27 August 2007
Science!
Martin Lersch, whose blog I will be devouring over the coming weeks, left a comment which makes me realize I didn't adequately represent my feelings about the previous Crispy Booze post. It wasn't meant to be a shot at molecular gastronomy, really. I just like the idea of hard-won scientific knowledge ending up at the same place as folk wisdom. It doesn't mean nothing was gained. Knowledge can be expanded upon. We can look back from the stepping stone of the latest knowledge and see the path back to the bank we came from, and sometimes can begin to pick out the nearer stones that will take us to the far bank. Folk wisdom is usually just one stone in a murky stream. It might keep you out of the current, but it won't take you anywhere new.
Crispy Booze
So back in March, Harold McGee posted on his blog an explanation of how Heston Blumenthal at the Fat Duck had developed a science-y way of creating a near-perfect crust on deep-fried fish, one that protected the fish from being overcooked, but would not steam off the fish once the cooking was done and the thing had to sit on a plate for a while.
The big triumph is that they were able to dumb down or reverse engineer or whatever this recipe into something that the home cook would be able to benefit from. Their breakthrough: vodka. As I understand it, the alcohol's lower boiling point means that the crust crisps up faster with a shot of alcohol than with water. This allows the crust a head-start on the rest of the packag, which means that it can get some structural integrity before the fish overcooks, and will maintain that integrity by both better-
resisting the steam that comes off the cooked fish, and making sure that the fish doesn't give off too much steam. That's all really impressive, but in both articles, they fail to mention a pretty strong precedent for the use of hard alcohol to achieve better texture in deep-frying: The Brazilian pastel, basically a deep-fried empanada or raviolone, has long called for a shot of cachaça in with the water for the dough. It is considered essential to giving it a crispy, resistant texture.
All that molecular gastronomy to reverse-engineer something that already existed.
The big triumph is that they were able to dumb down or reverse engineer or whatever this recipe into something that the home cook would be able to benefit from. Their breakthrough: vodka. As I understand it, the alcohol's lower boiling point means that the crust crisps up faster with a shot of alcohol than with water. This allows the crust a head-start on the rest of the packag, which means that it can get some structural integrity before the fish overcooks, and will maintain that integrity by both better-
resisting the steam that comes off the cooked fish, and making sure that the fish doesn't give off too much steam. That's all really impressive, but in both articles, they fail to mention a pretty strong precedent for the use of hard alcohol to achieve better texture in deep-frying: The Brazilian pastel, basically a deep-fried empanada or raviolone, has long called for a shot of cachaça in with the water for the dough. It is considered essential to giving it a crispy, resistant texture.
All that molecular gastronomy to reverse-engineer something that already existed.
21 August 2007
Restocking
So I've posted a live link to my pantry list on the right hand side of this page. I've reformatted it to be grouped less by the type of stuff I want to have on hand, and more by where I expect to find the things on the list. So, I can go through my spice rack and make sure I've got everything on the spices and seasonings list. The things that are in boldface are things that I don't currently have on the shelves. M and I stepped off a plane from London a week ago tomorrow and we've really yet to do a big supermarket shop. Part of this is dread at going across the street to D'Agostino's and being overcharged for nearly everything. I have been shopping, of course, but it's been at the fruit cart, the butcher shop, the cheese store, the fishmonger.
Speaking of all that, my friend Josh, who runs shortshrifted.com gave me a welcome home present that really made me glad to be back. It was the Zagat New York Gourmet Shopping Guide. It listed Ideal Cheese Shop, Simchick Meats, and Pisacane Seafood (but not my fruit cart guy) and gave them all rankings over 25. (For those who don't know, that's really, really good.) It gave me a new appreciation for just what we have here on First Ave. Really, it's rare to find a concentration of good food stores like this anywhere, but having all three within a block makes me really count myself as lucky.
I was a bit shattered at what I thought was the bad news of Simchik's having closed while we were away for the summer. I surmised this based on a "Store For Rent" sign in their front window, seen from across the street. I went by for a closer look and found that they had just moved down the street to swankier digs. Phew!
Anyway, restocking. We've been running a pretty lean operation since we got back. Not willing to eat out (much) and not willing to do a big shop at D'a-gross-tino's (ah, le mot juste) has pretty much left my buying bits and pieces as we need them. A big help for the two days M was away was baking up a loaf of Lahey bread. I'm pretty well convinced that I will build any number of meals around this chewy, crusty bread based on the meager contents of the fridge rather than subject myself to a big shop. And I think that's a pretty good thing. One sticking point is the fact that I haven't gotten the energy together to go buy some real butter. All I have is some months-old stuff that I clarified on our return to make it taste less stale (which it does). I know that sounds gross, but this was Ronnybrook butter from a local dairy. Very fresh. Okay, 80 days might be pushing the boundaries, but it's fine. Really. Anyway, this culinary equivalent of dry-farming has yielded some triumphs:
Anyway, take a look at the pantry list, if you like, and let me know your thoughts or possible additions. I'd love to know what other people can't do without.
Speaking of all that, my friend Josh, who runs shortshrifted.com gave me a welcome home present that really made me glad to be back. It was the Zagat New York Gourmet Shopping Guide. It listed Ideal Cheese Shop, Simchick Meats, and Pisacane Seafood (but not my fruit cart guy) and gave them all rankings over 25. (For those who don't know, that's really, really good.) It gave me a new appreciation for just what we have here on First Ave. Really, it's rare to find a concentration of good food stores like this anywhere, but having all three within a block makes me really count myself as lucky.
I was a bit shattered at what I thought was the bad news of Simchik's having closed while we were away for the summer. I surmised this based on a "Store For Rent" sign in their front window, seen from across the street. I went by for a closer look and found that they had just moved down the street to swankier digs. Phew!
Anyway, restocking. We've been running a pretty lean operation since we got back. Not willing to eat out (much) and not willing to do a big shop at D'a-gross-tino's (ah, le mot juste) has pretty much left my buying bits and pieces as we need them. A big help for the two days M was away was baking up a loaf of Lahey bread. I'm pretty well convinced that I will build any number of meals around this chewy, crusty bread based on the meager contents of the fridge rather than subject myself to a big shop. And I think that's a pretty good thing. One sticking point is the fact that I haven't gotten the energy together to go buy some real butter. All I have is some months-old stuff that I clarified on our return to make it taste less stale (which it does). I know that sounds gross, but this was Ronnybrook butter from a local dairy. Very fresh. Okay, 80 days might be pushing the boundaries, but it's fine. Really. Anyway, this culinary equivalent of dry-farming has yielded some triumphs:
- open-faced cream-cheese, tomato, and white-peach chicken delice sandwich.
- bread bowl (more of a bread canoe, actually) filled with chicken livers sauteed in clarified butter with herbes de Provence, deglased with sherry and lemon juice.
- griddle-toasted, garlic-rubbed crostone with Sardinian extra-virgin olive oil and Marmite.
- Stilton and apricot jam sandwich
Anyway, take a look at the pantry list, if you like, and let me know your thoughts or possible additions. I'd love to know what other people can't do without.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)