요리의 기술 : Cooking tip

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요리의 기술 : Cooking tip

요리의 기술
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Thomas Keller, the Neurosurgeon of Cooking

We have enumerated many cooking theories in this book, in an attempt to explain food pleasure and fine-cuisine construction. I have studied many food masters, but nothing compares to the exacting techniques of the self-taught but classically-apprenticed French chef, Thomas Keller. When I first studied The French Laundry cookbook, my wife, an excellent Chinese cook and food scientist, quipped, “Gosh, many of the recipes are very intricate and intimidating for the home cook. Will anyone be cooking from this?” And this would be a shame, for all the major principles of good food construction are in the pages of both (the French Laundry and Bouchon) cookbooks.22,23 Keller’s astute observations and understanding of food perception are almost peerless in their physiologic accuracy. In this concluding section, we will parallel his cooking comments with our psychobiological explanations. The ultimate goal is to understand what it takes to make food taste great from another great chef’s perspective. (Interestingly, he calls himself a cook.)

Food Pleasure Theories and Keller Technique

Thomas Keller’s overall culinary philosophy is to take classic French recipes, that have been refined over the years, and make them the very best they can be. After studying both books, I think his cooking style can be summarized in six points:

1. Master of Flavor Intensity (Color and Aroma).
Keller maximized sensory stimulation via his techniques of flavor concentration and aroma intensification. For example, his canapé soups are called amuse-gueule, or “to make the mouth happy”—an explosion of aroma intensity and color that excites the senses. The carrot soup recipe is designed so that one spoonful of the soup contains the flavor of several carrots. In the Puree of English Pea Soup with White Truffle Oil and Parmesan Crisps, Keller strives to retain the intense green color of the pea, chlorophyll. And in the strawberry shortcake recipe, lemon juice is used to brighten the strawberry flavor. His tomato sorbet recipe is an example of an intensified dish—it has a much stronger flavor than the original via a gentle 50 percent reduction step.

2. Master of “Dynamic Contrast” (DC).
This theory states that people prefer those foods with sensory contrast and those that rapidly melt down in the mouth. Keller takes this concept to the highest level in his cooking; his style of mashed potatoes is an example of what extreme measures he will go. The mashed potato recipe uses Yukon gold potatoes (which emulsify better than other varieties), pressed through a tamis, creating, in effect, a solid emulsion that melts down rapidly in the mouth. Keller excels at making foods with high DC—especially the melt-in-your-mouth aspects of DC. For example, his lobster consommé is jellied, and melts quickly in the mouth; and the blini recipe dissolves on the tongue for a fast flavor burst. Keller describes a traditional French dish of pureed cod and potatoes; the cakes are sautéed to develop a perfect crust on the outside and a sumptuous inner creaminess.

3. Master of “Surprise Theory.”
Neuroscientist Read Montague argues that foods that surprise us in the mouth (unexpected food pleasure) are preferred or more pleasurable.24 Keller uses culinary techniques that tap into this largely unknown physiological response to food. We have already discussed in point 1, that flavors and colors that are “intensified” activate “surprise” as well––a familiar flavor, but with explosive character. Many of Keller’s dessert preparations use hot and cold surprise (you don’t expect them) to delight the palate—velouté of bittersweet chocolate with cinnamon-stick ice cream, and slow-baked meringues with crème anglaise.

4. Master of “Emulsion Theory.”
We have talked about how humans have a built-in preference for salt-fat and sweet-fat emulsions. Keller understands this and takes great care to create stable and flavorful emulsions in his sauces, vinaigrettes, and even solid food preparations. We’ve also seen that concentration of the hedonic solutes in the aqueous phase magnifies the excitation of the taste cell. This is why the average home cook must be able to create these pleasurable emulsified sauces.

In the preparation of the staff meal (for the other chefs), Keller uses many principles of tasty food construction and emulsification theory. The house vinaigrette recipe is one such example. He combines: raw garlic (excites umami and cold and heat receptors), shallots (additional orosensation), Dijon mustard (another orosensory and emulsification aid rich with vinegar and acid), balsamic vinegar (potent aroma and taste-active solutes), salt, and an egg yolk (eggs have taste-active phospholipids and provide emulsification). Throw in a little black pepper to activate the vanilloid and possibly the cannabinoid receptors as well. Now, is this better than the bottle dressing in the fridge—naturellment il est?

5. Master of Reducing “Sensory Specific Satiety.”
Keller knows that food’s sensory properties slowly dull the appetite, and he uses interesting culinary techniques to reduce satiety and increase overall food pleasure. To keep food arousal high, he prepares dishes that have either more intense flavors than the original or uses differing food preparation techniques with the same food. He might, for example, serve liver and onions with four different style of onion preparation––confit, roasted, “glazed red, and glazed white.” The whole point, Chef Keller states, “… is to isolate and enhance flavors, not confuse them.”

