Sometimes, food-related things pop into my head unbidden. Today, the word pomato made an appearance. Pomato? Where had I heard that? I looked it up and then remembered that I had started some research into this subject a few years ago. I likely got distracted by some shiny object before writing anything down, and the … Read more
We are often told to salt our food ‘to taste,’ but to understand why salt is used in food, we have to look at the work it does before it hits your tongue. Salt isn’t just a flavoring; it is a chemical tool that acts as a volume knob for flavor. By suppressing what we … Read more
Salt to taste is a vague and confusing instruction in a recipe. However, it exists for a reason. While many home cooks prefer precise instructions, sometimes, cooking is about taste and preference. As I explained in the difference between seasonings and flavorings, salt is usually a seasoning; rarely a flavoring. So, when we are told to … Read more
Did you know you can make little bolts of lightning in your mouth? Just chew on some wintergreen Lifesavers candy. It’s been observed since the 1980s that this particular flavor of Lifesavers has the curious habit of emitting sparks inside your mouth when you chew them. The sparks are electricity. This is caused by a … Read more
While ice cream does not actually contain seaweed, many mass-produced food products, ice cream often contains a gum ingredient. One of these, carrageenan, comes from seaweed. Food gums are naturally occurring non-digestible carbohydrates that are used as stabilizers, thickeners, and binders. Guar gum is a common example of such an ingredient that is often found … Read more
Yes, you can pasteurize milk at home and yes boiling and rapidly cooling can be used to pasteurize at home. It is unlikely that home pasteurization will be a perfect substitute for commercial pasteurization. However, it can be done and it will work. There are a few methods you can use. The last step is … Read more