The apple fritter may be an Old World classic, but the pumpkin-corn fritter, that’s a strictly New World concoction. Could the early settlers have made such a thing? Well, looking over the ingredients list, there’s almost nothing here they wouldn’t have had access to. Maize, that’s a for sure. Pumpkin, no doubt there either, the […]
READ ONBut then non-wheat substances aren’t the only way to “shorten” a dough. You can also do it with fat, which coats the ends of gluten molecules, keeping them from bonding to one another. This is the science behind what are known as “short crusts” and “short breads”, and where we in America get the word […]
READ ONLooks like Robert DeNiro, brilliant though notoriously reclusive actor, has decided to come out and lend his voice to New York’s anti-trans fat crusade. What a shame, though he does coincidentally happen to own two restaurants that advertise zero-trans fat menus, so I guess it’s good exposure. I hate to be a bore on this […]
READ ONWell, I’m on the mend friends. The hand and arm are healing and I’m on the verge of typing normally. Thanks to all of those who’ve wished me well. I’ll be back bright and bushy-tailed Monday morning. But before I sign off my shortest blogging week so far, I wanted to ask everyone to say […]
READ ONThe alternative to the killing zone is the velvet rope approach, whereby you let certain microbes into the party with the understanding that they won’t go bustin’ up the place. This is the world of fermented pickles which includes things like gherkins, sauerkraut and kimchi. The principle behind it is rather elegant. It is, simply, […]
READ ONHappily for me, ice cream is one of those food topics where I don’t have to choose between history and science, because the two go hand-in-hand. The history of ice cream is the history of refrigeration. Oh happy me. The history of refrigeration starts of course with ice, the preservative powers of which have been […]
READ ONAs you all know I’m generally pretty sanguine when it comes to things like high-fructose corn syrup and trans fats. But ice cream that contains fish proteins just doesn’t sound good. Though I have to confess that the science geek in me finds the idea of taking a protein that keeps an eelpout from freezing […]
READ ONI praised natural leavening (sourdough) the other day for its slow, deliberate rising. Having made quite bit of sourdough bread over the last week, I found the pace gave me time to implement some dough-stretching techniques I’ve long heard about but never tried. What’s dough stretching? It’s pretty much as it sounds, a process by […]
READ ONGood and safe preserving comprises multiple layers of preventive measures, counter-counter-measures and safeguards. There are a lot of bugs out there, after all, so it pays to cover every last anti-microbial base. We’ve talked sugar, we’ve also talked heat. This time let’s talk about acid. Acid is a time-tested bug killer. It’s found in copious […]
READ ONDon’t know if you read the New York Times, but today’s food section has a terrific article on science behind the bar.
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