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The Why of Cooking (2017)

theatlantic.com

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Re: The Why of Cooking (2017)

#41

Post by JoeAltmaier »

tomcooks wrote: post #39
mikekchar wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of my favourite aha moments: Back when I was much younger virtually every cookbook said you should add olive oil to pasta cooking water. I could never figure out why. Later people pretty much poo-pooed the practice saying that it was some old wives tale about stopping the pot from boiling over or some such thing. Fast forward many years and I was trying to work on a bolognese sauce. My wife likes meat/tomato sauc…

A better way is to cook pasta in a pan, adding water bit by bit as you would in a risotto (look up "pasta risottata"). In Italy no professional chef I know would allow oil in the boiling pan ("that's what Frenchies do, because they don't know how to cook pasta without making it stick" being the common answer)

...if you want to fuss over the pan for 20 minutes. OR, add oil, add pasta, bring it to a boil and set a timer.

If the result is the same, I'm all for that method.

Re: The Why of Cooking (2017)

#42

Post by dTal »

molf wrote: post #13
latch wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From my experience, the amount of vinegar required to see an actual difference is enough to change the flavor of the eggs. Try creating a vortex in your water and placing the egg inside [1] (although they still use a "drop of vinegar') [1] https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2010/se...

An even better technique (I tried lots) is to put the eggs in boiling water for 20-30s before breaking and poaching them. It will start the coagulation process of the egg whites, making it much more viscous when you actually do break them. This causes the egg whites to keep together and not spread in the water too quickly. Result is a nicer, rounder poached egg.

I tried that recently after reading it on here, and the result was a thin layer of cooked white stuck to the inside of the shell, while the remainder of the white was no firmer. This tallies with my expectations based on thermal gradients. Am I doing it wrong?

Re: The Why of Cooking (2017)

#43

Post by papa-whisky »

molf wrote: post #13
latch wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From my experience, the amount of vinegar required to see an actual difference is enough to change the flavor of the eggs. Try creating a vortex in your water and placing the egg inside [1] (although they still use a "drop of vinegar') [1] https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2010/se...

An even better technique (I tried lots) is to put the eggs in boiling water for 20-30s before breaking and poaching them. It will start the coagulation process of the egg whites, making it much more viscous when you actually do break them. This causes the egg whites to keep together and not spread in the water too quickly. Result is a nicer, rounder poached egg.

Kenji Lopez-Alt's method is the best I've come across[1]. His book is mentioned in the linked article as well, I've not read it but it sounds good!

[1]: https://www.seriouseats.com/2013/03/how-to-poach-eggs-easy-w...

Re: The Why of Cooking (2017)

#44

Post by mywacaday »

molf wrote: post #13
latch wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From my experience, the amount of vinegar required to see an actual difference is enough to change the flavor of the eggs. Try creating a vortex in your water and placing the egg inside [1] (although they still use a "drop of vinegar') [1] https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2010/se...

An even better technique (I tried lots) is to put the eggs in boiling water for 20-30s before breaking and poaching them. It will start the coagulation process of the egg whites, making it much more viscous when you actually do break them. This causes the egg whites to keep together and not spread in the water too quickly. Result is a nicer, rounder poached egg.

This is the only way I have been able to get reliably poached eggs every time. All other methods seem to produce the wispy cloudy mess at some stage.

Re: The Why of Cooking (2017)

#45

Post by JoeAltmaier »

jiehong wrote: post #34
mikekchar wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of my favourite aha moments: Back when I was much younger virtually every cookbook said you should add olive oil to pasta cooking water. I could never figure out why. Later people pretty much poo-pooed the practice saying that it was some old wives tale about stopping the pot from boiling over or some such thing. Fast forward many years and I was trying to work on a bolognese sauce. My wife likes meat/tomato sauc…

> I could never figure out why. Pasta cooking in boiling water has a tendency to over boil as the flour is very good at making stable foam that will rise in your pot. The oil acts as a anti-foaming agent[1] here[2]. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defoamer [2]: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/jctb.2804301...

