Tips for Crushing It in the Kitchen
Being a chef for so many years I’ve learned to rely on a few really useful tips for crushing it in the kitchen. I’m excited to share with you some of my Pro-Tips for cooking that I've accrued over the years. Some of these gems of wisdom have come from my mentors, fellow cooks, as well as from my own observations over the course of my career. As you can see in my YouTube videos I pepper in some of these ideas as I cook and I thought I would expound a bit more for you here. Let's get started!
You can always add more but you can't always take out: This is true in personal finance as well as in seasoning dishes! Since this is a cooking blog let's focus on the seasoning. What I mean by this is that you should season a little bit step by step and layer by layer in the cooking process. Even when I'm starting a stock that will cook for a few hours I always add literally just a pinch of salt to get the flavors to come together. I've had the unfortunate--and fortunate because I learned from it--experience that as something continues to cook the flavors will concentrate resulting in a dish that is too salty, too spicy, and often inedible if you're not careful. At that point it is generally destined for the garbage. In cooking there is a point of no return when it comes to seasoning. A few words on my favorite seasoning: salt. When it comes to seasoning salt is such an integral part of flavor development that I even add salt to my desserts. There are a few things to know about seasoning with salt that are good to know. For instance if you are using spicy peppers in a dish and you only start with a little bit of salt and can't taste the heat yet, don't add more peppers until you get to the right level of salt. The reason being that the level of salt will increase the spiciness on your palate. When I was a kid my Dad always put salt on watermelon which I didn't understand. He told me that it enhanced the flavor. As I got more into cooking this made perfect sense to me. Another good use of salt is to finish a dish with a sprinkle of fleur de sel or flake salt. But! Don't overdo it on the salt there is a point of no return. This leads me to me next piece of advice…
Taste, Taste, Taste: I always have spoons near me when I am cooking. In addition to stirring and plating I feel that the most important function of the spoon is to assist in tasting! As a chef I find it important to taste at each step of the process from start to finish. Knowing how the dish is coming together is important so that you can make any adjustments at the point when they're needed. Make adjustments in small portions at a time because see my pro tip #1.
Acid is your friend: By acids I mean lemon, vinegar, lime, and even tomato. When I was a young chef starting out and learning to taste dishes I was taught the benefit of adding acid to make recipes taste more balanced. In my early experience I made a sauce and when I tasted it there was something missing that I couldn't quite put my finger on. I thought 'it has the right amount of salt, I can taste the flavors of the vegetables, but it tastes flat'. My Chef at the time tasted the sauce and immediately knew that what we needed was some acid. He then proceeded to put a splash of vinegar in the sauce and voila! The balance I was looking for was achieved. Day to day I finish my salads and fish, even smoked salmon, with a little splash of fresh lemon juice. It gives it some kick and makes the first bite taste alive. A few words on acids: the last thing you put on your dish is the first thing you taste. When you're conceiving a dish you always want the first bite to be enticing and to keep the diner interested and wanting more. Think of the first bite as the headliner of the dish. I tend to use lemon a lot but lemons vary in acidity so sometimes it's not the best option. Also try to use acids that accentuate the regionality of the dish. For example I use rice wine vinegar in certain Japanese dishes.
These are some very basic and seemingly obvious kitchen tips but they are so important and I wanted to give you a bit of my perspective and experience on them. I hope this helps! Share your thoughts and storiewith me in the comment section below!