Does anybody remember the story of the "stone soup?" Travelers were passing through a village with empty soup pots. As they arrived the villagers refused to give them anything to make soup with. Then they said, "screw this"...not literally. So they went down to the stream, filled up their biggest pot with water and dropped a large stone in it to cook. As they were cooking their soup one of the villagers came by with curiosity and asked what they were making. They said they were making stone soup and it tastes wonderful. But if they had a few other vegetables it would make it taste much better. So the one villager didn't mind parting with a few carrots he had. So a long story short, the other villagers heard about this "stone soup" and contributed with little vegetables they had and of course at the end of it all they all created this wonderful soup just from some random vegetables and...love.
I'm sure there's some type of meaning behind this story but this is my blog and I blog about food.
Soup to many people is kind of like Fried Rice to Asians. When you look in your refrigerator you see a little bit of this, half of that, leftovers from the other day and a week old container of something. So what do Asian people do with all of this? Make fried rice! Because we always have rice in our refrigerator. Same goes with soup. Soup is that one dish that really teaches you how understand food. How do I develop more flavor? Do I use water or broth? Did I use too much liquid? How do I make it thick? How do I make it thin? Should I season more? So there's so many factors in making soup "taste good."
As anal as I am about cooking, I will say this. There is NO WRONG WAY to make soup. BUT, there are better ways of making it. Instead of corn starch, use a roux. Instead of dumping food into boiling water, dump it into cold water and then turn it on. Instead of using water, use broth. Instead of using broth, use stock! Haha!
Honestly though, making soup really is a lost art. With all these packages of chicken base where all you add is water and you get chicken broth...it's all garbage. These little packages are filled with all kind of stuff like MSG (monosodium glutamate), which has been banned from a few states, sodium and of course more stuff that you can't even pronounce. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy a Cup of Noodle once in awhile because I grew up on the stuff. But if you have any type of respect for yourself and the people you're serving then you can make me happy by staying within these few guidelines.
-Flavorful liquid.
Whether its chicken broth, veal stock, vegetable broth or even water. Please make sure there's as much flavor in it as possible. If you don't know how to do that then you can read back on my entry about stocks, read back on my risotto entry or just ask! The liquid is going make up about 70% of the soup. So keep that in mind.
-Make sure everything is the same size.
When you cut your vegetables or meat for your soup make sure they are consistent. By doing this everything will cook evenly and your diner will be able to fit a little bit of everything on their spoon. Nobody wants to eat a BIG piece of potato and a small piece of chicken at the same time...nobody.
-Don't use so much oil.
If you think what you put in the pot isn't enough, then it's probably enough. A little bit of oil goes a long way. Remember, if you're cooking meat too, then there's a good chance that meat will give off some type of fat. There's nothing worse then oil floating at the top of your soup. If you notice that there's too much oil/fat in the pot before you add your liquid, there's a neat trick to get rid of it and give your soup some texture. Add a little bit of flour to the mix. The flour will soak up all fat and dry out your pot (which is good). And this of course creates a what? A ROUX! So if anything, it'll actually thicken your soup just a little bit.
-Cook your food before adding your liquid.
As I said before, there is no wrong way to make soup. Of course you can take your broth and dump and bunch of vegetables and meat in it and put it on the fire. I'm sure it'll taste fine. But if you saute your food before you add your broth, it'll be ten times better. I promise (I never promise). By cooking your vegetables and protein just a little before adding the liquid will break down cell walls in the food releasing natural oils and sugars that will go right into the soup. What do you like better? Caramelized onions or raw onions? I thought so.
-Do not boil your soup.
After you've added your liquid, bring it to a boil and immediately turn it down to a simmer. Don't let it boil for too long. You don't want your vegetables to turn into mush and you don't want to overcook your proteins. That's right, you can most definitely overcook meat in soup. Even though it's in a liquid, it can still get tough and rubbery. Seriously, don't let it boil.
-Let it cook.
You can't rush perfection. After it's come to a boil and you've turned it down to a simmer, let it cook for awhile. 10 minutes, 15 minutes...whatever you want. Just know the longer you cook it, the more flavor that will come out of the food and into the soup. Think of marinara sauce. Though it's not a soup, it's the same concept. Allowing it to cook for awhile marries all the flavors together. But unlike marinara, I do not recommend cooking your soup for more than 25 minutes after you've turned it down to a simmer. Anything after that, we're venturing off into stewing..and that's for a different entry.
-Don't use corn starch to thicken.
If you go back to my "Don't be so roux-ed"entry, that'll show you how to thicken properly. Corn starch makes things gummy. To me it doesn't thicken properly. Ever have chinese food and there's some type of thick sauce that looks a little runny? Almost %99.999 percent of the time they used a buttload of corn starch to thicken it. That's not how you want your soup to look like. Trust me.
It seems like a lot to remember. But if you follow at least one step every time you make soup you'll notice a difference. I promise.
