By definition, cooking is the process of preparing food by applying what?

Question

Cooking is collectively made up of what necessary ingredients?

Answer 1

As per the Oxford English Dictionary:

[Cooking is] the practice or skill of preparing food by combining, mixing, and heating ingredients.

so according to them, preparing a 100% raw salad is not even "cooking"

As per Wikipedia:

Cooking is the art, technology, science and craft of preparing food for consumption with or without the use of fire or heat.

So ingredients don't even come up in the definition itself though the article has a disputed section that mentions some ingredients like:

• Carbohydrates
• Fats
• Proteins
• Water
• Vitamins and minerals

but spices¹ and condiments are entirely missing there and it's these that add the flavour to our food.

As per Larousse: (who're the author of the French Cooking Bible "Larousse Gastronomique")

Connaissance de tout ce qui se rapporte à la cuisine, à l'ordonnancement des repas, à l'art de déguster et d'apprécier les mets.

The knowledge of everything related to the kitchen, organization of meals, up to the art of tasting and appreciating the dishes.

So IMHO, there is no catch-all phrase that can define the art of cooking and cooking is whatever you want it to be...

_{Note ¹: Yes the word itself is mentioned, in the preamble and in the "See also" section of the article but without much context.}