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    CHEF's SECRETS
    CHEF's SECRETS
    CHEF's SECRETS
    Ebook227 pages2 hours

    CHEF's SECRETS

    By Flavio Moretti

    ()

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    About this ebook

    How this book come about?

    The adventure of this book began many years ago. Driven by the curiosity of my scientific training I began to take notes of everything I read and experience about food. As always, the road was hard, I heard different opinions and often with not much of an explanation. One of the fantasies that fascinated me, as a child, has always been an image having lunch with a character of my choice. Who would you choose? Julius Caesar, Leonardo da Vinci, Napoleon? Surely, we would be talking about their lives, battles, and discoveries. Instead, I’d like to imagine a more down to earth meeting, that is, a meal that turns into a journey with someone who can explain everything about food, some kind of chemist-chef.’

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherFlavio
    Release dateJan 14, 2018
    ISBN9781547514465
    CHEF's SECRETS

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      Book preview

      CHEF's SECRETS - Flavio Moretti

      Introduction

      Turn on the oven one hour before, add a butter's nut and two tablespoons of oil, marinate the meat overnight are some phrases we always read in cooking books, they're practices which we strictly respect without necessarily asking ourselves why.

      Wouldn't be enough to turn on the oven just in time for it to reach the desired temperature? What's the point to mix oil and butter? And why has to be plenty of oil, isn't it healthier to cook with less fat? Then there are some common habits such as to put tomatoes in the fridge, which should be avoided in order not to end up with some tasteless fruits (yes, tomatoes are fruits). We also think to the basic techniques, alas unknown to the majority, such as butter clarification and meat aging. We all wondered when to use olive oil and when seed oil, and above all, we would like to know why we should avoid frying with some types of oil.

      The answer is based on simple and irrefutable scientific data. For sure some of us have come across to some discussion during a barbecue, should the meat be salted before or after cooking? And why the salt should be ground if it doesn't release any volatile aroma (unlike pepper)?

      Which are the two basic ingredients to make ice cream?

      The scientific mechanisms underlying the gastronomic science for some strange reasons have not been disclosed. Recipes books are available on any subject and cuisine but rarely we found the explanations of the key principles. We know that cooking stands at the intersection of art, creativity, and inspiration. But at the same time, the transformation of the ingredients responds unequivocally to chemical-physical principles.

      Only after understanding the fundamental rules we can avoid the most common mistakes, understand the recipe’s steps described in cooking books, enhance the potential of the ingredients, and ultimately indulge and let creativity take on. A bit like learning to drive, once we master the technique we can do it with a piece of mind. We will no longer wonder if we have to dip the meat in cold or hot water, we’ll always be careful to clarify the butter, we’ll avoid storing some foods in the fridge, and we’ll understand why deep frying is healthier.

      There is a second important aspect. Only by knowing the products we can equip ourselves in order to make conscious consumer choices. The food industry has evolved very quickly, not only in product innovation but also in marketing techniques. It’s therefore increasingly essential to be able to understand in order to choose. What are the marketing tricks? First pressed oil, GMO chocolate, double malt beer, why they don't justify a premium price? Is it worth paying more to buy cane sugar? Not really, since raw cane sugar has the same organoleptic profile as the white one. We should instead consume whole sugar. What's the most important feature of the code printed on the egg?

      We will also go through many definitions that we often take for granted: what are raw beer, extra-fine butter, and extra-fresh eggs? Did you know that virgin olive oil and extra virgin are produced in the same way? So, what's the difference? Here and there we’ll also see some curiosities, i.e. how to use color as a sign; the quality of the pasta and the caffeine content in coffee beans can be intuited by its color, on the other hand, it doesn't give any information on the quality of olive oil and egg yolk.

      How to check with the palm of your hand if the caviar is fresh? Is there an unbeatable way to understand how long ago the hen has laid the egg? How to cook asparagus so that stalk and head are cooked at the same point, how to desalt an anchovy and, how to get rid of garlic breath at the end of the meal? Why can a lemon drop be enough to prevent crystallization of sugar?

      Don't forget, however, the most frequents daily problems, which among these two crustaceans, the big pincers’ lobster (astice) and the regular lobster (aragosta), is better when of a big size? For the summer, which always brings about discussions during barbecues between friends, why should salt always be added at the end of the cooking process? And since many like to feel salt granules in the mouth, is there a way to prevent them from melting in contact with hot food such as meat or fish? If salt is a theme that interests you, did you know that you should always use rock salt and not table salt? In what cases strawberry leaflets can enhance the flavor of a preparation?

      If we think about health, we wonder if there is a way to make flour dishes more digestible. And on the same thread: Is there a common ingredient in Italian cooking that increases its nutritional properties after being cooked? Everyone likes a nice hot stock in winter, but how can we skim the fat? How to remove paraffin from lemon before using its peel? Why is better-recommended butter than margarine even if it contains more saturated fat? What are the additives to avoid and in general how should one interpret a label?