Once you've got the hang of understanding soups and flavor development, etc...then you can pretty much apply that to anything that has liquid. Poaching, stewing, braising...you'll be a pro in no time. But remember, you won't get it the first time. Expect to fail to succeed.
bien manger
-cwis
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
'Tis the Seasoning
Attention: if there is some type pre-made seasoning that is available to you at this moment please get it now. Please do this before proceeding. Thank you.
McCormick, Lawry's, Mrs. Dash, Montreal...what do they all have in common? Garbage.
In the years that I've worked, I've encountered many different kinds of pre-made seasonings, rubs, blends, etc., and I've come to the conclusion that I'm absolutely against most of them. If it's a seasoning made with dried herbs then it smells and tastes like cardboard. Oh, and you shouldn't using dried herbs anyway. Shame on you! If it's a seasoning made from spices then probably 99% of the time it will be filled with mostly...well you'll find out. If it's a seasoning with both then you'll have nasty cardboard.
Did you know that the ingredients on the label are listed in that order for a reason?
Ingredient lists start with the largest amount of ingredient first and works its way down to the ingredient with the least amount. So right now, I want you to take a look at the ingredient list on the bottle of seasoning you have with you and tell me what the first ingredient is...go ahead. I'll wait here...
Most of you will probably say...SALT. "What's so bad about salt," you ask? Nothing except for when you use too much of it. Companies fill these seasonings up with salt because it's a cheap filler. Looks like you're getting more seasoning, but you're just getting a lot of salt. If you remember my blog about salt, it's there to bring flavor out. Not to make things salty. Some people like the flavor of these seasonings so they put more on thinking it'll taste better. It actually makes it worse because they're putting more salt on. When I make some type of seasoning, I keep that and salt separate. I always seasoning my food with salt and pepper first, then I seasoning with my mix. You want the salt to season the food and draw moisture out so that the moisture can mix with the seasoning and caramelize when it cooks.
Very rarely do I use any other seasonings besides salt, pepper, and granulated garlic. I believe that you should be able to taste the food rather than masking it with other flavors. Don't get me wrong, I do like a little bit of curry or cumin or paprika sometimes but most of the times, you'll only see me use salt and pepper. When I was living on my own (I now live with my mom and dad. (and I love it)) I always had a mix. It was a 2:2:1 ratio of garlic:salt:pepper. I used that more than anything else. Of course sometimes a dish need a little more salt or a little more pepper but I always had those on the side too. But the garlic is what puts it right over the top.
So all in all if I see pre-made seasoning at your house I'll probably get very angry inside and I won't do anything because well...at the end of the day, you are your own boss. Just know that I'll be staring at it and will empty it the second you turn around.
bien manger
-cwis
McCormick, Lawry's, Mrs. Dash, Montreal...what do they all have in common? Garbage.
In the years that I've worked, I've encountered many different kinds of pre-made seasonings, rubs, blends, etc., and I've come to the conclusion that I'm absolutely against most of them. If it's a seasoning made with dried herbs then it smells and tastes like cardboard. Oh, and you shouldn't using dried herbs anyway. Shame on you! If it's a seasoning made from spices then probably 99% of the time it will be filled with mostly...well you'll find out. If it's a seasoning with both then you'll have nasty cardboard.
Did you know that the ingredients on the label are listed in that order for a reason?
Ingredient lists start with the largest amount of ingredient first and works its way down to the ingredient with the least amount. So right now, I want you to take a look at the ingredient list on the bottle of seasoning you have with you and tell me what the first ingredient is...go ahead. I'll wait here...
Most of you will probably say...SALT. "What's so bad about salt," you ask? Nothing except for when you use too much of it. Companies fill these seasonings up with salt because it's a cheap filler. Looks like you're getting more seasoning, but you're just getting a lot of salt. If you remember my blog about salt, it's there to bring flavor out. Not to make things salty. Some people like the flavor of these seasonings so they put more on thinking it'll taste better. It actually makes it worse because they're putting more salt on. When I make some type of seasoning, I keep that and salt separate. I always seasoning my food with salt and pepper first, then I seasoning with my mix. You want the salt to season the food and draw moisture out so that the moisture can mix with the seasoning and caramelize when it cooks.
Very rarely do I use any other seasonings besides salt, pepper, and granulated garlic. I believe that you should be able to taste the food rather than masking it with other flavors. Don't get me wrong, I do like a little bit of curry or cumin or paprika sometimes but most of the times, you'll only see me use salt and pepper. When I was living on my own (I now live with my mom and dad. (and I love it)) I always had a mix. It was a 2:2:1 ratio of garlic:salt:pepper. I used that more than anything else. Of course sometimes a dish need a little more salt or a little more pepper but I always had those on the side too. But the garlic is what puts it right over the top.
So all in all if I see pre-made seasoning at your house I'll probably get very angry inside and I won't do anything because well...at the end of the day, you are your own boss. Just know that I'll be staring at it and will empty it the second you turn around.
bien manger
-cwis
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Slow and Steady Wins the Race...
A lot of people ask me, "What's your favorite thing to cook?" Usually, if it's a woman I say, "Anything you want." If it's a man I say, "Anything the customer wants."
...ok that was a bad joke.
