Tips and Tricks from the Professionals
Vegetables
Manuel Choqque Bravo’s delicious, colorful creations are adored by world-class chefs. 1,296 Bravo shows off a collection of cultivated tubers. ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF MANUEL CHOQQUE BRAVO MANUEL CHOQQUE BRAVO, A FOURTH generation potato farmer in the Andean highlands of Chinchero, is about to perform a magic show. He lines up multiple deformed tubers, indigenous to the …
If there is one thing that Peru and its cuisine are known for, it is the potato. The region (including nearby Chile and Bolivia) not only boasts the oldest archeological remains of potatoes—dating back some 13,000 years—but the vast Inca Empire owes much of its glory to potatoes’ caloric contributions. And while modernizing diets found …
Causa – Peru’s strikingly beautiful mashed potato casserole. Read More »
Beautiful food has a way of catching internet attention, and glass gem corn is certainly eye-catching. When photos of the corn started circulating in 2012, people wanted to know: Where did it come from? What gave it its distinctive jewel tones? And could you eat it? Soon, their questions were answered. Carl Barnes, a part-Cherokee …
Crispy, crunchy, mouthwatering … math. If you have any kitchen savvy at all, you know how much numbers play a role in a recipe. It only makes sense that you can also use math to take tastiness to the next level. Looking to maximize the deliciousness of roasted potatoes? Look no further. Mathematical Meals Of …
This Mathematical Formula Will Give You Perfect Roasted Potatoes Every Time Read More »
Mexico’s “mouse melon” is actually a tiny cucumber. Cucamelons are grape-sized fruits that look like Lilliputian watermelons but taste like cucumbers. They are native to Mexico and Central America, where they go by nicknames such as sandita (“little watermelon”) or sandía ratón (“mouse melon”). They look so much like watermelons that unscrupulous seed-mongers often sell them as actual tiny …
No one cares if you labored over a huge gourd, it tastes better canned. Plus, Danny Bowien’smole spiced pumpkin pie sounds hands-down magical.
Tonka beans have an intense flavour that chefs and food manufacturers have enthusiastically embraced. There’s just one problem – it contains a chemical that could, in large enough doses, kill you. It’s led to raids by law enforcement agencies and mass deaths in animals; in the United States, chefs have ‘dealers’ who smuggle it into …
youtube.com Chef Ludo Lefebvre’s trick to making perfect french fries at his Los Angeles restaurant Petit Trois is to soak them in salt water before frying them. This seasons them from the inside out and removes excess starch for a crispier, more flavorful fry. See the full video here.
youtube.com Chef Gabrielle Hamilton of Prune cooks the tops of zucchinis in salted water for a delicious snack that doesn’t cost a lot. Simply serve them with a drizzle of good olive oil and flaky sea salt for the perfect appetizer. See how to do it here.
Raw legumes may contain substances that are difficult to digest or are toxic. These substances are destroyed by heat so cooking is essential for improving their nutritional value and digestibility. Soaking is required to soften legumes and reduce their cooking time. It also helps to reduce the levels of substances in legumes that cause flatulence. …
Store an apple with potatoes to stop them sprouting? An old wives’ tale advised that an apple kept inside a bag of potatoes would stop the green shoots appearing, but it turns out the opposite is true – the ethylene gas released by the ripening apple will promote the sprouting, not hinder it.
The popular belief that tearing lettuce stops its edges browning is based on the theory that it damages fewer cells and limits oxidisation. There’s nothing, however, to prove it’s any less destructive than cutting the leaves with a knife. Both will turn brown at the same rate.
The belief is that heavy salting of the water prevents the chlorophyll leaching, but retaining the fresh colour of green vegetables depends mostly on cooking time. Ten minutes in boiling water will turn broccoli, for example, dark green; five to seven minutes will stop damage to the cell walls that compromises the chlorophyll. Bringing the …
Chilly weather or no space for a garden doesn’t have to stop you from growing your own food. A trip to the garden store for some bulbs—which you can even get in cold weather months—some soil, and a five liter plastic bottle are all you need for a near-infinite supply of fresh onions. Kitchen Scraps …
“Can you make me an asparagus mousse?” Raymond asked me one lunchtime. I made the mousse and sent it through to his table in the dining room. I was smoking a Marlboro outside when Raymond suddenly came dashing through the kitchen’s back doorway, full of excitement. “The mousse,” he said to me, “it’s spectacular. How …
If you’re cooking green vegetables, you might think it’s acceptable to throw the whole lot into a pan of boiling water. But you’re going to create a problem. The water immediately stops boiling, and now that the water is not so hot, the green pigment, chlorophyll, is killed off and the vegetable loses its brightness. …
How – and where – should you fry the ultimate chips? The very best chips combine a crisp crust with a piping-hot, snowy-white interior – a delicious combination that arises when potatoes descend into a nice hot pool of oil. But how does the magic happen – and can food scientists find ways to improve …
I wash my lettuces and then put them loosely in a large bowl and set in the refrigerator uncovered for about a half hour, I then remove them and place in large Tupperware bowl with several coffee filters or napkins on the bottom and on top of the lettuces and then cover tightly and store …
