Sous Vide
My son is an accomplished and inventive cook. I attribute
this, modestly, to my influence in his young life, and, incidentally, that of
his siblings.
Allow me to explain. I am the World’s Worst Cook. My mother
did not enjoy cooking, although her mother was a professional cook. Her meals
were appetising and varied and she did her best to teach me the rudiments of
cooking and baking. The love of cooking was not there, however, and it did not
find fulfilment in me. Like her, I did it because I had to, though not as well,
and my children would have suffered had it not been for their father, who enjoys
the chemistry of cooking, managing to introduce original dishes to their
experience. (You know, he even tastes as he goes along!)
So, my children followed my husband’s path and each in turn
became ‘good cooks’, but Gareth is taking it to greater heights. Nina, his
wife, is also a good cook, but she is happy to let Gareth take the lead and
continue to produce outstanding meals.
We have enjoyed many repasts, often produced on his barbeque.
He barbecues the Christmas turkey every year regardless of the weather, and we
have appreciated his wonderful home-smoked salmon.
He has been using the Sous Vide method for some time now and
recently introduced Barry to it, with a gift of Sous Vide equipment. Sous Vide
has been around in one form or another since 1799. Simply, it is low-temperature,
long-time cooking (LTLT) and has been used in some restaurants for more than
twenty years. Now, very few professional chefs do not use Sous Vide, though
many prefer not to admit to its use. Jamie Oliver is an exception.
Sous Vide is not for the last-minute ‘What shall we have for supper?’ cook (me!) It requires thought and timing but the results, I must say, are amazing, succulent and flavourful. Barry is enjoying the challenge of a new way of cooking but he hasn’t yet tried anything that takes 72 hours!
Hi and thanks for commenting on my blog. I've rarely cooked sous vide although my Thermomix does have a sous vide function now. I think it might just be too slow for me. xx
ReplyDeleteToo slow for me, too;-)
DeleteSounds like something for the professionals; we would be worried about food poisoning (even if F could plan our meals that far ahead).
ReplyDeleteIt's not something I will attempt, other than VERY simple recipes.
DeleteI'm a fan of low temperature long time cooking. I would prepare things right after breakfast, or at least before lunch and have the whole dinner in the oven, cooking slowly until dinner time when all I had to do then was make the gravy, unless the meal was a casserole with its own gravy. I'm not an inspired cook, but my children are all adventurous with recipes. The boys especially love to barbecue.
ReplyDeleteIt's all to do with organisation, isn't it? Not something I'm noted for!
DeleteHi Janice - I've never felt tempted by sous vide ... just watch on tv. How wonderful that your hubby enjoys cooking and understanding the chemistry of our foods - it's great we're all different - enjoy your meals! Cheers Hilary
ReplyDeleteI do enjoy my meals when someone else prepares them:-)
DeleteMy father, son of a butcher and a chemist by profession, always enjoyed cooking (especially meat), considering it as essentially a chemistry experiment with an edible outcome!
ReplyDeleteCheers, Gail.
A happy way to combine expertise and appetite.
DeleteI had seen the term sous vide in passing but never investigated until now. Sounds like it takes some extra patience and equipment but it's worth it in the end! Lucky you to have such good cooks in the family :)
ReplyDeleteYes, I am lucky - we shall not starve!
ReplyDeleteIt looks as if the men in your family are like mine ! I couldn't cook at all, nobody had ever taught me, my mother was afraid I would make a mess in HER kitchen. The one who taught me cooking was Rick. I started to love cooking too, so whoever was home first cooked. Then Dario had as hobby "cooking" he even attended a cooking course with an Italian Chef from Rome ! He is the cook in the house, Marieken does cook, but not like Dario. The end of the story is, I don't cook at all anymore. Swear on frozen food only to throw in the micro wave.
ReplyDeleteThe meaning of "sous vide" must be different in English, because "sous vide" means vacuum sealing meat for example to keep it fresh.
You can't be taught to like cooking, I think.
DeleteIn sous vide cooking the ingredients are vacuum sealed before cooking.
i was craving buttered rice yesterday, but couldn't even make that! It was inedible. My husband likes to barbeque. I cook once in a while, but prefer to eat out, to be honest.
ReplyDeleteYour talents lie in other directions, Linda :-)
ReplyDelete