I can remember the happiest day in culinary school (even happier than graduation). I walked into class with a binder in one hand and the best French coffee I've ever had in the other. This coffee was so good I used to drink it black with 1/2 teaspoon of sugar. Yeah, that good.
Anyway...when I sat down I looked up at our daily menu and I saw (written in French) "Mango Risotto". My eyes lit up and I knew that today was going to be a good day.
I'll be honest, I don't remember the first time I ate risotto. I just remember that I loved it and that was probably the one dish I looked forward to learning how to cook. It's starchy, yet creamy. It's filling but not heavy. It'll take on whatever flavor you throw in with it. It's not the best looking, but it's definitely the best tasting. I remember scooping out little tiny balls of mango for the garnish. Even though it was only the side dish, it was the best part of the dish. In fact I don't remember what the protein and vegetable were...and I don't care!
If anybody remembers awhile back, I did a little culinary trivia contest where Shawn won a bottle of Truffle Oil. One of the questions was, "What's the difference between Risotto and Arborio Rice." The reason I asked this that there are a lot of people who don't know the answer to this question. So here it is. Risotto is a dish that is made of an Italian short grain rice called Arborio Rice. It comes from a town call Arborio (go figure). It has a very high starch content because it is not milled as much as the typical long grain rice. The starch is what gives it its creamy consistency. And just like pasta, it's cooked al dente, which means it should have a little bite.
When preparing risotto you need to understand that it's going to take a little while and a lot of love...seriously. Love is the main ingredient in all my dishes. Risotto cannot be rushed or you'll get really nasty mushy...I don't know what it'd be but I know it's not going to be good. It must be cooked at a medium to medium high heat. Never full blast. Make sure the liquid you are using to cook it has a lot of flavor. If it calls for chicken broth, make that Swansons or College Inn chicken broth awesome by buying chicken wing tips or chicken wings (they're cheap) at the super market, putting it in the broth and cooking (not boiling) it for 15-20 min. That'll give your broth a lot more flavor.
Moving forward. Make sure you have a pan or skillet. Something that low sides and a lot of surface area. There are 3 reasons for this.
1) Low sides promote fast evaporation (which is what we want). Ever wonder why stock pots have high sides? Because you don't want fast evaporation.
2) More surface area means fast heat transfer. The wider the pan the more metal to rice action will go on and it will cook faster.
3) If you see that it's starting to overcook you can turn off the heat and it will actually cool down faster.
If you look up a recipe for risotto I can almost guarantee you will see 6 cups of broth and it will tell you to add maybe 3/4 cup at a time every 2 or 3 min. This cooking technique is what makes risotto so delicious and I believe a lot of grains should be cooked like this. By adding small quantities of stock at a time it will reduce faster. Because broths are about 80% water and 20% flavor this process will take out the water and only leave the flavor. You're pretty much concentrating the flavor of the broth. The recipe will also tell you to constantly stir. Some may say every 45 seconds give it a stir and some may say stand there the whole time stirring. If you've never made risotto before, I suggest you stand there the whole time stirring. The starch that's cooked out rice will mix with the concentrated broth and give it it's creamy texture. But because there is so much starch in the pan it can easily burn if it sits too long.
You'll probably be stirring for about 14-18 min. Remember, you cannot rush risotto. Every so often, taste it. This is one the very few dishes I would say to wait till the end of the cooking to season it. Because you are concentrating so many layers of the broth that the flavor is going to change throughout the cooking process. Don't season at the beginning because it tastes bland. It will develop flavor as you add more broth. Like I said, you want to cook the risotto al dente. Once you've gotten your bite, stop adding broth and taste. Season as needed and you're done. The consistency of risotto should be thicker than pancake batter. When you spoon it onto the plate it should be able to fall by itself. It should never hold shape. If it does, then fix it.
Once risotto is cooked you really only have about 6-7 min to serve it without it stiffening up on you. Remember, it must fall by itself.
As much as I love risotto, I would never order it at a restaurant and most certainly never have it at a catered event. The way restaurants deal with risotto is that they partially cook a big batch half way and cool it down. When an order comes in they scoop out a portion and reheat it in a pan with broth. The problem with this is once you've cooked and cool risotto you've lost its "wow" factor. I'm not sure what happens but there's a huge difference between risotto being cooked in one shot and risotto that's been cooked, chilled, and cooked again.
I hope you learned a little something about risotto in this entry. Like I said, risotto is so versatile. Let your imagination go when you're making it. But please don't overcook it and don't serve it stiff. Or I will kick you in the face.
bien manger
-cwis
...ok that was a bad joke.
I can remember the happiest day in culinary school (even happier than graduation). I walked into class with a binder in one hand and the best French coffee I've ever had in the other. This coffee was so good I used to drink it black with 1/2 teaspoon of sugar. Yeah, that good.
Anyway...when I sat down I looked up at our daily menu and I saw (written in French) "Mango Risotto". My eyes lit up and I knew that today was going to be a good day.
