Food Learning Jags
From time to time, guests ask for me to do a type of cooking seminar as part of overall dinner preparation on site in their homes. It’s probably one of my most favorite things to do: Engaging with my clientele regarding things worth knowing about when preparing dishes. As part of my own preparatory educational mise-en-place as it were, my proposed menus for these occasions include a list of culinary take-aways for the evening.
Which begs the question: What would be some of the most basic techniques one would want to have at one’s disposal in the kitchen? In no particular order, here is my short list of candidates:
Learning how to prepare so-called Iranian parboiled rice. Such a basic cornerstone of so many dishes. Might as well learn how to do this the right way.
Stocks, broths, and consommes: Learning the fundamentals of a vast array of dishes to come.
Soups: Following from the above, just getting down pat the basics of soup preparation. What to roast, what to blanche, how to do a bouquet garni, etc.
Brining: In this category, I would include not only the important prep stage for chicken and fish, but also how to do confit (and how to use leftover oils) and the fundamentals of pickling.
Butter (okay, and eggs). Obviously included in this category is clarified butter, butter manie, butter monte, compound butters. Add eggs to the mix along with the stock above and you are pretty much nailing down all the important sauces.
Sous Vide (Hey, this is the 21st C and this technology has been with us for about half a century already.)