CONCEPT 2: HIGH HEAT DEVELOPS FLAVOR Flashcards
Who first described Maillard reaction? When?
French scientist Louis-Camille Maillard in the early 1900s
Does high heat change flavor of meat?
Yes
Explain Maillard reaction.
Heat causes amino acids to react with certain types of sugars (“reducing sugars,” like glucose and fructose) to create new, distinct flavor compounds. These compounds react with more amino acids to form more compounds, multiplying rapidly on both the surface of the food and cooking vessel. Ultimately, very large molecules called melanoidin pigments are formed.
In Maillard reaction, compounds formed after amino acids react with “reducing sugars.”
Dicarbonyls
Responsible for deep brown hue on the crusts of roasted and grilled meats.
Melanoidin pigments
What affect do different amino acids and sugars have on Maillard reaction?
Depending on specific amino acids or sugars present, different compounds can be created.
What sulfur-containing amino acid is abundant in red meat?
Cysteine
What complex compounds produce the “roasted meat” flavor? How are they formed?
Thiazoles and thiophenes, which are produced when cysteine reacts with reducing sugars under high heat.
Why do browned steak and browned chicken have different flavors?
Complex compounds that are formed between the reactions of different sugars and amino acids produce different flavors.
Surface temperature needed for Maillard reaction.
Excess of 300 degrees.
Can boiling water brown food?
No, the surface temp cannot exceed 212ºF
Does moisture affect Maillard reaction? Why?
Yes, moisture of food will steam–lowering the temp and slowing the speed of the reaction.
Substitute for Myrin.
Equal parts white wine or sake and sugar.
Classic choice of red meat for stir-fry.
Flank steak because it’s relatively inexpensive and flavorful. Sirloin tip steaks and blade steaks.
Why cook food in batches?
Pan stays hot and creates more browning.
What stoves were woks designed for?
Pit-style stoves where flames come in contact with both the sides and bottom of the pan.
Skillet or Wok for sir-fry?
Depends on the stove top. If it’s a western style stove top the skillet is better for higher heat.
What protein dictates the color of meat?
Myoglobin, a protein which serves to store oxygen in muscle tissue.
Color of myoglobin when meat is freshly cut.
Deep purple
When the exterior of raw meat is exposed to oxygen myoglobin converts to what?
oxymyoglobin
Color of oxymyoglobin.
Bright red.
Inside the meat, where less oxygen can penetrate, myoglobin converts to what?
Metmyoglobin
Do color changes from myoglobin, metmyoglobin or oxymyoglobin affect flavor?
No, they are merely cosmetic except, perhaps, when meat turns brown with age.
Besides cooking, what influenced the color of meat? Why?
Age and use; the level of myoglobin increases with age. This is also why the most-exercised parts of the animal (think chicken leg vs breast) is much darker.
How does cooking affect myoglobin?
As myoglobin is heated, the protein denatures and unfolds, and the portion of the molecule responsible for the color, called heme, is converted again to metmyoglobin, producing the gray color on cooked meat.
One way to help grilled food brown faster.
Remove moisture.
What is chimichurri used for? What are its origins?
Grilled meats; Argentina.
Chimichurri ingredients.
Finely chopped parsley, minced garlic, olive oil, oregano, and white or red vinegar.
Method to increase cooking time for smaller cuts of meat; pick up more smoke flavor and browning.
Rub with cornstarch and salt, stick in freezer.
Can freezers be used as dehydrators for meats? How?
Yes, placing meat in the freezer for a short period of time will yield a drier and firmer product because of surface dehydration.
What does rubbing salt and starch on meat do?
Salt draws out moisture and starch absorbs it. Starch also adds fuel for Maillard reaction.
What happens when adding oil to hot grates (same as cast-iron pan)?
The oil vaporizes almost instantly leaving a black, web-like residue. As the oil heats up fatty acids chains form polymers creating a crisscross pattern over the metal’s surface.
Will one layer of polymers successfully create a “non-stick” surface?
No, you need successive coatings.
Does the grill need to be reseasoned every time it’s used?
Yes, the polymers affect is only temporary.
Color of wild salmon vs farm raised
Wild salmon had rosey-pink hue; farm raised was lighter pink.
What is a carotenoid?
Organic pigments that are found in the chloroplasts and chromoplasts of plants and some other photosynthetic organisms like algae, some bacteria, and some fungi.
Can carotenoids be manufactured by species in the animal kingdom?
Carotenoids generally cannot be manufactured by species in the animal kingdom so animals obtain carotenoids in their diets, and may employ them in various ways in metabolism.
How do wild salmon attain their color?
Absorbing a cartenoid called astaxanthin from a krill-based diet.
