The Times - UK (2021-11-11)

the times | Thursday November 11 2021 5

the table

The 10 techniques home cooks

should know By Tony Turnbull

I

switched on late to the first

episode of MasterChef: The

Professionals this week, so

correct me if I’ve got this

wrong, but did Marcus

Wareing ask the chefs to make

sausage and mash in the skills

challenge? The lucky blighters.

I reckon they got off lightly.

Rather that than prepping a

monkfish, which is what

Monica Galetti asked of them

later, and requires knowing

that its various membranes are

best removed before you take

the fillet off the bone.

But then it struck me that

the best challenges are those

that come up in a multitude

of recipes, the kind of things

that you should have picked

up early in your career.

I’ve made a list of the top 10

skills I think any home cook

should have.

1 Dice an onion

Cut the onion in half

lengthways, leaving the root

attached to each piece. Peel

off the skin and place cut

side down on a board.

Make four to six parallel

vertical cuts along the

length of the onion,

stopping just short of the

root. Make two

horizontal cuts, again

stopping short of the root.

Now holding the onion in

shape with one hand, tips

of the fore, index and ring

fingers tucked away, use

the finger knuckles to

guide the knife down to

make consecutive cuts,

inching your fingers back

towards the root as you go.

2 Poach an egg

Fresh, medium-sized eggs

are the easiest to poach

because the egg white will

be more viscous. Bring a deep

saucepan of water to a simmer

and add a teaspoon of vinegar.

Crack the egg into a saucer and

use a slotted spoon to swirl the

water and form a mini

whirlpool. Slip the egg into the

water. Cook for three to four

minutes, trim off any straggly

whites and serve. Or cook for

two minutes and plunge into

iced water, to be reheated for

one minute in boiling water

when required.

3 Spatchcock a chicken

Turn the chicken on to its

breast, with its legs towards

you. Using poultry shears, cut

along either side of the

backbone and remove. Turn

the chicken over and, using

a heavy knife, cut a notch

either side of the breast bone.

Turn over again and press hard

on the breastbone to flatten the

chicken out.

4 Make caramel

Add two parts sugar and up to

one part water to a pan (not

non-stick because it makes it

hard to gauge the colour of the

caramel as it changes). Heat

over a low-medium heat,

swirling if necessary to ensure

even cooking, but without

stirring, until the sugar has

dissolved. Increase the heat and

boil until golden.

5 Fillet fish

Cut off the head just behind the

gills. Place the fish flat on the

chopping board with the tail

towards you and arch the fish’s

back slightly to keep the skin

taut. Now run a sharp knife

down the length of the back

bone using short sweeping

strokes to peel the flesh from

the bone by a few centimetres.

Return to the head end and use

one hand to pull the flesh away

from the ribcage as you use

short strokes of the knife to

release it fully. Turn the fish

over, this time with the tail

away from you, and repeat the

process, keeping the knife as

close as possible to the fish’s

backbone. Check both fillets

with your fingers to find any

pin bones, which can be

removed with tweezers.

6 Cook a steak

Bring your meat out of the

fridge at least 30 minutes

before cooking to allow it to

come up to room temperature.

Get the grill pan or frying pan

as hot as you can. Brush the

steak with a little groundnut or

rapeseed oil, season with salt

and pepper at the last second,

then add to the pan. Turn the

steak every minute or so to

ensure it is evenly caramelised.

Timings will vary according to

heat, cut of meat and thickness,

but the more cooked it is, the

firmer it will feel when pressed

with a finger. Once cooked

to your liking, leave to rest in

a warm place for almost as

long as you cooked it.

7 Make crème anglaise

Bring milk flavoured with

vanilla to the point of

simmering but do not allow

to boil. Pour the milk over

freshly whisked egg yolks,

stirring constantly, and return

to the cleaned pan. Set over a

low-medium heat and whisk

in the sugar, then cook,

stirring constantly with a

spatula, making sure you

scrape in all the corners, until

thickened enough to coat the

back of the spatula (82C).

