⚠️Building Flavour⚠️ Flashcards
What 5 raw materials does the cook use to build flavor?
Spices, herbs, vegetables, meat and bones
What does the cook add for body?
A liquid
What does the cook add for texture?
Thickening agents
What is flavor?
The way a food tastes
What are the four basic tastes?
Sweet, sour, bitter and salty
What are the kinds of flavors that cooks work with?
The predominant flavor (the main flavor of the dish) and the support flavor (meant to enhance the predominant flavor)
What is the basic flavor builder in soups and sauces?
Stocks, or fonds de cuisine, (liquid with a predominant flavor from the bones and support flavor last from flavor builders)
What are the flavor builders commonly used in making stocks?
Mirepoix, bouquet garni, onion pique, sachet and the herbs and spices used with a mirepoix in making stocks
What is a mirepoix? What are the ratios for a standard, light and dark mirepoix?
A combo of cut vegetables (onion, carrot, celery and sometimes leek) that is used as a flavor builder on make soups, sauces and stocks
Standard ratio: 50% onion (or part leek), 25% carrot and 25% celery
Light mirepoix: 60% peeled onion/leek and 40% celery
Dark mirepoix: tomatoes are added for more color and flavor (2 ounces to 1 pound of mirepoix)
What is a bouquet garni?
Sprigs of three herbs (parsley, thyme and bay leaf) tied together with a string which is tied to the handle of the pot
What is a sachet?
Dried herbs and spices tied in cheesecloth (teabag for stock)
What is an onion pique?
Another technique for adding certain flavors in a stock. Flavor builders are onion, bay leaf and clove.
What do stocks function as?
They function as the body of the finished soup or sauce as well as a flavor builder
What are the two things that body is?
Physical substance and strength of flavor
What is a light stock?
Light in color and general made from bones of light or white meats (veal, chicken or fish)
What is a dark stock?
Often called brown stocks
A rich dark brown color and made from the browned bones of beef and veal
What ratio are both stocks made of?
5 pounds of bones
5 quarts of water
1 pound of mirepoix plus stock herbs and spices
Produces one gallon (4 liters) of stock
Name some examples of light stocks.
Chicken stock (fond de volatile): chicken bones, water, mirepoix, stock herbs and spices
Fish stock (fond de poisson): fish bones, heads, tails, water, light mirepoix, lemon, stock herbs and spices
Ordinary stockpot (petite marmite or grande marmite): veal, chicken or beef bones (or a combo), water, mirepoix, stock herbs and spices
Name some examples of dark stocks.
Brown stock (fond brun): beef bones or beef and veal bones, basic mirepoix, herbs and spices, and water or light stock
Ordinary brown stock (grand jus): bones (all kinds with beef and veal predominant), basic mirepoix, vegetable trimmings and water or light stock
What are glazes?
Flavor builders that are stocks simply reduced to a thick, gelatinous consistency
Name three glazes.
Glaze de viande: made from brown stock
Glaze de volatile: made from chicken stock
Glaze de poisson: made from fish stock
What are some stock substitutes?
Many products have a high salt content and inferior flavor
Add a mirepoix with herbs and spices to mellow and enrich the flavor
Name the 6 textures.
Fine, course, smooth, rough, thick and thin
What does creating texture usually mean?
Making a thin food thicker
What are thickening agents?
Group of products that increases the viscosity of a liquid (make it harder to pour)
What are the two ways to thicken?
Naturally and by using a starch thickener
What does it mean to naturally thicken?
Using a high starch food such as potato, rice, beans or dried peas as an integral part of the dish
What is a roux?
A one to one ratio by weight of fat and flour, blended and cooked over low heat
Any fat can be a roux
How much do you cook a roux?
Cook to designed doneness
ie. White roux, blond roux or brown roux
How do you make a hot roux?
Remove hot roux from heat and add part of your cold liquid, stirring lumps out. Add remaining cold liquid.
What is a brown roux and how is it made?
A brown roux is strong in flavor and will carry a definitive taste
It has less thickening power than a light roux so more must be made
Often baked for hours in the oven at low heat
What is a beurre manie?
A thickening agent is a one to one ratio of butter and flour kneaded together to make a paste
What is a starch-and-water thickener?
Mix equal parts starch and cold water until the starch is evenly distributed
Blend it into a hot liquid and bring to a boil
What is a slurry or whitewash?
Flour and water mixture which takes longer to cook to get rid of the raw starch flavor
What is a liaison?
A thickener that is a combo of egg yolks and cream used to give a velvety texture
2 parts cream to 1 part egg yolk
What is seasoning?
The addition of substances that heighten the taste of a food without altering the taste
It’s brings out a flavor that is already there
What is flavoring?
The addition of a product for the purpose of adding its own distinctive flavor to the final dish
They add a complimentary flavor, creating a blend in which both original flavor and added flavor are identifiable
What is flavor building?
An integral part of the cooking dish, as opposed to seasoning and flavoring which is an end process
Flavor builders are cooked right into the dish so their separate flavors merge with the total flavor
What are the standard seasonings?
Salt and pepper
Fresh lemon juice may also be used depending on the dish
MSG (monosodium glutamate)
How do you season? What are the two basic rules?
Must be added in suitable proportions to bring out the flavors
- Do not over season
- Seasoning a liquid is an end cooking process
What are some common flavorings?
Parsley, mint, chives, garlic and minced onion are some fresh herbs used for flavoring
Dill weed compliments tomato and nutmeg compliments eggnog
Why should dry herbs and spices never be used for flavoring?
They are not suitable flavorings, they should only be used for flavor building
What are spices? Name 6.
The dried roots, bark and seeds of tropical plants used in flavor building
Clove, cumin, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and tumeric
What are herbs? Name 6.
The leafy parts of plants
Basil, lavender, oregano, dill, chives and rosemary
How can you substitute dried herbs for fresh herbs (and vice verse)?
One teaspoon of dried herbs to one tablespoon of fresh herbs (one to three)
