Learn essential kitchen skills--starting with the basics--in our new column, Become a Better Cook. Each post will share a cooking lesson--plus recipes to practice with--courtesy of former Gourmet food editor Ian Knauer.
Photo by Tim Mazurek
Let's talk about the thing that makes salad awesome: The Dressing. For those of you who want to become a better cook, there's no way to talk about salad dressing without covering one of the greatest mysteries of cooking (and of the world, really): emulsification!
You probably don't get as excited as I do when you hear that word--emulsification--but after reading this, you will. To get you started, imagine a world where two totally different entities live harmoniously together, a world where physics allows us to make healthy food taste amazing. Imagine a world where oil and water mix. Excited yet? Oh, you will be.
First, the definition(s):
Emulsion - A mixture of two or more unblendable liquids.
Emulsifier - Foods containing protein, cell-wall fragments, and/or diglyceride or monoglyceride molecules; additives that encourage the suspension of one liquid in another by way of hybrid molecules.
Now, the translation:
Imagine a simple oil and vinegar dressing. It sits for a couple of minutes and then the liquids separate because, chemically, they're unmixable.
Hey crazy lady, that is not the right way to dress a salad.
Photo from istockphoto.
But when one of the liquids breaks down into tiny particles and becomes suspended within the other, it's called an emulsion. For example, take a water-based liquid (like vinegar) and suspend tiny particles of it in a fat (like olive oil). In cooking, that's called a vinaigrette, and in the science-based cooking lingo of geniuses like Harold McGee, it's a "water-in-oil emulsion" (The water is in a "dispersed phase" because it's in droplets; the fat is in a "continuous phase." There are also oil-in-water emulsions, including my favorite--mayonnaise!--which we'll cover next time.)
To achieve an emulsion, you must do more than break one liquid into tiny particles and mix. Shake as hard or whisk as fast as humanly possible, but eventually the two liquids will separate again. This is why an emulsion consists of two steps: (1) You have to break one liquid into tiny droplets while you add the other liquid, and (2) You must use an "emulsifier" to stabilize and keep the emulsion intact. Maybe your mama didn't tell you: Suspending vinegar in oil takes a lot of hard work.
Photo by Tim Mazurek
Emulsifiers come in many forms, some of which I'm sure you have in your kitchen right now! Mustard, garlic, tomato paste, egg yolks, even cream--these are all emulsifiers. And the great news is that these all taste awesome in vinaigrettes.
Emulsifiers have chemical properties that prevent the dispersed droplets from coming back together. Different emulsifiers work in different ways, though. Tomato paste, for instance, has protein molecules that surround the droplets and keep them from joining together. Think of protein molecules like a fence that magically twists its way around each miniscule droplet to keep them all apart. Egg yolks work differently: They contain lecithin that are hybrid molecules, and they have a tail that can mesh with fat and a head that can mesh with water, so they act like a bridge holding the two otherwise unmixable liquids together.
Photo by Tim Mazurek
The result of all this is a salad dressing that is very slow to separate, if it separates at all. So shake your oil and vinegar as much as you like; it'll still come apart. If you want to be a better cook (which means making a better salad, among other things), then use emulsifiers to bring oil and vinegar together.
Now, what does that mean when you're in the kitchen?
Keep in mind that a standard proportion of vinegar to oil for dressing is 1 part vinegar to 3-4 parts oil, but emulsifiers will give you a little more flexibility. In the first practice recipe below, the proportion of 1:2 vinegar-to-oil is possible because of the lecithin in the egg yolk and the oil-coating properties from the mustard.
Photo by Tim Mazurek
Start by mixing the emulsifier ingredients with the vinegar. Once they are combined, slowly add the oil, whisking or blending constantly to break the droplets into smaller sizes so they can become suspended in the "continuous phase"--the oil.
Here are two recipes to practice with, one contains mustard and egg yolk, a lecithin-based emulsifier. The other contains garlic and tomato paste, which works because of the protein content in tomatoes (about 3%).
Oh! And hold your breath for next time when we take emulsification to a whole new level: mayonnaise.
Photo by Tim Mazurek
MUSTARD VINAIGRETTE
Makes about 3/4 cup
Both the mustard and the egg yolk act as emulsifiers in this recipe, helping to bind the vinegar and oil.
INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup white-wine vinegar
1 large egg yolk
2 tablespoons minced shallot
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper
PREPARATION
Whisk together the vinegar, yolk, shallot, mustard, sugar, 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper in a bowl. Slowly add the oil, in a stream, whisking quickly and constantly until all the oil is added and the vinaigrette has emulsified.
Photo by Tim Mazurek
TOMATO-GARLIC VINAIGRETTE
Makes about 3/4 cup
The protein in the tomato paste and the emulsifiers in the garlic hold the balsamic and oil together in this vinaigrette.
INGREDIENTS
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 large garlic clove, minced and mashed to a paste with 1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper
PREPARATION
Whisk together the tomato paste, garlic, vinegar, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a bowl. Slowly add the oil, in a stream, whisking quickly and constantly until all the oil is added and the vinaigrette has emulsified.
