Kitchen technique
9 short explainers. Read them in order, or jump to the question you have right now.
- 10Balancing salt, sweet, sourSalt makes bitter tastes less noticeable, so sweetness stands out. Try a tiny pinch in coffee, grapefruit or chocolate sauce. Start with an eighth of a…
- 11Boil vs. simmerWater boils at 100°C with big, rolling bubbles. A simmer is about 85 to 95°C, with small bubbles that break the surface now and then. Most soups, stews and…
- 12Salt the pasta waterPasta swells as it cooks, so salt in the water ends up inside the noodles. Use about 1 to 2 teaspoons per liter. Salt added to the sauce later only seasons…
- 13Cut food the same sizeHeat moves into food from the outside, slowly. A piece half as thick cooks through in roughly a quarter of the time. Thin slices cook fast, and big chunks…
- 14Cook eggs gentlyEgg proteins unfold and link up as they heat. Yolks set around 65 to 70°C, whites between 60 and 80°C. So a 63°C egg is soft and custardy, and a 75°C egg…
- 15Gluten and kneadingFlour contains two proteins, glutenin and gliadin, that link into stretchy strands once water reaches them. That network is gluten. It traps the gas yeast…
- 16How marinades workEven after hours, most marinade flavor reaches only about 2 to 3 mm into the meat. Acid only works on the outer layer. Salt is the one that travels deeper.…
- 17Start garlic in cold oilIn hot oil, garlic goes from pale gold to bitter brown in seconds. Start it in cold oil and it warms slowly, so you can pull it at pale gold about 2 to 4…
- 18Deglaze the panFond is the browned film stuck to the pan after searing. It's concentrated Maillard flavor and the base of a pan sauce. The bits you'd scrub off are the…
