In this post, I want to explore cooking fundamental and how to use them to make us better cooks. By definition, cooking is applying heat to a food source primarily to make it edible for human consumption. Simply put, savory cooking is an art, while baking is a science. What I mean is that in savory cooking you can cover up or quickly correct mistakes. In baking, one mistake ruins the finished product. This delineation underscores the primary cooking methods used in culinary arts.
To create recipes, understanding the five flavor profiles is essential. In Western culture we define taste as 5 distinct sensations: sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami.The last sensation, umami, is the taste of MSG but I describe it as the taste of mushrooms, earthy with a meaty mouthfeel. Knowing how to combine the flavors to create unique dishes is the first step in recipe creation. Salt and sweet make an excellent combination, as the recent explosion of chicken and waffles attest to.
Does one need to delve into the science of cooking in order to be a cook? Not really. Relying on their own senses and taste preferences, cooks understand what they like and how to prepare it. But to take your cooking skills to the chef level, it is imperative to understand the scientific processes and fundamental principles behind culinary arts. Fried chicken and waffles has exploded in popularity over the past few years, and it’s more than just a novelty. To a chef, it is the ultimate combination of sweet, salty and , sometimes, spicy. This flavor profile would not match well with sour or umami, but they blend nicely together.
Classic marinara recipes that include carrots are a prime example of the utilization of flavor profiles. The carrots provide a natural sweetness in contrast to the astringency of the tomatoes and balances out the flavor. The underlying principles define what people like when they eat food. So, to become a better cook, it is best to learn just a few of these principles and apply a little common sense to take your cooking to the next level.
Baking is a precise science, and we cannot correct even the tiniest errors. It is best to use digital scales in baking because when a recipe calls for a tablespoon, different styles of tablespoons have different measurements. So in order to get a precise puff pastry, for example, you would need exact measurements by using a digital scale. Yeast is a living organism that the baker has to work carefully. I do not mean to deter you from baking. I am only comparing and contrasting the differences in cooking techniques.
The most critical ingredient in any recipe is having fun. As corny as that sounds, it is a truism. By learning new techniques and applying them to your own recipes, your boring Monday night meatloaf can become exciting. You don’t have to change what you cook, but how you cook.
Buy fresh herbs and chop them yourself. You don’t know how old the spices are at the store and they only get staler sitting in your cupboard. That plain white rice you serve? Throw in star anise and cardamon pods while cooking to make it more aromatic and to give a different flavor profile. Or add cinnamon for an Indian flavor.
These are just a couple examples to validate the point that cooking does not have to be time consuming or complicated. I have discovered many tips and tricks along my journey, and my point in sharing them with others is to ignite a passion for creative cooking. I would like to swap recipes with you and give feedback. The error is not in making a bad dish; the error lies in not trying at all.
Below is a link to a recent Christmas cookie recipe that highlights several fundamental principles.