Why add salt to desserts, and how to remove bitterness with it

Want to cook delicious food but don't know where to start? Trying to master the culinary arts, but do not want to study long and expensive to be a chef? You don’t need to do all this, just read one very useful book.

It turns out that in order for boiled vegetables to be elastic and with a rich taste, so that a beautiful ruddy crust always turns out on a chicken, and a salad has a bright taste, you need to learn how to handle the four main elements: salt, fat, acid and heat, writes delfi.ee.

The book “Salt, fat, acid, heat. The main elements of a good kitchen ”(Publisher Publishing House) were written by the chef Semin Nosret. And this is not a collection of recipes, but a fascinating guide to the world of taste, smell, chemistry, physics, inspiration and creativity.

The author suggests starting a culinary journey with such a simple and familiar seasoning as salt.

Why not do without salt

Despite prejudice, salt is almost the main ingredient that affects the taste of food more than any other.

“Salt has a complex effect on food: it has its own taste and enhances the taste of other ingredients. Salt reduces bitterness, balances sweetness and emphasizes flavors, as a result we get more pleasure from food. ”

Here are a few life hacks that will help you use the salt correctly.

Disguise the bitterness of the dish. Salt will do this more effectively than sugar. “Test it on grapefruit juice, which combines bitter and sweet flavors. Taste one spoonful, then add a pinch of salt and try again. You will be surprised how much the bitterness has been reduced.”

Make the meat more tender. “Many people think that salt draws water out of most ingredients, making food dry and tough. This is not entirely true: over time, salt gels the protein fibers, making them better absorb and retain water during cooking, resulting in meat that remains tender and juicy.”

Secret: you need to salt in advance. The bigger and tougher the piece of meat, the more time it takes. Chicken for frying, for example, it is better to salt a day before cooking.

Cook the vegetables tasty and elastic. It turns out that they do not boil out, do not become colorless and tasteless, you need a good salt in the water in which they boil.

“Spice up the water until it is as salty as the sea. Sea water contains 3.5% salt, which is much more than what you normally use for cooking. You may be taken aback by this amount of salt, but remember that most of it will go down the sink.”

Add salt to the dessert. Many sincerely believe that salt and sugar are antagonists, that these are contrasting combinations, and food should be either sweet or salty. But, as mentioned above, salt enhances the taste and aroma of all other components of the dish.

“Just as sweet foods — caramelized onions, balsamic vinegar, or apple sauce — can enhance the flavor of a savory dish, salt will make a sweet dessert more delicious. To make sure of this, the next time you divide the dough for baking in half and do not salt one half. Try the ready-made cookies from both parties - and you will be amazed by the nutty, caramel and creamy notes revealed in the salted party. ”

Sources of salt

Salt is not only white powder from the package. There are other ways to spice up a dish without using it at all. It is enough to add products containing salt. This is called combined salting.

• Canned fish: anchovies, sardines and others.
• Salted and pickled capers.
• Marinated and fermented vegetables: cucumbers, gherkins, sauerkraut, kimchi.
• Fish sauce, soy sauce and miso paste.
• Cheese.
• Most seasonings are mustard, ketchup, salsa and hot sauces.
• Dried in salt meat: prosciutto, pancetta, bacon.
• Nori, seaweed and other algae.
• Olives.
• Salted butter.

“Culinary arts are like jazz. In the process of using salt, three main questions arise: when; how much; in what form? Ask them yourself every time you are thinking of cooking something. "

"The answers to them will gradually lead you to improvisation, and one day you will be surprised at yourself."

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