On Food and Cooking

Poach is a medieval word from the French
for the “pouch” of gently cooked egg white
that forms around the yolk. The original
16th-century form of simmer was simper,
an affected, conceited facial expression,
the connection possibly being the coy
blinking of the bubbles as they begin to
break at the surface. Braise and stew are
both 18th-century borrowings from the
French, the first coming from a word for
“coal,” and referring to the practice of
putting coals under and atop the cooking
pot, the second from étuve, meaning stove
or heated room and so a hot enclosure.
Tough and Large Cuts: Slower Means
Moister Meats with a significant amount of
tough connective tissue must be cooked to a
minimum of 160–180ºF/70–80ºC to dissolve
their collagen into gelatin, but that
temperature range is well above the 140–
150ºF/60–65ºC at which the muscle fibers lose
their juices. So it’s a challenge to make tough