Curious Cook: The reasons for good food

I confess to dining out recently at an Asian buffet restaurant in the town about 50km from my home here in France. I have exhausted my meagre repertoire of Asian dishes several times over and just wanted to taste again other dishes from the past. Overall, the experience was not brilliant because the food was at best a verisimilitude of real Asian food, but it was good enough – and everyone else who came along thought it was great.

But it did make me think about the differences (and similarities) between Asian and French cooking. It would be easy to ascribe the distinction to seasonings and ingredients, but the dish that results from a French cook using just oil, a piece of good meat, flour, salt and pepper will not taste the same as the dish from a Chinese chef using the same ingredients. The French version would probably involve coating the meat with seasoned flour, pan-frying in a thin layer of oil till lightly brown, then finishing off in an oven. The Chinese version would probably require the meat to be sliced, coated in more heavily seasoned flour, and then deep-fried in oil till golden.

All cooking is a combination of biology, chemistry and physics and it is how techniques are applied on ingredients that results in the idiosyncrasies of flavours, tastes, textures and ultimately, styles. Understanding this is relevant especially if you are preparing meals for people with different taste preferences.

There are three factors in managing meals: 1) amalgamation 2) layering, and 3) combination. Amalgamation is when seasonings are steeped or incorporated into the main ingredients, and is usually the simpler and easier method used to flavour food. Layering usually involves applying garnishes and items cooked separately from the main ingredients, such as sauces or other ingredients layered over the dish. Combination is when separate foods, which may be contrasting or complementary, are served together on the same dish or platform.

An example of amalgamation is the use of marinades for barbecued meats. Another would be braising in powerful sauces, and usually requires only one pan or wok. Amalgamation is more often used in Asian cooking as it usually results in stronger, deeper flavours in the main ingredients. Classic examples are char siew red pork, satay, sweet & sour pork, kung pao chicken, curries, etc. The downside of amalgamation is that once the flavours have entered the target ingredients, there is no way to reduce the impact – it is rather like an alloy created by combinations of melted metals and/or compounds. So if you do not like the taste of proteins treated with a marinade, then the only thing you can do is avoid eating it – the flavour characteristics of the proteins would be immutable.

Layering is probably more a Western tradition. For example, steaks may be cooked in some standard manner and then served individually with one of several different gravies on top, such as onion, blue cheese, red wine, etc. So every dish at a dinner table may have a common element (e.g. steak or grilled fish) but each dish would still be distinctive due to the layers of different gravies applied. Quite often, the layering is also controlled by the diner as gravies may be served in separate jugs for use at the table. A pizza is also a construction based on layers. Many garnishes such as spring onions, parsley, pepper, and other seasonings are also examples of layers.

Combination is how variety and/or bulk are introduced into plates of food. At the simplest level, staples such as rice, noodles, bread, potatoes, etc, may be introduced to form the bulk of a dish. But combinations can get quite complex once legumes, proteins, salads and other ingredients are also involved. An example might be paella, which can include fish, clams, langoustines, chicken, shrimps, peppers, vegetables, tomatoes, saffron, wine and Bomba rice. Other common combination items would be beans, peas, roasted/steamed vegetables, mashes, etc, to accompany a piece of protein. Amalgamation and layering commonly also apply when preparing combination food items.

A better cook?

Understanding how dishes are cooked can make one a better cook, especially if you are cooking for several people, perhaps a dinner party.

All cooking involves the re-arrangement of carbohydrates, fat and/or protein molecules under heat, unless the food is eaten raw or treated with compounds such as salt, sugar, acids, alkalis, yeasts, bacteria/fungi, enzymes, etc. The structure of carbohydrates, fats or amino acids (from proteins) are “cooked” by disassembling, then re-assembling them in different configurations, or introducing new binding compounds, or usually, all of the above. Good food is therefore the outcome of countless chemical interactions between biological ingredients that results in compounds which stimulate our taste senses. Where required, energy to initiate such chemical interactions is usually delivered via the physical application of heat.

But not all good food requires cooking or heat. A nice salad may be raw leaves sprinkled over with a blended dressing of vinegar, oil and honey – this is a classic example of layering.

Control

Flavours can therefore be managed by controlling the amount of chemical activity during cooking, though it might be even more important to manage the type of chemical reactions. Not all ingredients combine well together – fried fish and bananas would probably not work out well.

So it makes sense to ensure that ingredients fit well and in the right proportions before cooking, something easy to do with the right recipes. This sounds like common sense but I am sure you have eaten dishes which tasted simply wrong, because of overuse of an ingredient – an easy mistake to make, especially when following a recipe blindly. An example are American cake recipes – they are always far sweeter than necessary.

