Mission: Cook! (18 page)

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HERE ARE OTHER ELEMENTS OF FLAVOR THAT I LIKE TO EXPERIMENT
with, singly or in combination.

Temperature can have a profound effect, both physiologically and psychologically, on the foods we eat. Consider the difference between iced tea and hot tea, a chilled glass of sake and one served at the more customary temperature, just under one hundred degrees. Cold food that is supposed to be served hot, or hot food that is supposed to be cold, can sometimes produce disagreeable results. Congealed gravy can be pretty unpleasant, and a forcemeat terrine that has been put together above room temperature can be downright scary. But a cooled seared scallop, cold sliced roast beef, cold soups, such as vichyssoise or gazpacho, a warm fruit compote over ice cream, or even a good rice pudding warmed for a few seconds in the microwave can all be revelations in flavor. The vision and talent of the cook should be paramount in deciding which textures and flavors and temperatures are appropriate for any given dish.

I like mixing “hot” and “cold” items on the same plate. Early on in my career, I found myself frequently traveling from tableside to tableside like a missionary, explaining these sorts of ideas to diners and making sure they understood was I was shooting for, and in which combinations to best attack the foods I placed in front of them.

There is an entire matrix of flavors that can be altered and controlled by a skilled cook depending on the degree of
doneness
of a dish or ingredient. This spectrum runs the gamut from raw to “blackened.” Raw fish has a delicate flavor that is quite different in degree from that of fish that is broiled, but both can be delightful. Sometimes multiple levels of doneness can be featured in the same piece of food. Seared tuna can be blackened to a crisp with spices on top whilst being left rare to the point of raw in the middle, which results in a delicious contrast in flavors. Steak tartare can be wonderful. Filet mignon should be never be cooked past medium-rare. You can ask me, beg me, offer to pay me, but I just won't do it. A fuller understanding of this will inevitably make you a better cook and lead to experimentation of your own.

Texture certainly has an impact on flavor. There are textures that are perceived to be pleasurable on the palate and some that are not. Most obviously, "tender” is generally the preferred quality when applied to meat, as opposed to "chewy” or “gristly.” A steak that has a tender mouthfeel, that “melts in your mouth,” is usually more popular than one that offers too great a challenge to the bicuspids and molars. “Moist” is generally preferred to “dry” when it comes to a chicken or turkey breast. A chunky potato soup has a very different texture profile than a silky puree, though the list of ingredients used to prepare them
may be exactly the same. A fresh poached fillet of salmon is very different from a salmon mousse, and as a chef it is up to me to decide which texture and flavor profile I wish to present to maximize the pleasure of the diner for whom I am preparing the dish.

The words that describe textures are some of the most evocative in our business, which is why you will often see them so prominently featured on dinner menus. Soft, crispy, tender, chewy, flaky, silky, plump, crumbly, moist, juicy, crunchy, sticky, gooey, and al dente, all denote characteristics that relate to flavor, and choices have to be made on which of these you would most like to feature, depending on what dish, what recipe, what ingredients you are using, and on the audience for whom you are cooking. You may want one texture to be uniformly dominant, or you may wish to combine textures in the same bite. If you are cooking pasta for your Italian mother-in-law, I suggest that you make sure that the pasta is al dente, not soft. I think psychologically these words can prime the palate before the dish ever hits the plate. Compare "cookie” to “chewy, moist, sticky, gooey cookie.” This is an instance where anticipation increases the degree of perception and enjoyment.

