The food lab better home cooking through science ( PDFDrive ) 961

thefridge.Itmayturncloudyandsolidify,butdon’t
worry—it’ll return to normal once it warms up to
roomtemperature.

CookingwithOliveOil
Youoftenhearthatextra-virginoliveoilshouldonly
be used for flavoring and finishing, never for
cooking. And this is true to a degree—you don’t
wanttoheatextra-virgintothepointwhereitstarts
to break down and develop bitter flavors. But
cookingatrelativelylowtemperatureswithit—say,
gentlysweatingonionsorvegetablesforthebaseof
asauceorsoup—istotallyfine,and,indeed,youcan
taste the difference in the finished product. That
said,ifyouwanttosaveabitofcash,finishingadish
with extra-virgin oil is definitely the most efficient
waytogo.
S o ,for best flavor, cook with extra-virgin in
gentle situations and finish the dish with some more
drizzled on at the end.For best value, cook with a
more neutral oil (such as canola, vegetable, or light
olive oil), saving the extra-virgin until the very end.
Never heat extra-virgin to shimmering or smoking
temperatures.

TheBitterBlend
Thefoodprocessormayseemlikethelogicalchoice
formakingyourvinaigrettesandmayonnaisesmore


stable, and using high-quality extra-virgin olive oil

seemslikeano-braineraswell,butcombinethetwo,
and you’ve got a problem. You see, extra-virgin
olive oil droplets are composed of many tiny fat
fragments, many of which are bound tightly
together, preventing our taste buds from picking
them up. But whip the olive oil with enough vigor,
by, using a food processor or blender, and you end
up shearing those bitter-tasting fragments apart
from each other. The result is a vinaigrette or
mayonnaise with a markedly bitter taste. Not only
that, but these tiny fragments actuallydecrease the
efficacy of emulsifiers like mustard or lecithin,
makingyoursaucemorelikelytobreak.
So what if you want to have an ultra stable
mayonnaise that’s strongly flavored with extravirgin olive oil but has no bitterness?The key is to
useaneutral-flavoredoillikecanolaorvegetableto
start your mayonnaise in the food processor. Once
it’s stable, transfer it to a bowl and whisk in some
extra-virgin olive oil by hand. You’ll get plenty of
flavorbutnoneofthebitterness.

VINAIGRETTERATIOS

H

ere’s the really awesome thing: now that you