Cook’s Tour

May 2001

Cook’s TourBy Susheela UhlContributing Editor

As menu offerings shift to clay-pot stews, balti curries, steamed fish in banana leaves, cochinita pibils and tandoori chicken, food professionals need to master an increasing variety of preparation methods. Techniques from more exotic cuisines give depth and dimension to flavors, succulence and crispiness to textures and tantalizing colors to products. As a result, many restaurants are adding “grill,” “tandoor” or “tagine” to their menus and names, and placing open-flame grills, char-broilers, clay pots, tagines and tandoor ovens in their customers’ view.Creative cooking techniquesThe full flavor of many ingredients is developed only through cooking methods. Indigenous cultures around the world have applied diverse cooking methods, special utensils and fuels to add or modify flavors, remove raw bitter notes or create textures and colors. Today, North Americans apply cooking techniques from many global cultures to create appetizing dishes, including fire-roasted chilies, stir-fried vegetables, grilled tomatoes, jerked meats, pepper-pot stews and carne asadas. Chefs here are adopting other methods. For example, to develop optimum flavors, Indian and Southeast Asian cooks fry, dry-roast or braise spices in oil. Edible and non-edible wrappers, such as pandan leaf, banana leaf, cornhusk, lotus leaf, mixiote, seaweed, rice paper and bamboo stem, add flavor, succulence and protection to foods during cooking.Cooking techniques can be grouped into three basic categories, with many variations in between: dry-heat (using air or fat), moist-heat (using water, steam or other liquids) and a combination of both. Dry heat includes roasting, grilling, broiling, stir-frying, sautéing, pan-frying, deep-frying and baking. Moist heat includes steaming, boiling, simmering and poaching. Stewing and braising combine both methods. The reason these techniques provide distinct flavors, textures and colors is simple, though the actual mechanisms are complex — they differ in the rate, degree and method of heat transmission.Dry-heat methodsRoasting, baking, grilling and barbecuing over open fires are the oldest cooking forms. Whole, cut or ground meats, poultry, seafood and vegetables are seasoned and cooked in pits or over a framework in open fires, spits or grills.