Once it's at a boil, remove the lid. Problems (mostly) solved?

Re: The Why of Cooking (2017)

#46

Post by dageshi »

silveroriole wrote: post #37

“While cooking is for many a hobby, it is also a thing that nearly everyone has to do, usually when time is short.“ If only this wasn’t the case. This is always unpopular whenever I say it, but we no longer expect everyone to sew their own clothes or bake their own bread - why do we still demand that everyone cook for themselves (and, often, that they enjoy it too)? As this article demonstrates, the barrier for even…

100% agree. South East Asia was heaven for me, in Bangkok you never have to cook, you never have to think about cooking. Even in smaller villages in Thailand you could find tons of places serving cheap, good food any time of the day (and numerous at night as well).

Now that I'm back in the UK I mostly just prepare a bunch of sandwhiches twice a week.

I hate cooking.

Re: The Why of Cooking (2017)

#47

Post by nerdponx »

jiehong wrote: post #6

The fact is that not all "why"s are known in cooking yet, and the combination of ingredients is so varied that it's not always easy to go from a myth to a reasonable explanation. Although, lots of research has greatly improved, and I warmly recommend you to read “Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking” (2011). Then, for techniques, I strongly recommend following a book designed for chefs when they learn. F…

Some other books that might be more practical than The Modernist Cuisine:

The Food Lab by J. Kenji Lopez-Alt

Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat by Samin Nostrat

Ratio by Michael Ruhlman

Re: The Why of Cooking (2017)

#48

Post by monort »

silveroriole wrote: post #37

“While cooking is for many a hobby, it is also a thing that nearly everyone has to do, usually when time is short.“ If only this wasn’t the case. This is always unpopular whenever I say it, but we no longer expect everyone to sew their own clothes or bake their own bread - why do we still demand that everyone cook for themselves (and, often, that they enjoy it too)? As this article demonstrates, the barrier for even…

Food delivery (not the fast food one) is changing the need for cooking, I haven't cooked in ages.

In principle, the price of food preparation should be smaller when done on a large scale, but for some reason it's not the case, except for the Southeast Asia.

Re: The Why of Cooking (2017)

#49

Post by sureaboutthis »

silveroriole wrote: post #37

“While cooking is for many a hobby, it is also a thing that nearly everyone has to do, usually when time is short.“ If only this wasn’t the case. This is always unpopular whenever I say it, but we no longer expect everyone to sew their own clothes or bake their own bread - why do we still demand that everyone cook for themselves (and, often, that they enjoy it too)? As this article demonstrates, the barrier for even…

You can cook a meal of almost any kind in 30 minutes or less. Your comparison to sewing clothes is wrong cause it usually takes days, or many hours, to do such a thing. Baking bread? I do it almost every day...from scratch...no bread maker.

>this is mainly motivated by the fact that I hate cooking

And there you go. I would add that you lack cooking knowledge and ability. If you knew how, you wouldn't say such things. I make breakfast every morning and dinner every night. I make lunch when I'm home. It isn't hard.

Re: The Why of Cooking (2017)

#50

Post by sureaboutthis »

jiehong wrote: post #34
mikekchar wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of my favourite aha moments: Back when I was much younger virtually every cookbook said you should add olive oil to pasta cooking water. I could never figure out why. Later people pretty much poo-pooed the practice saying that it was some old wives tale about stopping the pot from boiling over or some such thing. Fast forward many years and I was trying to work on a bolognese sauce. My wife likes meat/tomato sauc…

> I could never figure out why. Pasta cooking in boiling water has a tendency to over boil as the flour is very good at making stable foam that will rise in your pot. The oil acts as a anti-foaming agent[1] here[2]. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defoamer [2]: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/jctb.2804301...

Don't boil water for pasta. Simmer it. If you insist that you need to boil the water, and you don't, then use a bigger pot.
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