During my annual Thanksgiving dinner party, hosted for a few neighbors and friends, I tried the cooking variation technique. I cooked five classic dishes (turkey, potatoes, gravy, green beans, and stuffing) three different ways; for example, one turkey was brined and deep fried, another hickory smoked, and another garlic-infused and oven roasted. The meal was well received, and our guests sampled all the various preparations; but I was exhausted from the effort—I can’t imagine doing this for a living.

Keller points out that most chefs satisfy the palate with just a few big courses, but the sensory attributes quickly deaden after just a few bites. We now know this phenomenon as sensory specific satiety (SSS), wherein we quickly decrease our hedonic response to the sensory properties of food (taste, aroma, texture) during ingestion. When food is on a plate, hardly anyone eats each portion in its entirety before moving onto the next (unless they have serious issues). We vary what we eat on the plate (in other words, one bite of this, and one bite of that) to keep SSS from decreasing our overall pleasure response.

6. Master of Food Color.
Humans are visual animals, and Keller understands this. He uses techniques to keep colors bright and intense, even to the point of making his own fruit and vegetable powders. I’ve never seen this before in cooking; usually these powders are available only to industrial food scientists. Keller favors a technique called, big pot blanching; wherein a great deal of water and salt (at an ocean water concentration of about 4.5 percent) and fast cooking keeps the colors and the flavors of vegetables bright and dramatic. Numerous neuroimaging studies demonstrate a close linkage with color and flavor in the brain perception areas. If the color is dull, the food is dull—it’s a linkage that is hard to reverse. Give this cooking method a try—it is a very classic French vegetable technique.

The following selected (and not exhaustive) culinary tactics by Chef Keller will improve your cooking at home:
1. High Quality and Unique Food Ingredients. Keller constantly seeks out the best meats and produce, which are high in both taste and flavor—food ingredients that we rarely use, but are readily obtained by searching the web. For example, he talks about his specialty melons, the Chanterais type, only available in produce markets or specialty organic stores. The melons are small, heavily perfumed, and quite sweet; they’re a favorite of the French. He also uses 100 year old Balsamic vinegar, fruitwood-smoked salmon, wild chanterelles, and farmhouse cheddar. The addition of one flavorful ingredient can elevate the pleasure of the entire dish.

2.  Strain and skim your sauces. Keller never lets a single sauce, puree, or liquid move from one place to another without being strained or skimmed. Particulates in food (especially solid fats) interfere with the binding of hedonic solutes with the taste buds and can build unwanted viscosity.

3.  Salt, pepper, and vinegar are critical cuisine elements. What’s the number one mistake in home cooking? It is improperly salting food. Keller states that the “ability to salt food properly is the single most important skill in cooking,” and it’s the first cooking principle he teaches new chefs at his flagship restaurant, the French Laundry. Salt is a primary hedonic solute; the pleasure response was wired into our brains long ago. Keller uses Diamond Crystal Salt (the brand that my wife prefers) because you can feel the amount you are adding—and it has no iodine taste. Keller also likes the taste of sea salt—an instant oral flavor burst (or surprise). Chef Keller likes to salt his meat prior to cooking thus allowing the salt to penetrate into the muscle tissue. Cook’s Illustrated showed that this is a very effective salting technique and a great alternative to brining.25 In my experiments, coating steaks with seasoned salt and letting them rest in the fridge for 24–48 hours, allows the salty taste and aromas to penetrate into the meat, and moisture loss during cooking is greatly reduced. In addition, this technique adds flavor layering; the surface proteins interact with the flavoring agents and create the cooked and smoky tastes and aromas, and the spice mix that penetrated into the meat retains the fresh character of the original spice blend—the perfect (cookivore) flavor-generation (and surprise) technique.

A few drops of vinegar finish many sauces in the French Laundry restaurant. This adds oral and nasal non-specific trigeminal stimulation. (Don’t use the flavored vinegars; you want the feel not the flavor). Sensory studies also reveal that acidic elements may boost sweetness and umami perception (MSG) as well.

4. Bouquet Garni and specifically, thyme and bay leaf, add flavor and orosensation. A combination of leeks, parsley, thyme, and bay leaves, bouquet garni, is the classic French flavoring blend that adds plenty of flavor to stews and marinades, and just about any recipe. Keller uses the combination of thyme and bay leaves quite often in his recipes. After additional flavor research, I think I know why. Bay leaf is a very unusual aromatic; some of the flavor compounds demonstrate tight binding to the vanilloid receptor, in a manner similar to piperine or capsaicin. This is very odd, since we don’t taste the burn in the same way as capsaicin. Bay leaves also contain menthol, which activates cold-sensitive TRP receptors, adding more depth and sensation. Thyme has a number of volatile aroma compounds, but the content of one particular compound, 1,8-cineole, exhibits unique pain killing effects—perhaps it acts as a producer of endorphins similar to the effect of capsaicin, or perhaps it reduces the production of inflammatory cytokines, which make us feel better.26,27 Thus, the classic pairing of thyme with bay leaves may have additional interesting physiological actions that complement their complex aromas.

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