Ian Knauer honed his cooking chops in the test kitchens of Gourmet magazine for over eight years. When not in the kitchen, he's hunting, tending his beehives, or foraging for dinner wherever it can be found. Follow him on Twitter @iknauer. Photograph by Romulo Yanes
Photo by Tim MazurekLet's talk about the thing that makes salad awesome: The Dressing. For those of you who want to become a better cook, there's no way to talk about salad dressing without covering one of the greatest mysteries of cooking (and of the world, really): emulsification!
You probably don't get as excited as I do when you hear that word--emulsification--but after reading this, you will. To get you started, imagine a world where two totally different entities live harmoniously together, a world where physics allows us to make healthy food taste amazing. Imagine a world where oil and water mix. Excited yet? Oh, you will be.
First, the definition(s):
Emulsion - A mixture of two or more unblendable liquids.
Emulsifier - Foods containing protein, cell-wall fragments, and/or diglyceride or monoglyceride molecules; additives that encourage the suspension of one liquid in another by way of hybrid molecules.
Now, the translation:
Imagine a simple oil and vinegar dressing. It sits for a couple of minutes and then the liquids separate because, chemically, they're unmixable.
Hey crazy lady, that is not the right way to dress a salad.Photo from istockphoto.
But when one of the liquids breaks down into tiny particles and becomes suspended within the other, it's called an emulsion. For example, take a water-based liquid (like vinegar) and suspend tiny particles of it in a fat (like olive oil). In cooking, that's called a vinaigrette, and in the science-based cooking lingo of geniuses like Harold McGee, it's a "water-in-oil emulsion" (The water is in a "dispersed phase" because it's in droplets; the fat is in a "continuous phase." There are also oil-in-water emulsions, including my favorite--mayonnaise!--which we'll cover next time.)
To achieve an emulsion, you must do more than break one liquid into tiny particles and mix. Shake as hard or whisk as fast as humanly possible, but eventually the two liquids will separate again. This is why an emulsion consists of two steps: (1) You have to break one liquid into tiny droplets while you add the other liquid, and (2) You must use an "emulsifier" to stabilize and keep the emulsion intact. Maybe your mama didn't tell you: Suspending vinegar in oil takes a lot of hard work.
Photo by Tim MazurekEmulsifiers come in many forms, some of which I'm sure you have in your kitchen right now! Mustard, garlic, tomato paste, egg yolks, even cream--these are all emulsifiers. And the great news is that these all taste awesome in vinaigrettes.
Emulsifiers have chemical properties that prevent the dispersed droplets from coming back together. Different emulsifiers work in different ways, though. Tomato paste, for instance, has protein molecules that surround the droplets and keep them from joining together. Think of protein molecules like a fence that magically twists its way around each miniscule droplet to keep them all apart. Egg yolks work differently: They contain lecithin that are hybrid molecules, and they have a tail that can mesh with fat and a head that can mesh with water, so they act like a bridge holding the two otherwise unmixable liquids together.
Photo by Tim MazurekThe result of all this is a salad dressing that is very slow to separate, if it separates at all. So shake your oil and vinegar as much as you like; it'll still come apart. If you want to be a better cook (which means making a better salad, among other things), then use emulsifiers to bring oil and vinegar together.
Now, what does that mean when you're in the kitchen?
Keep in mind that a standard proportion of vinegar to oil for dressing is 1 part vinegar to 3-4 parts oil, but emulsifiers will give you a little more flexibility. In the first practice recipe below, the proportion of 1:2 vinegar-to-oil is possible because of the lecithin in the egg yolk and the oil-coating properties from the mustard.
Photo by Tim MazurekStart by mixing the emulsifier ingredients with the vinegar. Once they are combined, slowly add the oil, whisking or blending constantly to break the droplets into smaller sizes so they can become suspended in the "continuous phase"--the oil.
Here are two recipes to practice with, one contains mustard and egg yolk, a lecithin-based emulsifier. The other contains garlic and tomato paste, which works because of the protein content in tomatoes (about 3%).
Oh! And hold your breath for next time when we take emulsification to a whole new level: mayonnaise.
Photo by Tim MazurekMUSTARD VINAIGRETTE
Makes about 3/4 cup
Both the mustard and the egg yolk act as emulsifiers in this recipe, helping to bind the vinegar and oil.
INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup white-wine vinegar
1 large egg yolk
2 tablespoons minced shallot
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper
PREPARATION
Whisk together the vinegar, yolk, shallot, mustard, sugar, 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper in a bowl. Slowly add the oil, in a stream, whisking quickly and constantly until all the oil is added and the vinaigrette has emulsified.
Photo by Tim MazurekTOMATO-GARLIC VINAIGRETTE
Makes about 3/4 cup
The protein in the tomato paste and the emulsifiers in the garlic hold the balsamic and oil together in this vinaigrette.
INGREDIENTS
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 large garlic clove, minced and mashed to a paste with 1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper
PREPARATION
Whisk together the tomato paste, garlic, vinegar, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a bowl. Slowly add the oil, in a stream, whisking quickly and constantly until all the oil is added and the vinaigrette has emulsified.
Ian Knauer honed his cooking chops in the test kitchens of Gourmet magazine for over eight years. When not in the kitchen, he's hunting, tending his beehives, or foraging for dinner wherever it can be found. Follow him on Twitter @iknauer. Photograph by Romulo YanesRead More http://www.bonappetit.com/blogsandforums/blogs/badaily/2010/09/become-a-better-cook-make-bett.html#ixzz0zfAo0ssk
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