What Techniques Enhance Flavor in Classic Dishes?
In the quest to enhance the flavors of classic dishes while preserving their traditional charm, we've gathered wisdom from several culinary experts and business owners. From introducing a flavorful brine or marinade to sourcing high-quality main ingredients, here are six techniques shared by those at the forefront of the culinary world.
- Introduce a Flavorful Brine or Marinade
- Season and Marinate Proteins Thoroughly
- Infuse Aromatics with Complementary Flavors
- Replace Canned Soup with Homemade
- Source High-Quality Main Ingredients
Introduce a Flavorful Brine or Marinade
In my experience, I've found that incorporating a brine or marinade can significantly elevate the flavor profile of a classic dish while maintaining its traditional essence, especially for dishes that rely on a coating for flavor. Take, for instance, Taiwanese-style popcorn chicken, known for its crispy coating and bold outer seasoning.
In my recipe, I introduced an additional marinade step to infuse the chicken with a burst of flavor. This marinade not only enhances the taste, but also acts as a brine, preserving moisture and yielding juicy, tender chicken pieces with each bite. By introducing this simple marinade, I've managed to enhance the flavors of the dish, while staying true to its authentic roots.
Season and Marinate Proteins Thoroughly
I bury proteins in seasoning, herbs, and vegetation for a minimum of 36 hours, and then marinate with the same ingredients for another 12 hours to ensure that those flavors have been completely soaked in.
Infuse Aromatics with Complementary Flavors
As a home cook myself, I am constantly on the lookout for ways to give extra flair without losing the original notion of these simple, yet tasty meals.
The "Flavor Infusion:"
This method employs a strategy of merging the flavorful ingredients in your food. Here's how it works:
Identify a base aromatic: Several typical dishes make use of the foundation of vegetables, like onions, garlic, and carrots to heighten the flavors. This twist we're adding is where it's at.
Infuse with complementary flavors: For example, we can choose to follow one of the most common recipes for a classic roast chicken. Conventionally, the aromatics are merely cut up and fried on the stove. However, the idea here is to impart extra flavor, short of introducing an ingredient that overpowers our senses. Such a chicken can be done by roasting the vegetables with lemon wedges, a few thyme sprigs, and peppercorns. They are balanced in such a way that they add subtle citrus bites, herbal scents, and a peppery note all at the same time, and contribute to the whole without overpowering the chicken itself.
Use the infused base as usual: Once roasted, you can go ahead and bring the process to its final stages. Now, the aromatics are infusing a complex blend of flavors into the whole dish.
This principle can be demonstrated in how these original dishes are perfected:
Beef stew: Roast the veggies along with whole cloves and star anise for a hint of warmth, and intricate aroma.
Fish chowder: Very briefly dry roast the whole peppercorns, fennel bulb, bay leaf, and orange zest to create freshness and herbaceousness.
Mac and cheese: To a savory depth, bake the garlic cloves with a few sprigs of rosemary.
The point is to select harmonious flavors that won't dramatically identify themselves with the dish, yet will give little hints of excitingly new, enigmatic touches. It's an exciting way to explore these old standards while keeping the familiar and presenting a twist of new joy to your palate.
Replace Canned Soup with Homemade
When making casseroles, your mom or grandmother might have made those that contained a can of mushroom soup or cream of chicken soup. You can replace the canned soup with an easy homemade version. This is not only better for you, but the flavor from the homemade version is so much better than what canned soup adds.
It is a simple addition and only takes about 5-10 minutes. You sauté mushrooms and then make a simple béchamel sauce, adding some seasoning to it. This is added to the casserole instead of canned soup, and wait until you taste the difference it makes.
You will retain the classic casserole that you remember, like tuna casserole, but it will taste so much better.
Source High-Quality Main Ingredients
Improving the quality of the main ingredients is crucial, particularly with chocolate. Most chocolate is made with low-quality commodity cocoa beans and high-fructose corn syrup. By sourcing cocoa beans from farms that focus on sustainability and producing a high-quality bean, we are able to enhance the flavor of our chocolate while still maintaining the traditional aspects of chocolate people love. We do the same for sweeteners, either sourcing honey and maple sugar locally, or using pure organic cane sugar.
Increasing the quality of our main ingredients creates a differentiator, along with a great story and a delicious final product.