      As we've guessed from this series of cues, around the cooking and ingredients universe there is still a lot to learn. I like to think about cooking as an extension of the arts; by paraphrasing a famous adage, we can say that there are five fine arts, painting, poetry, music, dance, sculpture and finally cooking, of which it’s a branch. And as in any discipline, art only begins after mastering the technique.

      Who invented cooking?

      Let's see how the need to process food was born. Think of the origins of cooking meat for example. How did Homo Erectus consume meat without cooking? Raw meat is hard and virtually impossible to break down in pieces simply by chewing. It would only be possible if we were willing to spend some hours. Lots of hours. Consuming a steak would require biting down 40,000 times, which at a rate of 1 bite per second translates into 11 hours. That's almost a whole day spent chewing. This is not a problem for many football players, maybe, but for many of us it would be unthinkable. And so, the man began to cook the meat to make it edible and to get rid of dangerous bacteria. He spared a lot of time to his mouth which he could use, for example, to talk with other people.

      Food preparation with various tools combined with the use of fire allowed saving about 2.5 million years of chewing! And to aggregate people, while preparing dinner and make them gossiping. As time went on, the food ceased to be only a need, become one of the greatest pleasures of life and the only art form which can find room in our body. Although there are many cooking books on sale, with more recipes that can be prepared in a lifetime, there is a lack of scientific texts and techniques. Nowadays there are books for all tastes, vegetarian, vegan, children, Christmas, salads, sweets, fast meals etc. Then there are chemical essays that explain physical reactions related to the transformation of the ingredients. We have thought of gathering in a single book the fundamental principles that make the difference in the most common actions. The chef today is not satisfied with repeating the techniques simply because it has learned them, but he wants to understand why and bring it to a whole new level.

      How this book come about?

      The adventure of this book began many years ago. Driven by the curiosity of my scientific training I began to take notes of everything I read and experience about food. As always, the road was hard, I heard different opinions and often with not much of an explanation. One of the fantasies that fascinated me, as a child, has always been image having lunch with a character of my choice. Who would you choose? Julius Caesar, Leonardo da Vinci, Napoleon? Surely, we would be talking about their lives, battles, and discoveries. Instead, I’d like to imagine a more down to earth meeting, that is, a meal that turns into a journey with someone who can explain everything about food, some kind of chemist-chef.’

      Reading the following pages, imagine such a lunch during which you are shown, as in a nice chat, the concepts behind cooking, the nature of the ingredients, how to choose and use them, with some historical notes, curious facts and practical tips. Let's imagine together this little adventure:

      [CHAPTER I] While looking at the menu, munch some grissini and put some oil on a slice of bread. Your dining companion guides you in the fantastic world of olives and oil. How do you distinguish an oil, what are the characteristics to memorize and how do you choose a producer? We’ll give you some indication about other types of oil, when to use them and above all what should always be avoided. And yet, better butter or margarine? And how is the butter prepared before being used in the stove? You might have heard of clarification, but why is it so important?

      [CHAPTER II] When ordering the first course, he explains you why the flour is not edible, whereas on the other hand we could live only on bread and water for months. What is the mathematical formula for bread? Why pasta can have so different prices? With what dry pasta quality rhyme? He also explains a simple way to prepare bread and pasta much easier to digest.

      [CHAPTER III] The waiter gives you the rib eye steak, juicy, tender and so tasty. It has a beautiful brown color on the outside and hundreds of aromas that make you immediately salivate. But why can't we prepare it with the same results at home? You’ll discover what are the six secrets to cook it so tasty and tender. If we’re all familiar with marinade, not everyone has heard of meat aging, perhaps the most important step to get a DOC steak.

      [CHAPTER IV] The meat is accompanied by a velvety sauce with balanced flavors. What are the basic flavors and what is the last one added to the list? What are the sauces and what precautions are really essential for their preparation? A chapter that combines a bit of theory and practice: funds, sauces, emulsions. What are they and how do we use them?

      [CHAPTER V] When the dessert arrives you ask why so many types of sugar are used and how chocolate is produced from the fruit of the cocoa tree. We all tried to make homemade ice cream, but few know the secrets of the craft ice cream maker. What are the two essential (but ignored) ingredients for a homemade creamy ice cream?

      [CHAPTER VI] Finally, when you order a coffee, your dining companion enlighten you about the three parameters that affect the taste of the drink, helping you for example to choose the right machine to make it at home. If you take a tea you might think you don’t need any clarification, isn't the easiest drink to prepare? Actually, there are some basic notions that will help you to choose the best tea and its preparation. It explains, for example, in what cases the infusion should be well below water boiling point. Finally, satisfied of the lunch, looking at

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