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In his book Ad Hoc at Home: Family-style recipes, famed chef Thomas Keller teaches proper techniques for the home cook. For a chef so fixed on perfectionism, it is all in the detail. Here he explains how to enhance flavour with salt and acid.
1. How to Use Salt according to Thomas Keller
Salt is one of those vitally important ingredients that some people don’t treat properly. While pepper adds flavour to a dish, salt actually enhances flavour. It’s therefore vital to get to know how to salt food appropriately. There’s a lot to know about salting, that the home cook may not know about, chefs live and die by the rule of salt on a daily basis. Knowing what type of salt to use, when to add it and most importantly why we add it can change your cooking game.
2. How to Enhance Flavours with Vinegar
The same is true for vinegar/acid. “We use vinegars in conjunction with or sometimes to replace salt in liquids. Whether it’s a sauce, it could be a soup or things like that where it’s going to help enhance the flavour of the dish rather than adding flavour to the dish, there’s a big difference there between adding and enhancing” says Keller.
3. How to Roast a Chicken like Thomas Keller
Roasting a chicken for Keller is an art that combines many of the base skills he is talking about. Seasoning, salting and tempering you food all combine to create a dish that is universal in its simplicity and appeal. With a little education, anyone can source a good chicken and cook it properly. The difference in taste will prove the words of chef Keller to be true.
