William Penn Life, 2006 (41. évfolyam, 2-12. szám)
2006-03-01 / 3. szám
The Hungarian Kitchen • CUSTARD POWDER is a combination of cornstarch, yellow food coloring and vanilla flavoring that is blended with milk then sweetened. It is used primarily to thicken custard sauces. • POTATO FLOUR is pure potato starch, fine white in color. It is a light thickening agent used in Asian dishes and stir fry sauces. • ALL PURPOSE FLOUR is the most popular choice for making roux-based sauces and gravies. It is combined with some kind of fat to create a roux which is cooked into the sauce to thicken it. • TAPIOCA comes from the ground tapioca root. It is mainly used in fruit sauces and absorbs five times its weight. Most thickening agents absorb the free water molecules creating a thicker liquid or sauce. In order to thicken sauces that have a roux base, a starch must be combined with a fat. ROUX is a mixture of equal parts flour and fat slowly cooked over heat until a white, blonde or brown color is obtained. White and blonde are made with butter while brown comes from butter, pan drippings, pork or beef fat. Let's look at some of those fats we use in making roux. BUTTER is a natural product and the only fat we eat by itself. You can get butter salted or sweet. Clarified butters can handle extremely hot temperatures and do not burn easily. MARGARINE is a blend of vegetable and/or animal oils with a soft spreadable texture. It is used in heartier sauces and robustly flavored sauces where the flavors are masked. OILS are fats that are liquid at room temperature. They are used mostly in emulsion sauces and usually blended with vinegars, fruit juices or other acidic based liquids. They also may be used in a rouxbased sauce as a replacement for butter or hard fat. Oils are mostly rich in unsaturated fats except for coconut and palm oils. Oils also come in many flavors which can enhance your sauce making capabilities. LARD is the most common fat used DRIED FRUITS. Drying is the oldest form of preserving food. Roughly 6 lbs of fresh fruits yield I lb of dried product. Dried fruits contain iron, potassium and various minerals. They also contain antioxidants which help fight cancer and other diseases. The great amount of fiber in dried fruits slows down the transformation of carbohydrates into glucose which is your blood sugar. Fiber also prevents sugars from elevating the triglyceride levels in your bloodstream. Dried fruits have more favors and sweetness as well as a change in taste. A grape dries into a tasty raisin and a plum turns into a sweet moist prune. Both those fruits can be traced back to Roman times. Dried fruits can be reconstituted in water and used in a variety of culinary ways. They are available year round and easily stored at room temperature in an airtight container. The most popular dried fruits worldwide are dates, raisins and apricots. by the Magyars. (Here is the trivia question of the month. There are two other popular cuisines or styles of cooking that use lard exclusively in their recipes. Can you name them? As always the answer is waiting at the end.) Lard can be used to make sauce, pie crust or sauté foods. Let's, review again. We have our flavorful base that will be combined with a thickening agent to give us a thick or creamy or rich sauce. The only thing left for us to do is give extra flavor to our sauce. Here are some ingredients that add flavors to sauces. SPICES—like cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla bean, cumin, curry paste, salt and peppers-add the extra flavor and accent the sauce. HERBS in your sauce-like mint, parsley, rosemary, basil, oregano, tarragon and dill—also give you another dimension of flavor. FLAVORINGS—like extracts, flower waters, cordials, liqueurs, brandies, wines and other liquids—let you be more creative in your sauce making. Let me give you some helpful tips and techniques for sauce making. DAIRY PRODUCTS-like whole milk or condensed milk-give richness to sauces. Sour Cream adds a sharpness to flavor, while Heavy Cream gives volume and withstands boiling. Yogurt is great to use in uncooked sauces, and if mixed with a little cornstarch, can be used in a cooked sauce. Start with a strong base or stock that will complement your entrée. Add the correct thickening agent called for in the recipe. Add the flavoring agent if needed for your recipe. Adjust the taste with basic seasonings like salt and pepper. Finish the sauce by straining through a sieve for a smooth velvety texture or add a pat of butter to reduce surface tension keeping the sauce from forming a skin on the surface. Sauces can be hot or cold. Usually cold sauces are called "dressings." Salad dressings are examples of emulsions, as is mayonnaise. Caesar salad dressing is another example of an emulsion. Sauces can go directly on the food or on the plate with the food placed on top of the sauce. Sauce-making is a powerful way of expanding your culinary talents. If you can make a good soup, you can make a good sauce because, in both cases, you need a strong base or foundation. Congratulate yourself on learning about sauce making! The answer to the trivia question: CAJUN and CREOLE cooking use a lard-based roux which is sometimes cooked for an hour to get a mahogany color, which in turn adds extra flavor to the sauces and dishes created. Have fun with the recipes. See you next month! éá&s DM* William Penn Life, March 2006 9