In Mexico, a traditional barbacoa, involves wrapping seasoned whole goat, chicken or pig in banana leaf or roasted maguey leaves and slow-roasting in a stone-lined pit called a pib. The resulting product is moist and tender. Seasoned borrego (spit-roasted lamb) and cabrito (milk-fed spit-roasted goat) are other Mexican specialties.To bake breads and roast meats, Arabs and North Indians use a clay oven lined with live coals, called a tandoor or tannur oven. These ovens, which can be above- or below-ground, cook foods quickly and evenly. Flat-bread doughs are slapped onto the vertical walls of the tandoor, where they bake quickly through radiant heat and convection. Skewered meats marinated with spices and yogurt baked in a tandoor deliver aromatic, visually appealing products.Grilling and broiling cooks food by direct exposure to radiant heat to provide a smoky flavor, appealing brown crust and crispy, tender texture. Indonesian, Indian and Mexican street vendors use grilling racks, comals, charcoal ovens or large pots to cook suckling pigs, biryanis, corn, chile peppers or tortilla-based products. The type of fuel used adds to the flavor. An example is jerk, a classic Jamaican cooking method in which marinated meat is slowly grilled over a stone-lined pit filled with hot allspice-wood coals, and then covered with allspice leaves that trap in flavor.Fry daysPan-frying uses small amounts of fat or oil to brown foods; the flavorful residue can be deglazed for sauce. Sautéing browns foods before adding liquid, or cooks through thinner items. High-temperature searing browns surfaces before applying reduced temperatures to thoroughly cook a food. This seals in juices for a moist, flavorful product.Stir-frying quickly tosses small, thin cuts of food in a very hot wok (karhai) with peanut or other vegetable oil to minimize loss of color, texture and vitamins. In Southeast Asia, intense, aromatic sauces come from tumising, a slow-frying technique with spice paste or sauce, usually in a cast-iron wok or pan. It is carried out at lower cooking temperatures with constant stirring. In Malaysia and Indonesia, dried or fresh chile peppers and/or shallots and spices are pureed and then tumised to create a fragrant cili boh, an indispensable condiment, as well as a base sauce for cooking.Balti refers to the name of an aromatic dry curry originating in northeast Pakistan, as well as the utensil in which it is cooked and served. This round-bottomed wok-like utensil with two handles is generally made of heavy cast iron. Balti uses stir-frying and simmering techniques with ghee, onions, ginger and specific masalas. Traditionally, it is mild-flavored, and eaten with naan, but today it includes many spicy variations combined with rice.Deep-frying is popular around the world for creating flavorful street foods, appetizers, breads and snacks. Instead of french fries, you might find plantains, jackfruit, buñuelos, chimichangas, tortas, salted fish, pakoras and empanadas, coated with batter or egg, seasoned and deep-fried in lard or vegetable oil.Moist and flavorfulSteaming requires no oil, and retains nutrients and flavors; the steam directly contacts the food in everything from clambakes to fish en papillote to steamed dumplings in bamboo baskets. This technique is fundamental to the Cantonese-style cooking of fish, dumplings and vegetables. Mixiotes, meats wrapped in maguey parchment fiber and steamed over a stove or in a hot-coal-lined pit, are popular in Mexico. Masa filled with seasoned meat or other fillings are steamed in cornhusks or leaves and banana leaves for tamales.Steamboats called shabu-shabu, shinshillo or hot pots are popular in Southeast Asian cooking. Similar to fondue, the hot pot sits at the center of table and consists of a central funnel-like chimney surrounded by a moat where foods are cooked. It is generally made of brass or aluminum, and uses live charcoal or a flame to keep the stock hot during cooking. The steamboat holds the simmering stock. Diners swirl thinly cut bits of meats, vegetables, tofu or seafood in the hot pot, and dip the cooked foods in a seasoned condiment before eating. When the food is finished, the leftover stock is poured over bowls of noodles for a final course.Best of both worldsCombining two different cooking techniques sometimes provides the desired effect. For example, in Mexico, carnitas use steamed marinated pork fried in lard for taco fillings. Braising, also called a’l’ettouffe, qawurmah, ghourma or korma, is a traditional cooking method for meats, poultry or vegetables in the Middle East and Asia. In South Asia, lamb or vegetables are browned in ghee with spices and then cooked in a small amount of liquid with yogurt and nuts, for a thick, flavorful sauce.Simmering foods in a closed vessel, or stewing, creates seasoned one-pot meals. Many cultures around the world use this type of slow, steady cooking for economics and convenience. Examples are Irish stew, Spanish cocido, Mexican tinga (beef stew), Jamaican pepper pot, Filipino sinigang (sour stew), Moroccan tagines, Malaysian beef rendangs or Goan pork vindaloos. The olla, a glazed earthenware pot-bellied vessel with a tight-fitting lid, both stews and serves meats, beans and vegetables in Mexico and Spain. In the Caribbean region, clay pots, originally used by the Arawak Indians, create many different versions of one-pot stews or soups.Long-simmering tagines cooked over open fires or charcoal are fundamental dishes in Morocco and other parts of northern Africa. Tagine slaoui is the decorative earthenware utensil with a conical lid and a pierced hole that allows some steam to escape. The lower part holds seasoned water and smen, broth or vegetables and meats to be stewed. The upper part, with its perforated bottom, holds the couscous, which absorbs the aromatic steam from the lower part. Sometimes, before adding water, tagine cooks will sauté the meats and vegetables. The stewed products become soft and tender while the steamed couscous possesses a far superior flavor than when cooked over the stove. In southern Egypt, tagines are cooked uncovered in wooden stoves to give a browned product.Casseroles, cassoulets, clay pots and sand pots are covered, heatproof vessels for cooking and serving foods. Clay-pot cooking (seen in Southeast Asia, India, China and Latin America) slowly and gently cooks at moderate heat, and gradually allows liquid to escape to preserve flavors. Chinese sand pots, made of clay and sand, are unglazed casseroles for slowly simmering fish, meats, rice or soups over open fires. In southern India, sand pots called chattis are placed over charcoal fires to provide unique flavor. Clay or sand pots come in different sizes, with coarse, porous outer surfaces, and well-sealed, smoothly glazed inner surfaces that go from the stove straight to the table, so food is served steaming hot.Cooking techniques not only unlock flavors, but the type of technique creates distinct flavors from the same ingredients. Throughout the world, poor cuts of meats, tiny-sized fish or bland vegetables are turned into prized dishes. Thus, food-preparation techniques are emerging as important contributors for flavor, texture and visual appeal for today’s product designers.

Susheela Uhl, president of Horizons Inc., a Mamaroneck, NY-based food-consulting firm, creates culinary concepts and develops ethnic and fusion products. She can be reached via e-mail at Suhl246 @aol.com or by visiting www.SusheelaConsulting.com.

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