8 Make a roux

Add equal quantities of butter

and plain flour to a heavy-based

pan. Cook for a few minutes

while stirring over a medium

heat to cook out the raw flour

and create a thick paste. Cook

for longer to make a brown

roux for a nuttier flavour. To

make a sauce, add liquid (eg

milk or stock), very gradually

at first, whisking well after

each addition to ensure a

smooth sauce.

9 Deglaze a pan

After frying or roasting meat or

vegetables, remove and set the

pan over a medium heat. Add

a little liquid (eg wine, stock or

vinegar) and allow to bubble

up, scraping all the while to

incorporate any caramelisation

from the base of the pan. Cook

until largely evaporated.

10 Make an emulsion

Watery and fatty liquids, such

as vinegar or lemon juice and

oil or butter, can be whisked or

blended to create an emulsion,

but they’ll soon separate unless

you add a third, emulsifier

ingredient, typically egg yolk

or mustard. Always start by

mixing the watery ingredient

and emulsifier and combining

well before gradually whisking

in the fatty element.

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s s s t b 8 A a p w h a f r m m a e s

Filleting a fish

Spatchcocked

chicken

After 20 minutes in the kitchen at

home I haven’t usually got further

than pouring a drink. In the

MasterChef studio, after barely 25 I

had plated the whole thing up,

needlessly clearing up as I went along

out of habit, and warming the plate,

because a warmed plate is the bedrock

of a civilised society and not enough

people seem to realise it.

Why does nobody warm the plate

on MasterChef? All that food must be

stone-cold by the time poor Wareing

eats it. It worries me. Mine, I decide,

eyeing my plate, might be inedible, but

at least it will be hot.

So I walk the walk, up to where

Wareing waits to give his verdict.

He takes the smallest amount of mash

I have ever seen a man eat, tries a

little of the sausage and a spoonful

of what he calls gravy and I call an

offence against sausages. It tastes nice

enough, but it’s more of a watery

onion relish.

“The sausage is a good colour. You

can taste the vinegar and the mustard

in the gravy,” he says, tactfully glossing

over the absence of honey. “Although

a bit more ale would have been nice. I

think you’ve had a very good start in

the kitchen,” he adds, just as though I

were a contestant, then delivers his

ultimate MasterChef compliment. “I

would eat that.”

Never has the faintest of culinary

praise made me more proud. I briefly

consider telling him what I think of his

gravy, then decide against. Quit while

you’re ahead, I think to myself. And

while we both still have hair.

contestants are filmed walking into

the studio and waiting nervously in

the green room turns out to be a little

patch of the 18th century just behind

Tesco, next to a railway line, and a few

hundred yards from the A12, where

HGVs thunder up and down.

The waiting room is decorated with

plastic house plants, a pot of fake pens

glued into a jar, a copy of Patisserie

Made Simple and, for some bizarre

reason, the classic French novel Le

Grand Meaulnes. The studio groans

with plastic herbs, manky-looking

preserved lemons and doors that are

supposed to be caught by a magnet

when I fling them wide, as instructed,

but instead bounce straight back and

nearly clobber me in the face.

I adjust my chef’s whites, stand at

my workstation in front of an

induction hob for the first time in my

life, and set about raising my bangers

and mash game from Wetherspoons to

Michelin-starred. I instantly panic

when I realise I’m frying the sausages

in the big pan that would be better

suited to the onions, which are

crammed into a small one. “You could

swap them over,” Wareing suggests

gently. I forget to use the honey in the

sauce, turn the potato into something

both gluey and lumpy, and balk at

flaming the brandy altogether. Putting

me in sole charge of a blowtorch and a

tower of naked flame seems unlikely

to end well, I tell him. More to the

point, my fringe isn’t insured. In the

end he holds the pan, I aim the

blowtorch, he shouts, “Now!” and we

both keep our hair.

by fire: MasterChef ’s skills test

COVER AND BELOW: GREY HUTTON FOR THE TIMES

fl d lki it After 20 minutesinthekitchenat