I'll be honest, I don't remember the first time I ate risotto. I just remember that I loved it and that was probably the one dish I looked forward to learning how to cook. It's starchy, yet creamy. It's filling but not heavy. It'll take on whatever flavor you throw in with it. It's not the best looking, but it's definitely the best tasting. I remember scooping out little tiny balls of mango for the garnish. Even though it was only the side dish, it was the best part of the dish. In fact I don't remember what the protein and vegetable were...and I don't care!
If anybody remembers awhile back, I did a little culinary trivia contest where Shawn won a bottle of Truffle Oil. One of the questions was, "What's the difference between Risotto and Arborio Rice." The reason I asked this that there are a lot of people who don't know the answer to this question. So here it is. Risotto is a dish that is made of an Italian short grain rice called Arborio Rice. It comes from a town call Arborio (go figure). It has a very high starch content because it is not milled as much as the typical long grain rice. The starch is what gives it its creamy consistency. And just like pasta, it's cooked al dente, which means it should have a little bite.
When preparing risotto you need to understand that it's going to take a little while and a lot of love...seriously. Love is the main ingredient in all my dishes. Risotto cannot be rushed or you'll get really nasty mushy...I don't know what it'd be but I know it's not going to be good. It must be cooked at a medium to medium high heat. Never full blast. Make sure the liquid you are using to cook it has a lot of flavor. If it calls for chicken broth, make that Swansons or College Inn chicken broth awesome by buying chicken wing tips or chicken wings (they're cheap) at the super market, putting it in the broth and cooking (not boiling) it for 15-20 min. That'll give your broth a lot more flavor.
Moving forward. Make sure you have a pan or skillet. Something that low sides and a lot of surface area. There are 3 reasons for this.
1) Low sides promote fast evaporation (which is what we want). Ever wonder why stock pots have high sides? Because you don't want fast evaporation.
2) More surface area means fast heat transfer. The wider the pan the more metal to rice action will go on and it will cook faster.
3) If you see that it's starting to overcook you can turn off the heat and it will actually cool down faster.
If you look up a recipe for risotto I can almost guarantee you will see 6 cups of broth and it will tell you to add maybe 3/4 cup at a time every 2 or 3 min. This cooking technique is what makes risotto so delicious and I believe a lot of grains should be cooked like this. By adding small quantities of stock at a time it will reduce faster. Because broths are about 80% water and 20% flavor this process will take out the water and only leave the flavor. You're pretty much concentrating the flavor of the broth. The recipe will also tell you to constantly stir. Some may say every 45 seconds give it a stir and some may say stand there the whole time stirring. If you've never made risotto before, I suggest you stand there the whole time stirring. The starch that's cooked out rice will mix with the concentrated broth and give it it's creamy texture. But because there is so much starch in the pan it can easily burn if it sits too long.
You'll probably be stirring for about 14-18 min. Remember, you cannot rush risotto. Every so often, taste it. This is one the very few dishes I would say to wait till the end of the cooking to season it. Because you are concentrating so many layers of the broth that the flavor is going to change throughout the cooking process. Don't season at the beginning because it tastes bland. It will develop flavor as you add more broth. Like I said, you want to cook the risotto al dente. Once you've gotten your bite, stop adding broth and taste. Season as needed and you're done. The consistency of risotto should be thicker than pancake batter. When you spoon it onto the plate it should be able to fall by itself. It should never hold shape. If it does, then fix it.
Once risotto is cooked you really only have about 6-7 min to serve it without it stiffening up on you. Remember, it must fall by itself.
As much as I love risotto, I would never order it at a restaurant and most certainly never have it at a catered event. The way restaurants deal with risotto is that they partially cook a big batch half way and cool it down. When an order comes in they scoop out a portion and reheat it in a pan with broth. The problem with this is once you've cooked and cool risotto you've lost its "wow" factor. I'm not sure what happens but there's a huge difference between risotto being cooked in one shot and risotto that's been cooked, chilled, and cooked again.
I hope you learned a little something about risotto in this entry. Like I said, risotto is so versatile. Let your imagination go when you're making it. But please don't overcook it and don't serve it stiff. Or I will kick you in the face.
bien manger
-cwis
Monday, July 30, 2012
Will you Marry-nade me?
So a friend of mine, Heather S., is a big foodie just like most of you. She posted on my facebook an interesting topic for this blog entry.
Heather - Another blog idea might be about meat and vinegar... ((Unless you have a definite opinion against using vinegar.))
My mom told me that the vinegar "tenderizes" the meat (or something like that). I need to Google the why and how questions... But I was wondering if you had any advice on the cooking aspect of it, flavour, etc. I know, K.I.S.S., and not overcooking beef/lamb/etc... But I've found I do like the "softening" effect. =)
Me - ok let's talk about marinades for a second. I was always taught that there had to be 3 main ingredients in ANY marinade.
1) Oil
2) Flavoring
3) Acid
Oil to keep food moist
Flavoring to..well give the food flavor
Acid to break down cell walls/membranes of the meat.
that's why you see a lot of people will just use "dressings"...even though they are for salad they do have all 3 ingredients in them.
your mom is absolutely right. It does make the meat a little more tender, but only over time. You can't just dip a steak in some vinegar and cook it, that won't really do anything except leave a very acidic taste in your mouth.
