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Kitchen boot camp: Learn to cook |
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Written by By Bill Daley, MCT
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Wednesday, 16 August 2006 |
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Osmosis isn't how most of us learn to cook. We watch family and friends, we question, we read, we attend classes, we turn on the TV, we fumble about and burn things. We burn lots of things.
One day it finally clicks. The mind opens, the air clears (often literally) and the meal-making ticks down to a delectable conclusion. And we go on cooking happily ever after.
That still doesn't mean there aren't some tips, lessons and tricks of the trade to learn.
Ask some of America's foremost chefs, authors, teachers and television stars what their most important food lesson is and the answers range from proper attitude to properly heating a saute pan.
Here's the skinny from the pros:
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1. Taste everything
Anne Willan, author of "The Good Cook," and director of La Varenne cooking school in France:
"Taste, taste and taste again," Willan said. "Adjust your seasoning all the time."
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2. Be organized
Daisy Martinez, caterer, author and host of "Daisy Cooks!" on public television:
"Good organizational skills in the kitchen are important if you are cooking for two or cooking for 200," said Martinez, who brings her own spin on Latin American cooking to television audiences. "Good organization helps you with all the peripheral things that lead up to a finished plate."
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3. Learn knife skills
Linda Carucci, director of culinary programs at Copia, the American Center for Wine, Food & the Arts in Napa, Calif.:
Learning how to hold a knife — grabbing the handle and holding the back of the blade between thumb and forefinger — allows you to execute the chops, cuts and dices demanded in recipes, Carucci said. "The way you hold it and the way you work with it can make food look great," she said. "The presentation is enhanced. We eat first with our eyes, so that's important."
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4. Keep knives sharp
Chef Grant Achatz of Chicago's Alinea restaurant:
"A dull knife is dangerous," Achatz said. "It will cut through your finger but won't cut through that tomato, ironically enough."
What Achatz means is that a cook will try to make a cut with an unsharpened knife and the blade will roll off the food right into a finger. A sharp knife, in contrast, is "like a gun."
"It will go where you point it," he said.
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5. Master techniques
Jacques Pepin, chef, author and host of public television cooking shows, including an upcoming special, "The Complete Pepin":
At New York's French Culinary Institute, where he is dean of special programs, Pepin tells students that it doesn't matter if one student has more talent than the next. "We concentrate on being a good technician," he said. "If they have talent, technique puts the means in hand for them to express that talent."
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6. Take temperatures
William N. Reynolds, provost, Washburne Culinary Institute, one of the City Colleges of Chicago:
An instant-read thermometer is vital in the kitchen, but Reynolds' reason might surprise you.
"People want to play it safe so they terribly overcook everything," said Reynolds, who prefers 140 degrees for fish and 155 degrees for almost everything else. (The USDA likes it hotter, 165 degrees for chicken.)
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7. Learn from mistakes
Suvir Saran, chef, restaurateur, cooking teacher and author of "Indian Home Cooking":
Don't go into the kitchen looking for perfection, advised Saran. Saran, co-executive chef of New York's Devi restaurant, said the focus on getting it right is where cooks so often go wrong. They make mistakes and don't go back or learn from it. People must be willing "to play, falter and recover," he said. "My best recipes have come from students who make mistakes while cooking."
One example, to be featured in his upcoming cookbook, "America Masala," is a chutney left on the stove too long. The resulting goo had so much more flavor because of the accidental caramelization, he said.
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8. Put the pan on the fire
Shelley Young, owner and chef-instructor of The Chopping Block cooking school in Chicago:
"Learn how to saute; it's something you use over and over again," Young said.
The key to sauteing is a properly heated pan. Young said to heat the pan while it's empty so the oil reaches cooking temperature within seconds of being poured. Food sauteed in a properly heated pan won't stick to the metal or excrete water, signs of a too-cool pan.
Learning when a pan is properly heated means doing more than gauging the hotness of the metal by waving your hand over it. Young said you need to know your stove and what kind of heat it throws.
"You need to know your settings. You're mostly sauteing on medium to medium-high heat," she said.
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9. Warm up first
Madelaine Bullwinkel, owner of Chez Madelaine cooking school in Hinsdale, Ill.:
"Get meat, poultry or fish out of the refrigerator 30 minutes ahead of time. It will cook faster," she said.
Letting your meat, poultry or fish warm up a little bit allows you to give the food a little extra seasoning time with salt and pepper. As to concerns leaving food out is risky, she replied, "Nothing terrible is going to happen in 30 minutes."
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10. Read the recipe
Dorie Greenspan, author of "Paris Sweets" and "Baking with Julia," the companion guide to the late Julia Child's television series:
E-mailing from Paris, where this New York-based author maintains a residence, Greenspan recommended reading the recipe through first so "you're familiar with everything you're going to need and have to do."
"With luck, this will do away with that terrible moment when you realize you're halfway through getting the cake put together but you don't have enough eggs," she said. | Only registered users can write comments.
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