As an aside, a tricky recipe is coq au vin, which many people think means chicken in wine. In fact, a “coq” is a French cockerel and it is a pretty tough bird (a “poulet” would be a normal chicken). As such, traditional recipes for coq au vin call for long cooking periods, which disintegrates normal chickens into mush. But the sauce needs a long time to cook and thicken so if you are making coq au vin with normal chicken, consider taking out the meat for 20-25 minutes and return for the last 10 minutes after the liquids have thickened. This dish is a classic amalgamation of the flavours of gamey poultry with wine and herbs.

Unless you have a need for deep flavours to be amalgamated into an ingredient (perhaps via a marinade), consider ways where it is feasible to apply flavours as layers. One downside of layers may be the need to cook a separate sauce or gravy to layer over food but this may actually be easy. For example, gravy for steak can be made by deglazing the frying pan with wine and stock, and then evaporating away the liquid till it thickens. You can make separate gravies by dividing the deglazed liquid and thickening them separately with onions, mushrooms, blue cheese, etc.

Layering can also introduce distractions and colour to a dish. If a dish ends up a little controversial (it happens to all of us), one way to save the day might be to add chopped sweet red onions, peppers, ginger, other herbs or even cheeses as additional garnishes.

Combination items can bring out the best in the main dish components. A suggestion is to place peeled sweet potatoes on foil, shower with dried chilli flakes, drizzle with olive oil, wrap the foil over tightly and place in an oven at 180 to 190°C for 40 to 80 minutes until the sweet potatoes are soft when pressed. This item incorporates sweetness with a touch of chilli heat, plus some light flavour of verdant olive oil – and you can serve this with just about anything.

Don't Cook Your Spinach, Drink It: Here's Why

The benefits of eating spinach are related to its role as an antioxidant compound which serves to reduce inflammation in our body, chiefly in our blood vessels. It also contains valuable nutrients and minerals including iron. The antioxidant, lutein, is responsible for these beneficial anti-inflammatory effects.

Yet, it's the way food is prepared that ultimately determines the net absorption and availability of valuable compounds from foods such as spinach, which we have commonly been taught is a nutritious and beneficial food in our diet.

Now, new research from Linköping University in Sweden reveals that eating spinach in the form of a smoothie or juice, combined with some fat, is actually the most efficient way to absorb lutein from spinach in our diet. Chopping the spinach, before preparing the smoothie, was found to release the greatest amount of lutein .

The findings were published in the journal, Food Chemistry.

Since elevated levels of fat-soluble lutein are found in dark green vegetables, researchers decided to compare various ways of preparing fresh spinach to maximize the lutein content in the finished food product.

We know that people with coronary artery disease (CAD) (narrowing of the arteries caused by fatty plaques) have chronic, low-grade inflammation that can be measured in the bloodstream.  Measuring this degree of inflammation is important since it is linked to an increased risk of heart attack and stroke.

Previously, researchers at Linköping University had studied the role of lutein in reducing inflammation in blood vessels, particularly in the immune cells of patients with CAD. Their research demonstrated that that lutein can be stored in immune cells, allowing the body to build up a reserve of lutein.  Increasing dietary intake of lutein would therefore be a reasonable approach to increasing lutein levels.

In the new study, the researchers decided to figure out the most effective food preparation method to maximize lutein, using spinach since it contains relatively high levels of lutein and is widely consumed. But similar to many other nutrients, lutein is also degraded by heat.

"What is unique about this study is that we have used preparation methods that are often used when cooking food at home, and we have compared several temperatures and heating times. We have also investigated methods of preparation in which the spinach is eaten cold, such as in salads and smoothies", said Lena Jonasson, professor in the Department of Medical and Health Sciences and consultant in cardiology.

The researchers embarked on various methods of food preparation to figure out the most efficient way to retain the highest levels of lutein from spinach. Using fresh baby spinach, they used steaming, frying, or boiling it up to 90 minutes. They then proceeded to measure the lutein content at different times of food preparation.

Researchers compared different temperatures and heating times in food preparation, since spinach cooked in a soup or stew is not heated to as high a temperature or for as long as spinach in a casserole.

The study revealed that heating time is crucial, especially when spinach is boiled. Spinach retains less lutein, the longer duration of boiling. But the method of preparation is also critical:  when spinach is fried at high temperature a large amount of the lutein is degraded after only 2 minutes.

Since warming up meals in a microwave oven is obviously quite common, the researchers discovered that reheating the food in a microwave, to some extent, compensated for the loss of lutein in cooked food. It turns out that lutein is released from the spinach as the plant structure is degraded by the microwave. But the researchers found that it's better not to heat spinach, if you can avoid it .

They noted that one of the best ways to maximize the amount of lutein is to make a smoothie and add healthy types of fat from dairy products.