Personally i'm not a fan of vinegar, i've never been a fan of vinegar. When i marinade i like to use fruit acid. Lemon, lime, orange, tomato, etc. That way you're adding your flavor as well as your acid.
I hope this helps!...i'm making this a blog.
----------------------------------------------------
-cwis
Heather - Another blog idea might be about meat and vinegar... ((Unless you have a definite opinion against using vinegar.))
My mom told me that the vinegar "tenderizes" the meat (or something like that). I need to Google the why and how questions... But I was wondering if you had any advice on the cooking aspect of it, flavour, etc. I know, K.I.S.S., and not overcooking beef/lamb/etc... But I've found I do like the "softening" effect. =)
Me - ok let's talk about marinades for a second. I was always taught that there had to be 3 main ingredients in ANY marinade.
1) Oil
2) Flavoring
3) Acid
Oil to keep food moist
Flavoring to..well give the food flavor
Acid to break down cell walls/membranes of the meat.
that's why you see a lot of people will just use "dressings"...even though they are for salad they do have all 3 ingredients in them.
your mom is absolutely right. It does make the meat a little more tender, but only over time. You can't just dip a steak in some vinegar and cook it, that won't really do anything except leave a very acidic taste in your mouth.
Personally i'm not a fan of vinegar, i've never been a fan of vinegar. When i marinade i like to use fruit acid. Lemon, lime, orange, tomato, etc. That way you're adding your flavor as well as your acid.
I hope this helps!...i'm making this a blog.
----------------------------------------------------
Let me add just a little bit more to this...
By using fruit acid such as lemons, limes, oranges, kiwis, etc...you will get the natural sugars from the fruit. So when you sear, roast, fry...whatever your meat it'll naturally caramelize your meat leaving a nice little crust on the outside (crust depends on type of meat and cooking method).
bien manger
-cwis
Friday, July 27, 2012
Don't drown your mushrooms
Please people. When you're cleaning mushrooms, DO NOT soak them or run them under water. When you "cook" something you are extracting moisture with heat. Thats why when something like chicken is overcooked, it's dry. By adding water to the mushroom, you're actually prolonging the cooking process and chances are, you're probably going to BOIL your mushrooms. Mushrooms are sponges and they will absorb anything and everything. Has anybody ever told you to use more oil when cooking mushrooms? No? Well, that's why.
If you want to take that little spec of dirt off the mushroom because you're a wuss then take a very lightly damp towel and brush it off. THAT'S IT. Now stop freaking out and get back to cooking.
bien manger
-cwis
If you want to take that little spec of dirt off the mushroom because you're a wuss then take a very lightly damp towel and brush it off. THAT'S IT. Now stop freaking out and get back to cooking.
bien manger
-cwis
Friday, January 20, 2012
"The cow is already dead, you can't kill it again"
If I ruled the world I would get rid of the terms "medium well" and "well done" and punish anyone who would recite those words ever again. It truly breaks my heart when I see a ticket ring up 1 filet mignon, well done or any type of red meat at that (veal, lamb, venison, etc). When I used to work on the line, I would refuse tickets that would say medium well or well done. I've gotten into plenty of fights with servers because they're dumb enough to allow the customers to order such a catastrophe. You might say to yourself, "Well, isn't the customer always right?" Yes and No. Yes because they know what they want, but No because they might not be educated on why people eat medium rare meat. To an uneducated diner they're thinking that anything under medium is a raw product.
This is going to sound racist (I'm not racist) but whenever we see a ticket that rings up well done we assume the diner is African American or Latino. Please correct me if I'm wrong (I don't want to sound like an ignorant prick), from what I understand the majority of the countries in Africa and South America are considered Third World Countries yes? So because they are so poor, most people cannot afford some type of refrigeration therefore they must cook everything all the way through to kill the bacteria. Not only that, but chickens are also easier to raise and cheaper to buy thus the reason African Americans and Latinos eat a lot of chicken. Don't get me wrong, a lot of Asian and Middle Eastern countries are very poor as well. I grew up eating EVERYTHING well done and I liked it! Only because that was the way I was raised and that was the only way I knew how to eat. I was not educated.
Please bear with me as I jump around from subject to subject, I'm not a writer damnit.
"Educate me then..." says the ignorant diner. Ok fuckface...
Chicken and Turkey, dead or alive, contain parasites and Salmonella. Why? I'm not a biologist. Google it.
Duck, Pheasant, and other types of poultry on the other hand can be eaten "undercooked." Why? Google it.
Pork also contains parasites and bacteria but not as severe as poultry. BUT did you know you can actually eat pork loin medium, even medium rare? Well now you do! Because of the change in the way pigs are raised nowadays pork can be eaten "undercooked." If a restaurant has any respect for themselves, they will ask you, "How would you like your pork cooked?" But I recommend pork loin and pork loin only. I do not suggest asking a restaurant to cook your bacon medium.
