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Whether you are new to cooking or have years of experience, food and culinary basics are always useful.
Check out our tips and tricks to help ensure your culinary experience is the easiest and best it can be!
Have more ideas for us to add? Email us at marketing@epicurean-group.com
Flavors
Pasta
Safety
Stocks
Techniques
Tools
Flavors
Flavor is the distinctive taste of a food or drink. Sweet, smokey, tangy, spicy – just a few of the descriptors of what you might like or be looking for. Enjoy them alone or pair together to create the ambiance of your menu.
Pasta
While we typically think Italian when we hear ‘pasta’, Asian, Greek, German and American cuisines have included these wonderful assorted shaped noodles and stuffed treats for centuries. Check back often as we discover how pasta plays a role in our favorite cuisines.
Safety
Being safe in the kitchen and serving safe food is always the number one priority. These tips will provide you with good basics for keeping yourself and your food safe.
Stocks
A stock is a flavorful liquid made by gently simmering vegetables or bones in water to extract their flavor, aroma, color, and body. It can enrich the flavor of a simple dish- turn the ordinary into the extraordinary! Learning to make and use stocks is a culinary standard. Read on to get ideas of how to do this yourself!
Techniques
Webster’s Dictionary describes technique as a method of accomplishing a desired aim. Check out our techniques area to gain insight and ideas to help you create the culinary works of art (or just dinner!) you are looking for!
Tools
The right tools in the kitchen can make cooking easier! Check out below for tips about very useful tools. And don’t worry if your kitchen doesn’t have all of the newest equipment! Most kitchens can easily adapt to make almost anything!
Mushrooms absorb water like a sponge. Also, if you decide to wash them and then leave them wet too long they will …
Nothing beats flavorful, homemade stock. It’s easy to make your own and, if you do, all your recipes will be vastly improved. …
Masa Harina is made from hominy and has a very distinct flavor. I prefer it for my chili, but any type of …
Hot Smoking (190 to 250 degrees F) For hot smoking, I prefer to use hickory logs cut for the fireplace. This wood …
There are many varieties of chilies from all over the world. For this recipe I used authentic Kashmiri chilies from a specialty …
A mortar and pestle is the traditional way to grind spice blends into pastes and powders. It is time consuming, but extracts …
You can find classic paper panettone molds online or in a gourmet cook’s shop.
Piloncillo is unrefined Mexican sugar. It tastes similar to brown sugar mixed with molasses, even though it has no molasses. If you …
There is a wide variety of mandoline slicers on the market for home or commercial use. It is an invaluable tool and …
Most chefs prefer salted butter for savory preparations and unsalted butter for baking and sweet preparations. Here’s why: When preparing savory food …
In a pinch, you can use a vegetable peeler to carefully skin the citrus fruit, being careful not to include the bitter …
An immersion blender, also called a stick or wand blender, is an inexpensive and handy kitchen tool used to blend ingredients in …
When adding room temperature or cold items to hot oil, use tongs to place the bottom edge of the item into the …
A special copper pot is designed for preparing sabayon. Equipped with a handle for ease of use, its deep, bowl-like shape facilitates …
It’s easy to make your own chicken stock – and it tastes so much better than supermarket stock! The next time you …
Non-reactive cookware will not react to acid ingredients, such as citrus. When a recipe calls for a non-reactive pot, pan or bowl, …
To enrich a stock, use vegetable trimmings – such as rinsed pea shells, parsley stems and celery tops. Save and freeze Parmesan …
Al dente is an Italian phrase that translates as “to the tooth.” Al dente means to cook something – pasta, vegetables, etc. …
Unless you are a professional baker, you probably don’t have pie weights in your kitchen. For an inexpensive and readily accessible substitute, …
When making caramel, some of the cane juice will crystalize and cling to the sides of the pot as the water evaporates. …
Salt-roasted beets result in a richer-flavored roasted beet. The salt crust moderates and evens out the heat and moisture loss is minimized, …
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