quick - frozen for preservation of quality . </P> <P> The term "cooking" encompasses a vast range of methods, tools, and combinations of ingredients to improve the flavor or digestibility of food . Cooking technique, known as culinary art, generally requires the selection, measurement, and combining of ingredients in an ordered procedure in an effort to achieve the desired result . Constraints on success include the variability of ingredients, ambient conditions, tools, and the skill of the individual cook . The diversity of cooking worldwide is a reflection of the myriad nutritional, aesthetic, agricultural, economic, cultural, and religious considerations that affect it . </P> <P> Cooking requires applying heat to a food which usually, though not always, chemically changes the molecules, thus changing its flavor, texture, appearance, and nutritional properties . Cooking certain proteins, such as egg whites, meats, and fish, denatures the protein, causing it to firm . There is archaeological evidence of roasted foodstuffs at Homo erectus campsites dating from 420,000 years ago . Boiling as a means of cooking requires a container, and has been practiced at least since the 10th millennium BC with the introduction of pottery . </P>

Who were involved in the preparation for whom are these foods set