Fish, depending on the fat content, can definitely be eaten "undercooked" or even raw. Heard of sushi? No? You're ignorant. The reason we can eat Tuna and Salmon raw is because they have a high fat content. One of the things bacteria does not like is fat. They cannot produce on it, they cannot live on it. That's why some families don't even refrigerate butter. Also, what fish do you know lives in "warm" water? I'm not sure if you know anything about the ocean but it's COLD. Bacteria can't live below a certain temperature (I'll give you a little lesson on bacteria in a little bit). When you go to the super market you usually see fish on ice right? Now you know why. Here's a little fact about shellfish. If you are going to eat shellfish raw (like at a raw bar) they must still be alive. When shellfish hit a certain temperature they die and then bacteria starts to take over. This goes for all seafood (the whole certain temp thing, not that they must still be alive). Seafood in general does not have a long shelf life. So once you buy fish, eat it ASAP. It'll probably go bad within 3 or 4 days in your refrigerator. And don't freeze it, you'll hurt my feelings. Really, you will.
Now onto red meat. Red meat is generally very dense and as we all know (I hope we do), bacteria lives only on the surface. Don't be afraid. When animals are slaughtered and everything, the slaughterhouse has to go through a procedure of breaking down the animal and chilling/aging it ASAP. Most, if not, all slaughter houses always have an FDA or Health inspector on site during this process.
How can we be certain there is no bacteria? How can we be certain that washing lettuce with water will make it bacteria free? WE CAN'T! So suck it up and stop complaining.
I'll lightly go into why I eat beef rare. And notice how I said "why I...", everybody has their reasons. Eating food medium rare and rare if more of a textural thing for me. Flavor has little to do with it but texture is everything. I mean, what would you rather eat? Something that is soft and melts in your mouth or something that requires you to chew it at least 20 times before swallowing? If you picked something that requires you to chew, I hate you. But hey, everybody has their reasons. When you cook something; anything, it takes moisture out of the food. Ever heard of chicken being dry? Yeh, not cool. So please stop cooking the food before you've removed all the moisture. That's my two cents.
Ok so bacteria (and this paragraph is completely off the top of my head and what every chef should know). In culinary school I was taught there is a temperature range that bacteria reproduces the quickest called the "danger zone." Any type of protein (i.e. meat) left out between the temperatures of 40°F-140°F for more than 4 hours should be cooked immediately or thrown out. How cold do you think your refrigerator is? Probably anywhere from 37°F-39°F because...? You're right! It's under the danger zone. Now let me make this clear. Obviously food can still spoil in the refrigerator, but the bacteria is not reproducing as quickly.
There are 6 things bacteria needs to reproduce and when I quiz myself from time to time I always think of the acronym FATTOM.
Food - Bacteria needs some type of food to feed on to reproduce
Acid - Acidity helps with the reproduction
Time - Longer sexy time
Temperature - Danger Zone
Oxygen - Why do you think we cover food when we store it?
Moisture - Example, does beef jerky need to be refrigerated? Exactly.
How you eat your food is up to you. But if I ever find out you ordered Venison Well Done, I'm going to kick you in the face.
bien manger
-cwis
This is going to sound racist (I'm not racist) but whenever we see a ticket that rings up well done we assume the diner is African American or Latino. Please correct me if I'm wrong (I don't want to sound like an ignorant prick), from what I understand the majority of the countries in Africa and South America are considered Third World Countries yes? So because they are so poor, most people cannot afford some type of refrigeration therefore they must cook everything all the way through to kill the bacteria. Not only that, but chickens are also easier to raise and cheaper to buy thus the reason African Americans and Latinos eat a lot of chicken. Don't get me wrong, a lot of Asian and Middle Eastern countries are very poor as well. I grew up eating EVERYTHING well done and I liked it! Only because that was the way I was raised and that was the only way I knew how to eat. I was not educated.
Please bear with me as I jump around from subject to subject, I'm not a writer damnit.
"Educate me then..." says the ignorant diner. Ok fuckface...
Chicken and Turkey, dead or alive, contain parasites and Salmonella. Why? I'm not a biologist. Google it.
Duck, Pheasant, and other types of poultry on the other hand can be eaten "undercooked." Why? Google it.
Pork also contains parasites and bacteria but not as severe as poultry. BUT did you know you can actually eat pork loin medium, even medium rare? Well now you do! Because of the change in the way pigs are raised nowadays pork can be eaten "undercooked." If a restaurant has any respect for themselves, they will ask you, "How would you like your pork cooked?" But I recommend pork loin and pork loin only. I do not suggest asking a restaurant to cook your bacon medium.
Fish, depending on the fat content, can definitely be eaten "undercooked" or even raw. Heard of sushi? No? You're ignorant. The reason we can eat Tuna and Salmon raw is because they have a high fat content. One of the things bacteria does not like is fat. They cannot produce on it, they cannot live on it. That's why some families don't even refrigerate butter. Also, what fish do you know lives in "warm" water? I'm not sure if you know anything about the ocean but it's COLD. Bacteria can't live below a certain temperature (I'll give you a little lesson on bacteria in a little bit). When you go to the super market you usually see fish on ice right? Now you know why. Here's a little fact about shellfish. If you are going to eat shellfish raw (like at a raw bar) they must still be alive. When shellfish hit a certain temperature they die and then bacteria starts to take over. This goes for all seafood (the whole certain temp thing, not that they must still be alive). Seafood in general does not have a long shelf life. So once you buy fish, eat it ASAP. It'll probably go bad within 3 or 4 days in your refrigerator. And don't freeze it, you'll hurt my feelings. Really, you will.
