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Salt Fat Acid Heat by Samin Nosrat
Mastering the elements of good cooking.
SALT
The primary role that salt plays in
cooking is to amplify flavor. Though salt also affects texture and helps other
flavors, nearly every decision you will make about salt will involve enhancing
and deepening flavor. In short, salt has a greater impact on flavor than any
other ingredient.
Kosher salt: Since kosher salt contains
no additives, it tastes very pure. There are two major producers of kosher
salt: Diamond Crystal which crystallized in an open container of brine,
yielding light and hollow flakes; and Morton’s which is made by rolling cubic
crystals of vacuum evaporated salt into thin dense flakes. Morton is much dense
and hence almost twice as salty by volume. Diamond crystal dissolves about
twice as quickly as dense granulated salt, making it ideal for use in food that
is cooked quickly.
Keep two kinds of salt: an inexpensive
one such as bulk-bin sea salt or kosher salt for everyday cooking and a special
salt with a pleasant texture, such as Maldon salt or fleur de sel, for
garnishing food at the last moment.
Our taste buds can perceive five
tastes: saltiness, sourness, bitterness, sweetness and umami or savoriness. On
the other hand, aroma involves our noses sensing any of the thousands of
various chemical compounds, Flavor lies at the intersection of taste, aroma and
sensory elements including texture, sound, appearance and temperature.
The flavor unblocking is also one of
the reasons why professional cooks like to season sliced tomatoes a few minutes
before serving them - so that as salt helps the flavor molecules that are bound
up within the tomato proteins, each bite will taste more intensely of tomato.
Tasting and adjusting - over and over
again as you add ingredients and they transform throughout the cooking process
- will yield the most flavorful food.
The distribution of salt throughout
food can be explained by osmosis and diffusion, two chemical process powered by
nature’s tendency to seek equilibrium. In food, the movement of water across a
cell wall from the saltier side to less salty side is called osmosis. Diffusion
is a slower process of salt moving from a saltier environment to less salty
ones until it’s evenly distributed throughout.
When salting meat for cooking, any time
is better than none, and more is better than some. Aim to season the day before
the cooking when possible. The larger denser the piece of meat, the earlier you
should salt it. The colder the meat and surrounding environment are, the longer
it will take the salt to do its work.
However, for fish, a brief salting -
about 15 minutes - is plenty to enhance flavor and maintain moisture in flaky
fish.
Salt requires water to dissolve, so it
won’t dissolve in pure fat. Season these fats early and carefully, waiting for
salt to dissolve and tasting before adding more. Or dissolve salt in water,
vinegar or lemon juice before adding to fat for even, immediate distribution.
Eggs absorb salt easily.
When in doubt, salt vegetables before
you cook them. Toss vegetables with salt and olive oil for roasting. Salt
blanching water generously before adding vegetables.
In order to flavor dried beans, legumes
from within, add salt when you soak them or when you begin cook them, whichever
comes first.
Salt can take a while to dissolve in
foods that are low in water, so add it to bread dough early. Add salt later to
batters and doughs for cakes, pancakes and delicate pastries to keep them
tender, but make sure to whisk these mixes thoroughly so that salt is evenly
distributed before cooking.
How to salt? First, dry out your hands.
Lightly grasping the salt in your unturned palm, letting it shower down with a
wag of the wrist (pinch). This grasp was the way to distribute salt, flavor
anything granular, evenly and efficiently over a large surface. The more your
wrist flows, the more evenly the salt will land.
Spices like coffee, always taste better
when grounded before use. Purchase whole spices whenever you can and grind them
with a spice grinder as you use them, to experience the powerful release of
aromatic oils. You will be astonished by what a huge difference it makes in
your cooking.
Just a little sweetness can amplify
flavors in a savory dish, salt will also improve sweet desert.
Three basic decisions involving salt
are: When? how much? in what form?
How to salt - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HER4efpDCis
FAT
Fat plays three distinct roles: as a
main ingredient, as a cooking medium and as seasoning. When used as a main
ingredient, fat will significantly affect a dish. Often it is both a source of
rich flavor and of a particular desired texture. The role fat plays as a medium
is perhaps is most impressive and unique.
Olive oil
It is produced seasonally. Look for a
production date, typically in November on the label when you purchase a bottle
to ensure you are looking a current pressing. It will go rancid about 12 to 14
months after it’s been pressed. Please buy freshly pressed olive oil. My
standby includes the extra-virgin oils from Seka Hills, and California Olive
Ranch. Another good everyday oil is the Kirkland Signature Organic Extra virgin
oil from Costco, which regularly scores well on independently administered
quality analysis. In its absence, look for oils that are produced from 100%
Californian or Italian Olives (as opposed to those with labels simply read
‘made in Italy, ‘Packed in Italy, or Bottled in Italy.
