Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Cooking
I received an email regarding cooking and chefs that is just TOO much fun not to answer.
What cooking advice do you have? What cookbooks do you recommend? How do you develop a palate (in whatever sense it means to you. It could also be a personal question: how did you develop a palate?) Which cooks do you think honestly “get” food, and which don’t? What sets them apart? What do foodies have in common? I’ve heard it said that foodies don’t have preconceptions: they can’t hate a certain ingredient, because cooking is all about putting flavors together creatively. They don’t necessarily taste the ingredient. Instead, they imagine what can be done with it. On the other hand, a self-described foodie I know is extremely picky. Which, if any, is right?
As for cookbooks, I recommend one of the staple ones, such as Joy of Cooking. It has just about everything you might need. I also have a Betty Crocker one. More about cookbooks in a bit.
The best way to develop an interesting palate is to try things (taste, touch, smell). I drive my family nuts because I can detect the spices in something by tasting it, and copy it later from memory. It is only when I encounter a totally new taste that I’m stumped, and then I’ll ask questions. For example, we were at our favorite Turkish grocery store and they had a flavor of Turkish Delight I’d never heard of before. It was “Mastic.” Having no clue what that was, I asked the owner if it meant lemon (as that’s a common Turkish Delight flavor). He tried to explain it to me, but eventually gave up, went to his candy counter, and opened a pack of gum for me to try. It tastes VERY much like Beechnut gum (if you remember that flavor from childhood). I found out later, through a friend who vacationed in Turkey, that is comes from a single island and the entire GDP of the island comes from that stuff.
I didn’t used to be able sort out all the flavors by taste. My brother was a MAGNIFICENT cook and we used to accuse him of adding ingredients when we weren’t looking, because when we tried to copy something he made, it didn’t taste right.
I was fortunate to live with my brother for a few years and I stood (at attention) in the kitchen, ready to help as his chopper/assistant. By watching him, I learned to cook better.
Cooking TV shows serve that purpose, unless you happen to have a gourmet brother in the family.
There are cooking shows that are awful because all they’re doing is adding ingredients to a pot or a bowl. They’re not telling you what you’re waiting for when you make a rue, or what color/consistency changes are the trigger to do the next step, or if you’re done.
That’s why Julia Child was SO GOOD (and the Two Fat Ladies). They were about conveying the art of cooking, not just the assembly of ingredients. Anyone with a cookbook can do THAT.
“Baking” will also require a recipe, because the ratio of ingredients are important. I don’t remember the ratio of say, pie crust, so I open the Betty Crocker book to get it. Then I put it away. I’m not interested in EXACT measurements, but exact only in ratio amounts. Say that something requires 2 cups of flour, 1 cup of shortening, and 1 teaspoon salt. I then alter the amounts, based on the yield I want. I can tell, instantly, that it is 2 to 1 shortening to flour, and about 1/2 teaspoon salt to flour.
Cookies are like that. There are only a few basic cookie recipes. If you start with the recipe from the back of Tollhouse Morsels, you can then alter the additions to make different cookies. Instead of chocolate chips, use white ones, and add about 1/2 cup uncooked oatmeal (oatmeal to that recipe adds a nutty, crispy flavor that my family likes). Then experiment a bit. Rather than using shortening, use HALF shortening and HALF butter (never use margarine for ANYTHING, as it is terrible stuff and doesn’t belong in your body). What you’ll discover, through experimentation, is that the cookie consistency changes ever so slightly, depending on the use of butter or shortening.
Then be creative. Add diced apricots… and then think about it. That’s not AS sweet as chocolate chips...what would you need to alter about the recipe to make up for that sweet shortfall. Sweetened coconut, a little extra brown sugar, or something else would work. Then think about the combinations.... does apricot and coconut SOUND good? If you think about the flavor (and you can taste things from memory and test combinations in your head, if you just think about it) would that combination work? Would you like it? Maybe you prefer your cookies to be less sweet. What about peanuts? What about adding a cup of peanut butter or almond butter and diced almonds? Think of the strength of the taste and if one ingredient would overpower another.
“Foodies” are passionate about GOOD food and classic dishes, most especially international foods, as well as new takes on the old.
Take a caprese salad, for example, which is a very old, classic salad. It took DECADES to get it just right. (It is sliced tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella, fresh basil, and a sprinkling of olive oil--salt and pepper to taste). It is perfect the way it is, but what could IMPROVE that? Salami would. What other cold cuts would work? It would have to have multi-layers, like Salami. A better mozzarella would improve it, say one marinated in olive oil, garlic, and a little red pepper. Basil picked fresh from the garden would make an incredible difference. Home grown tomatoes would be the finishing touch.
You might vary it slightly, and add anchovies (if you like them), or diced green onions to give it a bite. You might want to add a little balsamic vinegar, and then you might want to blend the oil and the vinegar to cause it to whip.
But you don’t have any mozzarella in the house. What DO you have? If you have some asiago, that’s much stronger than mozzarella, so you’d have to temper that--say by rendering your balsamic vinegar with a little sugar, or using a much gentler vinegar, say a sweet red wine variety. Parmesan is a tiny bit stronger, but it is drier, so what could you do to make the salad more wet? Sliced red peppers, grilled yourself, or the wonderful varieties of bottled peppers would do it.
Olive oils are different (not only the cheap from the expensive varieties). Chilean olive oil, for example, is my favorite. It has a much stronger pepper flavor. I wouldn’t cook with it, because that would be wasting the quality that is lost when it is cooked, but having it to put on a salad is perfect. Experiment with various olive oils to see which one you prefer, or prefer with different foods.