Now onto red meat. Red meat is generally very dense and as we all know (I hope we do), bacteria lives only on the surface. Don't be afraid. When animals are slaughtered and everything, the slaughterhouse has to go through a procedure of breaking down the animal and chilling/aging it ASAP. Most, if not, all slaughter houses always have an FDA or Health inspector on site during this process.
How can we be certain there is no bacteria? How can we be certain that washing lettuce with water will make it bacteria free? WE CAN'T! So suck it up and stop complaining.
I'll lightly go into why I eat beef rare. And notice how I said "why I...", everybody has their reasons. Eating food medium rare and rare if more of a textural thing for me. Flavor has little to do with it but texture is everything. I mean, what would you rather eat? Something that is soft and melts in your mouth or something that requires you to chew it at least 20 times before swallowing? If you picked something that requires you to chew, I hate you. But hey, everybody has their reasons. When you cook something; anything, it takes moisture out of the food. Ever heard of chicken being dry? Yeh, not cool. So please stop cooking the food before you've removed all the moisture. That's my two cents.
Ok so bacteria (and this paragraph is completely off the top of my head and what every chef should know). In culinary school I was taught there is a temperature range that bacteria reproduces the quickest called the "danger zone." Any type of protein (i.e. meat) left out between the temperatures of 40°F-140°F for more than 4 hours should be cooked immediately or thrown out. How cold do you think your refrigerator is? Probably anywhere from 37°F-39°F because...? You're right! It's under the danger zone. Now let me make this clear. Obviously food can still spoil in the refrigerator, but the bacteria is not reproducing as quickly.
There are 6 things bacteria needs to reproduce and when I quiz myself from time to time I always think of the acronym FATTOM.
Food - Bacteria needs some type of food to feed on to reproduce
Acid - Acidity helps with the reproduction
Time - Longer sexy time
Temperature - Danger Zone
Oxygen - Why do you think we cover food when we store it?
Moisture - Example, does beef jerky need to be refrigerated? Exactly.
How you eat your food is up to you. But if I ever find out you ordered Venison Well Done, I'm going to kick you in the face.
bien manger
-cwis
Thursday, September 8, 2011
You think you got what it takes?
Aside from cooking, another thing I also love to do is teaching. I love being able to educate people especially if they're really into it. Now I'm not talking about teaching math or science (I'm not that type of Asian) and I'm not talking about just cooking. I'm talking about the whole business.
Recently, I had a conversation with my friend's dad's friend. He's an older gentleman, about 50 years old. We had started a conversation about cooking and my career and he tells me his son is thinking about going to school for culinary arts. As gung ho as he was about his son going into culinary, I gave him my card and told him to tell his son to give me a call before he applies for school.
I've had this conversation with a lot of people and I've given the same speech over and over again. It's not that I don't want people to aspire to become chefs, I just want them to know what they're getting themselves into. A lot of people who go to culinary schools and such really don't know what the life of a chef is. I read an article about a group of culinary school students who are suing their school because they were "mislead" by statements made by the school. I also blame it on the media and these TV shows (though I love Top Chef). They see these TV chefs and they think they live these lavish lives with the traveling and white coats and nice aprons...and they do. But how do you think they got there? They didn't wake up one day and say, "Hey, I'm going to open up 4 restaurants and they're going to be successful!" That's not how it works. When you open up a restaurant it's a guarantee you won't see any kind of profit for the first 5 years. There's so much stress involved because of food waste, trusting employees, and just the job itself. But opening a restaurant is for another blog.
Quite frankly the life of a chef is really shitty. Our hours are shitty (70-80 hour weeks), we get paid shitty, we work weekends, we work holidays, your days off are when everybody else works, and if you're working in an a la carte restaurant, chances are you probably don't have any benefits. Sure they'll take care of you if you get hurt at work but what if you get into a car accident? Get outside insurance? How are you going to afford health insurance making $10/hour?
From the time you step into work till the time you leave, it's nonstop work. Starting with the trucks that come in the morning to deliver your food...you have to check for quality, date each item so you know when it came in, put all the food away properly. After that, you still have to prep your station for service. Most of the time you only have about 2 or 3 hours to prep which seems like a lot but it's really not when everything has to be made from scratch everyday. After that, it's time to get your ass kicked during service. That's about 5-6 hours of nonstop someone yelling at you, orders coming back because it's not what the customer wanted, potential running out of food, 100 degree heat from the ovens, grill, and stoves, and of course stress. AND THEN you have to clean up which is about another hour or two and by the time you know it, it's almost midnight. After a night of service all you want to do is go home and sleep. But when you go home you realize you did absolutely nothing all day except work because you wake up later in the day so you can be rested for service. So you get home and you feel like you have to do something because nobody wants a wasted day. You might drink a couple beers, order some take-out, pop in a movie. And finally you get to sleep about 3-4am. Next morning you wake up around 9-10am to do it ALL OVER AGAIN.
