Cooking with Hollywood: Ratatouille 5

In the Ratatouille movie, the little rat has a highly developed sense of smell that allows him to identify different ingredients. If you're not good at this, don't worry about it. I'm not so sure each individual ingredient is as important as being able to sense with the overall combination tastes good. Holding yourself to identifying ingredients is like expecting yourself to be able to able to identify wines like the Expert, Robert Parker. People have different abilities at most everything.

When you’re trying to get your taste mix right, remember to think about salt and acid. They are the two ingredients you can add that will enhance the flavor of the others.

Spicing Foods 5

People often ask me about using wine as the acid component of different dishes. They wonder whether it's OK to use cheap wine and if the type really matters. The answer is yes to all of that. Price is not an issue when it comes to cooking with wine. In fact, you probably wouldn't want to use your really expensive wines when you can accomplish the same thing with inexpensive ones. What matters is the taste. It shouldn't be "sour" tasting or something you dislike because that taste will definitely flavor your dish. I find that fruity wines are the best because they round out other tastes and blend well. Chardonnay in particular doesn't work well because when it reduces it becomes too strong. Choose something that is light to medium weight and fruity like a Riesling (white) or a Pinot Noir (red). Use a white for light colored dishes and a red for dark colored dishes. You would use, for example, a white for a fish sauce and a red for a meat sauce.

Spicing Foods 3

Another product that is a staple in my kitchen is hot sauce. Yes, Tabasco or any other hot sauce that you really like. I even have one that my kids brought from Taco Bell that I really like! Adding a dash or two of hot sauce does not make your dish unbearable hot. It creates a little sensation on the back of your tongue, not even identifiable as "hot". In most instances, people will not even be able to recognize it as a taste. That extra little kick is pleasing and gives the over-all taste more interest.

Spicing Foods 2

The two major things that kick up flavor are salt and acid. By acid, I mean vinegar, wine, fresh lemon juice, etc. Adding a little of each can take your dish from every day to gourmet in an instant. Add these ingredients until you can just taste the difference.

Spicing Foods 1

Learning to cook has a lot to do with learning to spice. Anyone can follow directions and come up with an edible product, but to turn something out that tastes good, you have to check it before you serve it. To me, this is the first commandment of cooking. Taste everything before you serve it.