THAT is what foodies do. We’re constantly in search of new ingredients and combinations to make the classic different, and in a never-ending search for the BEST ingredients.
As for foodies not hating certain ingredients… that’s NONSENSE and that is why some chefs are idiots. We all have preferences and the idea that “all food is equal and we must be open to it” contrary to common sense.
I don’t like fish. Now I say that, but give me English fish and chips and I’m happy as could be. Give me clam chowder, with clam BROTH, not clams, and I love it. It is the oily/fishy/sardine taste I don’t like… and it isn’t that I just “don’t like it,” I start gagging the minute I put it in my mouth.
A friend of my daughter said “I don’t like lamb.” Daughter (and the rest of the family) could not get their head around that, as lamb is one of our favorites. “You have to try my mom’s lamb” Daughter told her. So, when we were doing our “meat on a stone” in the backyard one day, she invited her to come. She approached the lamb ever so delicately, sure she’d hate it. But she DID NOT hate it. She absolutely LOVED it, and couldn’t eat enough. Then, after deciding that she DID like lamb, she ordered it out, and it was AWFUL. She remembered why she didn’t like it.
So part of learning to like something is having the best ingredients, cooked in a manner that is flattering to it. Stewed lamb is disgusting, as it tends to get thick, and coats your teeth. It has to be cooked with an acid (such as tomato) to break down that texture thing it does when it is stewed. A little lemon will work, too. But, in general, I avoid stewing lamb, because we prefer the texture/taste of it roasted or grilled.
I might also say that I don’t like liver, but I DO like liver. What I dislike is the way that most people prepare it. It also must have an accompaniment that works, such as bacon and onions. I absolutely love exotic pates, but without a great French bread, a Dijon mustard, the little pickles, etc., it is TOO strong.
I love my own chicken pate, but if I use beef liver, it tastes AWFUL… so some ingredients, even similar ones, just don’t work with the same recipes.
As for cookbooks… cooking (not baking) is NOT an exact science. The ingredients should drive the amounts you use. Take apple pie, for example… how much sugar you add depends on how sweet the apple is. The apple variety will determine if it will mush quickly or keep its shape or how wet or dry it is (old or new). That determines how much flour you add. If the apple is bland, then you need to add a little lemon juice (or lemon zest if the apple is REALLY bland) to give it balance.
So how can a cookbook tell you what ingredients to use, and how much, in something as simple as an apple pie?
It REQUIRES experimentation. You have to make a pie, following the recipe fairly closely, and then test the results. How did the apple taste raw? Was it sweet, bitter, tart, bland? Then, when you make a pie again, alter the other ingredients to balance the flavor of the apple.
Cookbooks are GUIDELINES… and get away from them as quickly as you can, other than the way you might read a magazine, to get ideas.
If you’ve never cooked a particular dish before (or a type of cuisine) cookbooks are handy to teach you how to do it, but once you have, leave the cookbook on the shelf the next time.
KNOW YOUR SPICES. Smell them. Figure out which ones must be used in moderation (such as thyme rosemary, or clove). Know the ratios, such as 3 parts basil, 1 part oregano, and .5 part thyme for “Italian seasoning.” If you add too much oregano or thyme, your foods will be bitter. Leave out the basil and double the thyme, and you have Greek.
Are you making Italian meat sauce without fennel? If so, that’s the missing spice that you’re trying to compensate for, by adding more of the other spices… and it never comes out right.
The differences in spice combinations are THAT subtle.
Why is Wolfgang Puck a “charlatan chef”?
Because he has no respect. He blends ingredients for “populist” consumption, as in The Emperor Has No Clothes. Then, because it’s HIM, regardless of how ghastly the combination, people rave about how interesting and different it is.
Some things are just SACRILEGIOUS when it comes to cooking, and he’s famous for strange combos, that no one should make, let alone require others to EAT it. He destroys delicate flavors, by overpowering them with strong ingredients. Just leave the delicate layer OUT.
Do you think organic, seasonal food tastes better?
“Organic” isn’t necessarily better, even if it is sometimes. Freshness (the quickness to market) is more of a factor, and if it was locally grown (by smaller farmers, or mass produced). I wouldn’t bother with things like organic potatoes, as you’re adding flavors to potatoes. When I’m baking potatoes, I’m always careful to use fresher ones. If my potatoes get old, then I make French fries, fried or roasted, or mash them.
There are something like 250 varieties of potatoes, hundreds of varieties of apples, ditto for pears, cherries, greens, lettuces… each one tastes slightly different. We only get a few varieties in our grocery stores, so seek out interesting and different ones (or grow them yourself), and seek out the heritage varieties.
Finally: what’s your ideal meal? Or, as has been my experience, does the satisfaction mainly derive from the company and conversation?
The company and conversation adds to it… but a perfect meal is something that everyone likes, not trying to get people to eat foods they don’t like, cooked in a way that compliments the ingredients.
We have a dozen or more favorite meals. Some of them are simple and requests on birthdays. Everyone loves steak and baked potatoes, but the family has practically given up ordering steak out, because it is not as good as home. We go out only for fast food (if I can’t cook or we’re busy) or for ethnic food that is difficult to make at home.
Cook a lot and think of it as a creative exercise, and an art, rather than a skill. Use cookbooks and cooking shows to glean the skills, and then explore, explore, explore.
- Preaching to the Choir (11/30/2008)
- Happy Thanksgiving (11/27/2008)
- Ammo Day (11/19/2008)
- Satire (11/17/2008)
- Intellectual Curiosity (11/13/2008)
Posted 11/26/2008 2:51 PM CDT • Print Vers.