Why would ANYBODY want to become a chef then?
Some people just really love food, some like being creative, and there some sick people out there that like being on the line during the dinner rush. For me, it's about the customer's satisfaction and knowing someone loves your food. When I see a plate come back clean, that's a reward all in it's own. I believe that chefs are a different breed of people. I mean, just reading from above who wants to stress and get yelled at in that kind of heat every single day? WE DO. Though I knew I wanted to cook from a young age there are people out there that went through regular college and worked corporate America. I know people who've made over $100k/year sitting at a desk with a computer in a suit, traveling every other week and now they're not even making a fraction of what they used to make. And I ask all of them, why would you give up that life? They all give me the same answer, "I couldn't take it anymore, it just got boring." We need some sort of an adventure everyday and that's what you get in a kitchen. Some may be good some may be bad, but whatever the case may be it's still something different happening everyday. I could never become a "paper pusher"...sorry to all the paper pushers in the world hahaha.
I love what I do. I love cooking, I love food, but most importantly I love making people happy. I will always cook for someone else before I cook for myself. Though the job is very stressful and there are days when I want to just shut down, I do it for myself. This is me and this is what I love to do and I wouldn't have it any other way. I'm one of the few people in this world that can say "I love my job."
Recently, I had a conversation with my friend's dad's friend. He's an older gentleman, about 50 years old. We had started a conversation about cooking and my career and he tells me his son is thinking about going to school for culinary arts. As gung ho as he was about his son going into culinary, I gave him my card and told him to tell his son to give me a call before he applies for school.
I've had this conversation with a lot of people and I've given the same speech over and over again. It's not that I don't want people to aspire to become chefs, I just want them to know what they're getting themselves into. A lot of people who go to culinary schools and such really don't know what the life of a chef is. I read an article about a group of culinary school students who are suing their school because they were "mislead" by statements made by the school. I also blame it on the media and these TV shows (though I love Top Chef). They see these TV chefs and they think they live these lavish lives with the traveling and white coats and nice aprons...and they do. But how do you think they got there? They didn't wake up one day and say, "Hey, I'm going to open up 4 restaurants and they're going to be successful!" That's not how it works. When you open up a restaurant it's a guarantee you won't see any kind of profit for the first 5 years. There's so much stress involved because of food waste, trusting employees, and just the job itself. But opening a restaurant is for another blog.
Quite frankly the life of a chef is really shitty. Our hours are shitty (70-80 hour weeks), we get paid shitty, we work weekends, we work holidays, your days off are when everybody else works, and if you're working in an a la carte restaurant, chances are you probably don't have any benefits. Sure they'll take care of you if you get hurt at work but what if you get into a car accident? Get outside insurance? How are you going to afford health insurance making $10/hour?
From the time you step into work till the time you leave, it's nonstop work. Starting with the trucks that come in the morning to deliver your food...you have to check for quality, date each item so you know when it came in, put all the food away properly. After that, you still have to prep your station for service. Most of the time you only have about 2 or 3 hours to prep which seems like a lot but it's really not when everything has to be made from scratch everyday. After that, it's time to get your ass kicked during service. That's about 5-6 hours of nonstop someone yelling at you, orders coming back because it's not what the customer wanted, potential running out of food, 100 degree heat from the ovens, grill, and stoves, and of course stress. AND THEN you have to clean up which is about another hour or two and by the time you know it, it's almost midnight. After a night of service all you want to do is go home and sleep. But when you go home you realize you did absolutely nothing all day except work because you wake up later in the day so you can be rested for service. So you get home and you feel like you have to do something because nobody wants a wasted day. You might drink a couple beers, order some take-out, pop in a movie. And finally you get to sleep about 3-4am. Next morning you wake up around 9-10am to do it ALL OVER AGAIN.
Why would ANYBODY want to become a chef then?
Some people just really love food, some like being creative, and there some sick people out there that like being on the line during the dinner rush. For me, it's about the customer's satisfaction and knowing someone loves your food. When I see a plate come back clean, that's a reward all in it's own. I believe that chefs are a different breed of people. I mean, just reading from above who wants to stress and get yelled at in that kind of heat every single day? WE DO. Though I knew I wanted to cook from a young age there are people out there that went through regular college and worked corporate America. I know people who've made over $100k/year sitting at a desk with a computer in a suit, traveling every other week and now they're not even making a fraction of what they used to make. And I ask all of them, why would you give up that life? They all give me the same answer, "I couldn't take it anymore, it just got boring." We need some sort of an adventure everyday and that's what you get in a kitchen. Some may be good some may be bad, but whatever the case may be it's still something different happening everyday. I could never become a "paper pusher"...sorry to all the paper pushers in the world hahaha.
I love what I do. I love cooking, I love food, but most importantly I love making people happy. I will always cook for someone else before I cook for myself. Though the job is very stressful and there are days when I want to just shut down, I do it for myself. This is me and this is what I love to do and I wouldn't have it any other way. I'm one of the few people in this world that can say "I love my job."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)