Butter
When used as a cooking medium, please
opt for unsalted butter as it is difficult to know how much salt is in salted
butter.
Meat
In general, fat makes meat taste good.
When four legged animals are fattened up with lots of calories, the cuts of
meat from the center of the animal receive the most flavor benefits. Some fats end
up layered between groups of muscles or directly under their skin, as in the
cap of fat on the outside of pork loin or prime rib. Some fat ends up within a
muscle, which is the most prized kind of fat - what we call marbling when we
look at a steak. As a well marbled steak cooks, the fat melts, making the meat
juicer from within.
Preheat the pan to reduce the amount of
time fat spends in direct contact with the hot metal, minimizing opportunity
for it to deteriorate. But exception to the preheating rule exist: butter and
garlic - both must heat gently. In all other cooking, preheat the pan and then
add the fat (oil), letting it too heat up before adding any other ingredients.
Avoid putting more than a single layer of food into the pan. Cooking in
fat that is insufficiently hot will cause food to absorb the oil, resulting
greasy food. Do not cover or pile up crisp food while they are still hot.
Emulsion
An emulsion happens when two liquids
that normally don’t like mix together or dissolve give up and join together.
Emulsions are efficient tools for enriching plain foods. Some cooking requires
you to make an emulsion. Other times you will be handed an existing emulsion
and your only job will be to keep it from breaking. Some familiar emulsions
are: Mayonnaise and hollandaise
Butter, cream and milk; Peanut butter
and tahini, chocolate.
Mayonnaise
Each egg yolk will comfortably hold
about three-quarters of a cup of oil in a stable emulsion. Place the yolk(s)
that are in room temperature in the bowl and start whisking in the oil one drop
at a time using a ladle or spoon. Once you have added half the total volume of
the oil and created a relatively stable base, start to add the rest of the oil
swiftly.
Four main variables will determine the
texture of any baked good: fat, water, yeast and how much time the dough or
batter is kneaded. As you mix, monitor the butter’s temperature; remember
butter is an emulsion and if it gets too warm, it will melt and the emulsion
will break. If the butter is too cold, air won’t be able to get in and the cake
won’t rise straight up.
Foods that are too dry or need just a
bump of richness, can always be corrected with a little olive oil.
ACID
Technically any substance that
registers below 7 on the pH scale is an acid. Pure acid tastes sour. Acids from
different sources vary not only in flavor but also in concentration.
The pH value of common food products:
Lime - 2.07
Lemon - 2.33
Red wine vinegar - 3.09
Dijon mustard - 3.5
Ketchup and honey - 3.9
Olive oil - 3.95
Greek yogurt - 4.42
Earl grey tea - 5.19
Black coffee - 5.2
Parmesan cheese - 5.37
Sugar - 5.6
Milk - 6.76
Distilled water - 7
Eggs - 7.34
Baking soda - 8.45
Though acid primarily affects flavor,
it also can trigger chemical reactions that can change the color and texture of
the food.
Some acids should be worked into the
dishes from the start and these are called cooking acids. Example include
tomatoes in pasta sauce, white wine in Poultry Ragu, beer in a pot of chili,
vinegar in chicken with vinegar. Cooking acids tend to be mellow, transforming
the foods with which they are cooked slowly over time.
Garnishing acid, on the other hand are
used to finish a dish. As the volatile aromatic molecules disperse over time,
the flavor of fresh citrus juice will transform losing some of its brightness -
so freshly squeezed juice is best. The application of heat will change the
flavors of both citric juice and vinegar, dulling the former and mellowing the
later, so add them just before serving when you want their full flavor impact.
In short Salt is to enhance, Fat to
carry and acid to balance flavor.
HEAT
Read everything Paula Wolfert, James
Beard, Marcella Hazan and Jane Grigson have written about food.
There is so much to learn from travel.
Eat cassoulet in Toulouse, hummus in Jerusalem, ramen in Kyoto, Ceviche in
Lima.
At broad range of temperature, fats can
withstand allows us to achieve many different texture - crisp, flaky, tender,
creamy and light. Extended, gentle heat will transform, or render solid animal
fats into pure liquid fats such as pork lard or beef tallow.
Scrambled egg made by Alice B Tokla
Crack 4 eggs into a bowl and season
them with salt and a few drops of lemon juice, whisking thoroughly to break
them up. Gently melt a little butter in a saucepan over the lowest possible
heat and pour in the eggs. Continue to stir with a whisk or a fork, while
adding 4 or more tablespoons of butter in thumb-size pieces, letting each be
absorbed before you add he next. Never stop stirring and be patient. It will
take several minutes for the eggs to start to come together. When they do, pull
them from the stove in anticipation of the cooking will continue due to
residual heat.
Lori's chocolate midnight cake
