On Food and Cooking

(Barry) #1

which react with each other in the complex
browning reactions to darken the color to a
deep red-brown and generate rich, fascinating
flavors reminiscent of parmesan cheese and
even tropical fruits! Bottarga is now a
delicacy, sliced paper-thin and served as an
antipasto, or grated onto plain hot pasta.


Light Salting: Caviar It turned out that
salting has even more to offer when applied
sparingly to loose, moist fish eggs. A small
dose of salt triggers the action of protein-
digesting enzymes in the egg, which boost the
levels of taste-stimulating free amino acids. It
also triggers another enzyme
(transglutaminase) that cross-links proteins in
the outer egg membrane and helps toughen it,
thus giving the egg more texture. By
generating a brine that gets drawn into the
space between the outer and yolk membranes,
salt plumps the egg, making it rounder and
firmer. And by changing the distribution of

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