Peel
and shred or grate the potatoes; ideally, you'll have long, thin strands, but any small shreds will do. (After comparing a box grater, a microplane grater, and the shredding disk on the food processor, our home test cook had the best success creating long, thin strands with a vegetable peeler.) Mix the potato strands with salt to taste, and squeeze out some of their liquid. Sprinkle the fish on both sides with salt and pepper, then make a thick layer of potatoes on each side of each fillet, pressing with your hands to make the potatoes adhere.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. (However, if the fish fillets are very thick, say an inch or more, preheat the oven to 375 degrees so you can finish them there.) Heat a 10- or 12-inch skillet, preferably nonstick, over medium-high heat for 2 to 3 minutes, then add the oil and butter. When the butter foam subsides, add the fillets to the skillet. Cook the fillets, turning once, until the potato crust is nicely browned on both sides, about 10 minutes total. Remove the fillets to an oven-safe platter. You might have to cook in batches, but that's okay. Keep the first batch warm in the oven at 200 degrees if necessary whilst you cook the remaining fillets. (However, if your fillets are thick, you may have to actually finish them in the oven for a few minutes at 375 degrees, checking them for doneness. Remember not to overcook—they will continue to cook for another 15 or 20 minutes after you have removed them from the oven. This is called carryover cooking.) Once you touch the flesh and it springs back up, it's cooked.

Once all the fish is removed from the pan, add the wine to the skillet and reduce by half over high heat, stirring with a wooden spoon. Add the shallots and cook for a minute. Add the mustard and salt and pepper, then taste and adjust the seasoning as necessary.

PRESENTATION

Make a small circle of the mustard sauce on each of 4 plates, then place 1 of the fillets in the center of each. Garnish liberally with chives.

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HERE IS MORE THAN A LITTLE SCIENTIFIC METHOD EMPLOYED IN THE
search for flavor. Physics is involved, botany, anatomy, and certainly a dollop of chemistry. Sometimes it is desirable to penetrate deep into the tissue of the food item with which you are working. Many of the flavor-enhancing techniques, such as seasonings, salt and pepper certainly, spices, herbs, dry rubs and pastes, and sauces, involve topical applications. Pickling, originally a technique used for food preservation, is a good example of a method that has the effect of changing the flavor profile quite dramatically by working its way into a piece of food.

When you want to get to the heart of the matter, you may wish to use marinades. The use of oils, aromatics, and acids to create a “bath” in which commonly meat or fish are immersed, sometimes for days at a time, to change their flavor, texture, or composition, can be a powerful tool. These days it is not unusual to see a chef wielding a large, scary-looking syringe to inject a marinade deeply into the heart of a piece of meat. In South America, a marination method called
ceviche,
in which raw fish is lightly cooked by the acids contained therein, can take only a few minutes to achieve the desired effect.

To
prepare the marinade, combine the honey, soy sauce, grapeseed oil, and vinegar in a mixing bowl. Reserve about 1 cup of the marinade in a separate container for service. Place the fish fillets in a shallow bowl into which you can nest a tray or utility plate. (Glass pie plates work nicely for this. One will hold the marinade and fillets, the other will sit on top and hold the weight. You may need 4 plates and 2 weights to accommodate 6 fillets.) This is because you will be putting a weight such as a heavy can on top and you need something to hold it. This removes the water from the fish, thereby hastening the marinating process. Give a stir to the marinade and pour over the fish fillets. Cover and top with the weight. Refrigerate for 24 hours.

When ready to cook the fish, preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Remove the fish from the marinade and season all over with salt and pepper to taste. Put the fillets on a baking sheet and cook in the oven until they have a golden dark brown hue and are just cooked through, 7 to 8 minutes.

PRESENTATION

Put a fillet in the center of each of 6 plates. Spoon some marinade over and around the fish. Serve with your choice of vegetables and starch.

Using
gloves to protect your hands, remove the seeds from the jalapeño and discard. Mince the jalapeño very finely.

In a large mixing bowl, mix the jalapeño with the onion, lime juice, lemon juice, mango, papaya, chopped cilantro, and extra virgin olive oil. Then stir in the scallops and season with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate for 8 hours.

PRESENTATION

Remove the scallop mixture from the marinade with a slotted spoon and serve in cocktail glasses, each topped with a sprig of cilantro.