Part 10 (2/2)

Why Use Wooden Spoons?

Wooden spoons are present in all kitchens. They benefit from the current taste for natural products, but they truly do deserve their place because they do not conduct heat. Left in a preparation that is cooking, they can be handled without burning the fingers of the cook. What a blessing that this tool, and the material of which it is made, wood, does not scratch the tin that lines the inside of our copper saucepans!

Mysteries of the Kitchen Unanswered Questions In this exploration of the wonderful world of the gourmand, we have had the opportunity to discover some answers. Nevertheless, cooking is teeming with questions. It is my dream that science will help us to answer them.

Here are just a few: Supposedly, a sabayon can boil without turning if a pinch of flour is added to the mixture of egg yolk beaten into a liquid (water, wine, juice... ). Experience shows that this precaution is effective. How does the flour act to protect the sauce?If egg yolk is added to coa.r.s.e sugar without being worked in, it cannot later be incorporated into the cream or the dough with which we want to mix it. The egg yolk ”burns.” Why is that?When preparing a stock or a brown sauce, the ingredients are boiled for a long time in water. Which components escape with the water vapor (we smell them) and in what proportion? Which remain? How to influence this distribution?Can a mixture of oil and b.u.t.ter be heated to a higher temperature than b.u.t.ter alone?It is said that, when preparing a sauce, liquid can only be added to a roux when the saucepan is away from the heat. Why?Apple juice turns dark. How can that be avoided?Why does bouillon prepared in a saucepan covered with a lid become cloudy, and why must it be brought to a boil slowly?Why is parsley used in short-term marinades (a day or two) but not recommended for longer ones?Is it true that a suckling pig served at the table must have its head cut off immediately, or its skin will not be tender?Why does excessive kneading make pie dough rubbery?Why does a puree become rubbery if it is overworked or if it is worked at either too hot or too cold a temperature?Why does adding a small quant.i.ty of liquid to mayonnaise whiten it as well as making it more fluid?When preparing jam, does the kind of metal the saucepan is made out of matter?Is it true that champagne will not make bubbles in gla.s.ses that are washed in a dishwasher?If a little spoon is placed in the neck of an open champagne bottle, does that keep bubbles from escaping? If so, why?Is it true that you can avoid releasing too many bubbles by first pouring a small amount of champagne into a gla.s.s before filling it completely?Does the speed with which a marinade soaks into meat depend on the type of meat it is?Can you make a successful aioli without egg yolks, using just garlic and oil?Why does gelatin added to boiling milk make it turn?

Do you know the answers to these questions? If you would like to share them with me, I would be much obliged. Do you have other questions? Let me know what they are. I will try to find the answers.

And, in the meantime, bon appet.i.t bon appet.i.t!

Glossary

A.

AAAH!: The cry of delight guests utter when the first dish arrives. The sleight of hand responsible for the most beautiful ”aaahs” cannot be explained in terms of physical chemistry.

ACETIC ACID: The main acid compound of vinegar.

ACID: Any substance that gives the impression of acidity; for chemists, these are molecules that, in solution, release hydrogen ions (H+; hydrogen atoms that have lost their single electron). In cooking, the princ.i.p.al acid solutions are lemon juice and vinegar.

ACIDITY: A sensation communicated by substances like vinegar or lemon juice. Acidity is measured on the pH scale, from 0 to 14. Solutions with a pH lower than 7 are acid; solutions with a pH higher than 7 are basic.

ACTIN: One of the princ.i.p.al proteins in muscles, responsible for muscle contraction. When meat is cooked, the actin coagulates.

ALb.u.mINS: Small proteins soluble in water. Ovalb.u.min is one of these, present in egg whites, for example. In blood, there is serum alb.u.min. The word ”alb.u.min” is generally used incorrectly in cookbooks, where it really means protein, a word that replaced ”alb.u.min” in chemistry about a century ago.

ALCOHOL: Any organic molecule with a carbon atom bound to an oxygen atom that is then bound to a hydrogen atom (-C-O-H). The most common alcohol, the one in wine, brandy, and liqueurs, is ethyl alcohol, with the formula CH3CH2OH.

AMINO ACIDS: In binding together like links in a chain, these molecules form proteins. The molecules of amino acids are characterized by the presence of a carbon atom to which are bound especially an acid group COOH (the letter C represents the carbon atom, O the oxygen atom, and H the hydrogen atom) and an amino group NH2 (with a nitrogen atom [N], bound to two hydrogen atoms). Plant and animal organisms contain twenty types of amino acids. (with a nitrogen atom [N], bound to two hydrogen atoms). Plant and animal organisms contain twenty types of amino acids.

AMYLASE: An enzyme that breaks down starch molecules.