"Best is not to heat the spinach at all. And even better is to make a smoothie and add fat from dairy products, such as cream, milk or yogurt. When the spinach is chopped into small pieces, more lutein is released from the leaves, and the fat increases the solubility of the lutein in the fluid", said Rosanna Chung, lead  author of the study.

The Historians Cooking Up Mythical Beasts

Built in the 16th century, Hampton Court Palace is the largest surviving palace of the time. Notable for being able to fit the entire royal court of its owner, Henry VIII, it's also a mix of two styles (Tudor and Baroque), a legacy of a partial renovation. But its main kitchen, once the largest in Tudor England, was left unremodeled. In these frozen-in-time rooms, a team of historian-cooks still turns out food fit for royalty, including a roasted mythical beast, the cokentryce.

While the cokentryce never existed, many Europeans once believed it was a real animal. According to Historic Kitchens manager Richard Fitch, "it has the body of a rooster and the back of a pig." The cokentryce was said to be a relative of the scaly, deadly basilisk, so some depictions included a snake's tail. From a 15th-century perspective, Fitch says, "These animals truly exist. They might not exist in their country, but they exist somewhere in the world." Medieval European writers and artists described and sketched many a cokentryce, and the beast is even mentioned several times in the King James version of the Bible as a venomous creature.

Their nonexistence didn't stop people from trying to eat them. Multiple recipes from the period describe how to make your very own cokentryce. Cooks who wanted to present a mythical creature on their lord's table sewed together pigs and chickens. With clever stitches, careful roasting, and disguising garnishes, medieval and perhaps even Tudor cooks created surprisingly realistic cokentryces, which they presented with the intent to awe.

At least, that's what Fitch thinks. His Historic Kitchens team made nine cokentryces last month, appropriately on the week before Halloween. It was their latest foray in years of making mythical roasts from 15th-century medieval recipes, and their guiding principle is realism: The cokentryce should look as if it walked and breathed before being butchered. The team succeeded—guests walking through the Hampton Court Palace kitchen asked about the unfamiliar animal roasting on the spit.

To Fitch, these reactions reflect the purpose of the original cokentryce. For rulers, they demonstrated power, even at dinner. In many sources, cokentryces are described as a meat for royalty. "You are quite literally providing fiction for people," says Fitch. "You're providing a myth that people can consume." The time and artistry needed to create a cokentryce also displayed wealth and social status.

Since the Historic Kitchens team uses traditional techniques to demonstrate vintage cuisine, their cokentryces called for just as much effort, if not more. Fitch relates years of trial and error: The team first made cokentryces more than 20 years ago. Many historical recipes provide limited explanation, and the team strives to interpret them as accurately as possible.

Still, certain allowances for modernity had to be made. Fitch and his team made their cokentryces with turkeys, not chickens. Royal chefs used the large, meaty capon: a castrated rooster. But while the castration results in a larger, fatter bird, the practice is considered inhumane under modern British law. Plus, Fitch notes, modern rearing practices mean many chickens have weak bones and thin skin, making them bad material for a meat sculpture.

With a turkey and a suckling pig from the local butcher, the assembly of a cokentryce can begin. Typically, Fitch says, the cooks divide the pig and the turkey into two parts, a front and hindquarters. The division is done carefully. The two halves need to be of similar dimension, with plenty of skin left over for sewing the sections together with a blanket stitch: the front of the pig to the bird, or vice-versa. The two halves of the cokentryce are connected with a metal wire in the spinal columns of both animals (this also makes them more pose-able). Then, the cooks stuff the cokentryce with bread, and arrange it on the spit carefully: Once it's roasted, it can't be re-posed. Once paper is tied to the appendages of the cokentryce to keep them from burning, someone must laboriously turn the spit until it's fully cooked.

But there's one final step that really ups the realism factor. Just before it's taken off the spit, the cokentryce is covered in colorful batter. Whether red, green, or gold, the batter creates a skin-like tone and disguises the stitching. Finally, the cokentryces are decorated with care. The team gave one dual-headed cokentryce feathery wings, while they posed another with an adversary: a weasel made of beef, since weasels were supposedly the cokentryce's natural enemy.

Throughout the process, visitors to Hampton Court Palace watched the team work. "They are asked to look at the different ways that people viewed animals in the past," Fitch says. When The Atlantic reported on the Hampton Court Palace cokentryce in 2013, it resulted in protests that the practice was gruesome. Fitch puts that down to the cokentryce retaining its head, unlike a chicken cutlet or pork chop. "When it's got a head and face on, it's very difficult to disconnect the thought process of eating a piece of chicken from eating an animal," he says.

But Fitch notes that there's always an element of surprise to their cooking demonstrations, no matter what is prepared. "The fact that we have costumed staff who are cooking real food using real ingredients in front of people is still a shock."