Preliminary Cooking & Flavoring

Question 1

Blanching and Parcooking

Answer 1

•Advance preparation often requires precooking and flavoring of ingredients to make them ready for use in the finished recipe.

• Partial cooking may be done by any moist-heat or dry-heat method.
• The term blanching may mean any of these methods:
• simmering or boiling (parboiling)
• steaming
• deep-frying (especially for potatoes)

Question 2

Four main reasons for blanching or par-cooking:

Answer 2

1. To increase holding quality
2. To save time
3. To remove undesirable flavors
4. To enable the product to be processed further

Question 3

Marinating

Answer 3

•Marinate: to soak a food product in a seasoned liquid in order to:

• Flavor the product
• Tenderize the product

Question 4

Marinades have three categories of ingredients:

Answer 4

1. Oil
2. Acid from vinegar, lemon juice, wine
3. Flavorings—spices, herbs, vegetables

Question 5

Kinds of marinade

Answer 5

• Cooked
• Raw
• Instant
• Dry

Question 6

Brining

Answer 6

• Brines are similar to marinades.
• The primary use of brines is in curing, but it is also used for tenderizing.
• Brines are rarely used for red meats.
• During brining salt interacts with proteins, because of this, the capacity of the meat to hold moisture is increased.

Question 7

Breading

Answer 7

Coating a product with bread crumbs or other crumbs or meal before deep frying, pan-frying, or sautéing

Question 8

The Three Stages of the Standard Breading Procedure

Answer 8

1. Flour
2. Egg wash
3. Crumbs

Question 9

Convenience food

Answer 9

Any product that has been partially or completely prepared or processed by a manufacturer.

• Convenience products are not a substitute for culinary knowledge and skill.
• It takes as much understanding of basic cooking principles to handle convenience products as it does fresh, raw ingredients.

Question 10

Sachet D’epices

Answer 10

Sachet Bag - “Spice Bag”

• herbs and spices are usually tied in a cheesecloth bag

Question 11

Bouquet Garni

Answer 11

An assortment of fresh herbs and other aromatic ingredients tied in a bundle with string

• basic bouquet garni : contains pieces of leek, celery, thyme, bay leaf, and parsley stems

Escoffier - only parsley, thyme, and bay leaf

Question 12

Onion Brûlée - Oignon Brûlée

Answer 12

“Burnt onion”

Sometimes added to brown stock to give it color and flavor

To prepare :

• half and onion
• place face down on flat top/skillet
• cook until cut surface is dark brown

Question 13

Onion Piquet - Oignon Pique

Answer 13

Used for soups and sauces

To prepare :

• stick a bay leaf to a whole, peeled onion with a whole clove

Question 14

Roux

Answer 14

Is a cooked mixture of equal parts by weight of fat and flour

Fat:

-Butter, Margarine, Animal Fats, and Vegetable oil/shortening

Flour:

• Bread flour, all-purpose flour

Question 15

Kinds of Roux

Answer 15

White - moderate heat

Blond- moderate heat

Brown - low heat

Question 16

Tempering

Answer 16

the process of combining two ingredients of radically different temperatures. The two ingredients are slowly combined so they both gradually rise to the same temperature.

Question 17

Liaison

Answer 17

the process of thickening a sauce using starch (such as flour or cornstarch), egg yolks, fat, even foie gras or puréed vegetables. Most commonly, however, the word liaison refers to a mixture of egg yolks and heavy cream that is used to thicken a sauce.

Question 18

Clarified Butter

Answer 18

Purified butterfat, with water and milk solids removed

• Used in sautéing
• Used to make hollandaise