AMYLOPECTIN: This is a polymer, that is, a molecule formed by the linking of many small identical molecules. The links in amylopectin are glucose molecules. The molecule is branched and insoluble in cold water.

AMYLOSE: Like amylopectin, but this polymer is in straight chains and soluble.

ASPARTAME: This is a sweetener, that is, a compound with a sweet taste. It dissociates in heat, releasing phenylalanine, which is bitter.

ATOM: A structure cla.s.sically represented in the form of a nucleus around which rotate electrons. The nucleus is composed of protons, particles with a positive electrical charge, and neutrons, which are neutral. Having a negative electrical charge, the electrons are generally retained close to the nucleus by the forces of electrical attraction that are exerted between opposite charges.

AUTOXIDATION: A chemical reaction that produces rancidity in fats. It takes place rapidly in the presence of oxygen.

B.

BeARNAISE: One of the crown jewels of French cooking (I have a weakness for it; don't tell my wife!). A sauce composed of melted b.u.t.ter emulsified (see Emulsion) in a reduction of white wine, shallots, and vinegar. Egg yolks provide surface-active molecules for this emulsion, and their proteins coagulate, making microscopic lumps. Indeed, a successful bearnaise is a failure, microscopically. Emulsion) in a reduction of white wine, shallots, and vinegar. Egg yolks provide surface-active molecules for this emulsion, and their proteins coagulate, making microscopic lumps. Indeed, a successful bearnaise is a failure, microscopically.

BeCHAMEL: A cla.s.sic sauce made by diluting a roux (which see) with milk or bouillon.

BEURRE BLANC: Literally, ”white b.u.t.ter”; a delicious sauce with fish. This is an emulsion obtained by stirring b.u.t.ter into a small quant.i.ty of liquid. It is a good idea to begin with cream.

BEURRE MANIe: Literally, ”handled b.u.t.ter”; cold b.u.t.ter kneaded with flour, used as a thickener. Added to a sauce that is too thin, it provides the necessary viscosity. It is a stopgap measure, because the taste of raw flour is objectionable to true gastronomes.

BINDING: Or ”thickening”; an operation meant to increase the viscosity of a sauce.

BISCUIT: Literally, ”cooked twice”; ”biscuit” is the French name for a sponge cake, different from a genoise sponge cake in that the egg whites are beaten into stiff peaks separately from the egg yolks and sugar.

BRAISING: A very gentle cooking process that enhances the taste of meat. A cla.s.sic braising procedure consists of two stages: browning the meat by pa.s.sing it through a very hot oven in order to ”caramelize” the surface; then long cooking at temperatures lower than 100C (212F) to tenderize the meat without drying it out. Putting strips of meat, bacon, or ham around the meat that is being braised prevents the loss of juices.

BRINE: A solution containing more salt than can be dissolved in it. It is used in cooking for extracting through osmosis (which see) the water from plant and animal cells and thus preventing the proliferation of microorganisms.

b.u.t.tER: Obtained by churning cream, this is an emulsion composed of small water droplets dispersed in milk fat. When you stir preparations that contains milk or cream, like mixtures for mousse, mousseline, or whipped cream, be careful to cool them in order to prevent them from turning into b.u.t.ter through cooling.

C.

CAPILLARITY: Through the action of capillarity, water is introduced into very small s.p.a.ces, like the interstices between starch granules in flour.

CASEIN: Eighty-five percent of the proteins in milk are casein. Casein molecules aggregate when the milk becomes acid or too salty: the milk curdles.

CATALYST: A molecule that prompts a chemical reaction.

CELLS: Vegetables, meats, the human organism-all are composed of billions of cells, microscopic sacks, each enclosing a structure called a nucleus, in a complex aqueous environment, the cytoplasm. All living cells are confined by a membrane. In addition, plant cells are protected by a rigid wall.

CHEMICAL REACTION: The process by which many molecules that encounter one another can exchange atoms and be rearranged.

CHEMISTRY: Among the most beautiful of the sciences, the one dealing with molecules as they react. Scientists often say of chemistry, ”It's just cooking.” What an honor!

CHOLESTEROL: This is a lipid (which see). It is accused of all sorts of evils because of the risk of coronaries when the blood contains too much of it, but the cholesterol in our food is not the direct source of blood cholesterol.

CLARIFY: This is to give limpidity and transparency to bouillon, a sauce, and the like.

COAGULATION: An aggregation of proteins provoked by heating or acidification, for example.

COLLAGEN: Collagen molecules form sheaths around the muscle cells in meat. Collagen is responsible for meat's toughness. When it is broken down, by heat in the presence of water, gelatin results.

COLLOID: A dispersion of solid, liquid, or gaseous particles in a continuous phase, either solid, liquid, or gas. Sauces obtained by diluting a roux (which see) in a liquid, milk or bouillon, are colloids.

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