Chefs reveal 5 subtle tweaks that instantly improve home-style cooking: Don’t add salt at the very end
In addition to exotic foods or an abundance of items, cooking at home can be just as enjoyable as cooking at any restaurant. In fact, great meals all come down to some relatively easy-to-implement ideas. In this post, five experienced chefs from different countries will provide you with five easy-to-do changes to elevate your everyday meals at home to restaurant-quality.
1. Add Flavour in Layers
Most amateur home chefs will add seasoning (salt and spices) to the meal at the very end of cooking and hope that the flavours will miraculously become balanced. However, the flavour of the ingredients has the greatest opportunity to develop their flavour in a layered (marination, sautéing, finishing) approach to seasoning during the cooking process. When seasoning is added to the ingredient early in the cooking process, it has an opportunity to absorb the flavour within the food.
Chef and F&B Consultant Amit Puri states, “Adding seasoning in layers allows each ingredient to fully express itself. When you add seasoning to the onions during the sweating process or add seasoning to the sautéed vegetables, you create a much deeper and more complete flavour profile than you would if you sprinkled salt on the dish at the very end.“
2. Heat Your Food Slowly
Most people think that cooking on high heat means cooking faster. In reality, if you rush the process by cooking on high heat, you often end up with burnt foods on the outside and undercooked foods on the inside. Controlled heating allows for the production of more complex and nuanced flavours when you are preparing meals. Whether it’s caramelized onions or spiced tempura, low and steady cooking allows time for the natural sugars and aromatic compounds to be released from the ingredient.
Chef Siddharth Parab, Executive Chef, Erthya states, “One of the best things you can bring to the kitchen is patience. When you control the heat instead of cranking it up, you’re allowing the flavours of your ingredients to develop naturally and that is what makes a dish enjoyable.“
3. Let Cooled Foods Rest
Resting meat is common knowledge, but many other food items also benefit from resting after cooking. Allowing these items to cool down for up to five minutes is beneficial as this cooling time helps redistribute moisture and balance out the seasoning/flavor profile of the dishes you cooked. Resting foods are applicable to grilled veggies as well as stews/curry dishes.
“Resting food is ‘the finishing touch’ to the magic of cooking. If you take a short break before serving your food, it allows for the flavors to come together and the texture to stabilize, resulting in a more unified and tasty dish overall,” says Chef Amarjit Singh Thakur, Chef De Partie CDP- BBQ at SAFAR by Karimi in Cupertino, California.
4. Finish With Texture, Not Just Flavour
When cooking at home, we often think of flavor (as the most important characteristic), but what really keeps dishes interesting is texture. Simple components like crunch or contrast can elevate “meh” dishes into exciting meals. An example would be the use of toasted nut pieces to add depth of flavor to curries or crunchy garlic on dal, or fresh herbs over saucy/creamy gravies.
“Texture adds emotion to food,the addition of a final crunch or sprinkle adds to the sensory experience of the dish. It gives it the appearance of being crafted, as opposed to simply being cooked.” according to Chef Sumanta Nandi, Head chef, SAFAR by Karimi in Cupertino California.
5. Create Balance By Adding Acids
One of the easiest (and most commonly used) ways to create a more cohesive dish in terms of its flavor profile is to add an acidic component (such as lemon juice, vinegar, tamarind, etc.) just before serving (cooking) the meal.
According to Chef Siddharaj Pant, Sous chef at SAFAR by Karimi, “The acid is the last finishing change the chef does to create balance between flavors and texture.” This means that the addition of an acidic component “brightens” and “sharpens” the flavors in the dish and provides a sense of balance, often improving the “good” to “great” status of the dish!”
