Food IQ

1. Master the Fundamentals: Salt, Fat, and Umami

Understanding salt is critical.

Salt is foundational. Salt is one of the few flavors your tongue can taste directly, making it essential for enhancing and balancing all other flavors in food. Using the right amount of salt can elevate a dish from mediocre to outstanding, whether it's roasted vegetables, sauces, or vinaigrettes. Consistency in the type and brand of salt you use is key, as different salts (like Diamond Crystal vs. Morton kosher) have vastly different densities by volume, impacting how much salinity you add with each pinch.

Fat equals flavor. Fat is crucial in cooking because it lubricates the tongue, makes food taste moist, and dissolves many flavor compounds that water cannot. Without adequate fat, you can't properly taste many ingredients, as demonstrated by the difference between simmering chile flakes in water versus oil. Pork fat, or lard, is particularly prized by chefs for its low melting point, neutral flavor, and versatility in applications from pie crusts to tamales, making the pig king among chefs.

Umami enhances taste. Umami, the fifth taste, adds a round and rich mouthfeel that intensifies flavors. Ingredients naturally rich in free glutamates, like soy sauce or MSG, provide this savory depth. Adding a touch of umami booster, like a blend of salt and MSG (roughly 10-to-1 ratio), can brighten flavors in soups, stews, dressings, and marinades, acting like a "contrast slider" in Photoshop to make everything look a little sharper and nicer.

2. Invest Wisely in Essential Kitchen Tools

There is no downside to owning a digital scale.

Scales improve accuracy. Cooking with a digital scale is faster and more accurate than using volume measurements, especially for solid ingredients like flour, spices, or chopped herbs. This precision is particularly crucial in baking, where small variations in ingredient amounts can significantly alter the outcome, preventing disappointing results like cookie muffins. Using a scale also allows for quick addition and subtraction of ingredients directly from their containers, saving time and reducing cleanup.

Pans for purpose. Different pan materials serve specific purposes in the kitchen. Nonstick pans are convenient for delicate tasks like frying eggs or making quesadillas but should be considered disposable and not used for everything. Cast iron excels at holding high heat for searing meat or pan-frying chicken, while stainless steel offers even heat distribution, durability, and cleanability, requiring proper technique to prevent sticking. Carbon steel is a lighter alternative to cast iron, developing a nonstick surface over time and working well for crispy fish skin or griddling.

Versatile cookers simplify. While specialty cookers like tagines or donabes are great, a heavy-sided, enameled cast-iron Dutch oven is arguably the most versatile pot for a home kitchen. Its tight lid and sturdy build make it suitable for searing, shallow frying, boiling, and long wet or dry braises on the stovetop or in the oven. Other useful tools worth considering include a sturdy mortar and pestle for smashing aromatics and making sauces, and a mandoline for uniform slicing (with caution!).

3. Embrace Processed and Frozen Foods Without Guilt

Unless you were dining at Le Bernardin, the restaurant scallops you ate were very likely previously frozen.

Frozen seafood is okay. Modern freezing technology, like individual quick freezing (IQF), allows fish and seafood to be cleaned, portioned, and frozen rapidly on the boat, preserving quality. Most seafood consumed, even at high-end restaurants, has been previously frozen. The key to cooking frozen seafood at home is slow defrosting (ideally in the refrigerator) and choosing recipes with bolder sauces or marinades that complement the fish's qualities while masking any textural imperfections caused by freezing.

Canned goods have range. Canned foods, often viewed as second-rate in the US, are prized specialties in other parts of the world, particularly canned fish (conserva) and beans. High-quality canned tuna packed in olive oil is excellent simply served or in dishes like Niçoise salad, offering convenience and long shelf life. Similarly, while dried beans offer variety and cost savings, there are great canned beans available, providing a convenient option for quick meals without embarrassment, especially when enhanced with flavorful techniques like braising and frying.

Frozen vegetables work. Freezing vegetables can alter their texture due to ice crystal formation, making them mushy when thawed, but their flavor is often well-preserved. Frozen vegetables are perfectly acceptable, especially when fresh ones are out of season or unavailable. They work well in dishes where texture is less critical, like soups, stews, or purees, or surprisingly well in dishes like risotto where the freezing process can actually soften them to perfection, simplifying prep and cutting down on cooking time.

4. Prioritize Kitchen Organization and Planning

Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast.

Organization prevents chaos. Staying organized is crucial for cooking better and more efficiently, especially when pressure is on. Having adequate space to work is key, meaning your bowls should be large enough for mixing and tossing ingredients properly. Clutter on countertops hinders workflow; only essential tools for the current task should be out, with other gadgets stored away to ensure easy access when needed.

Clean as you go. Maintaining a clean workspace throughout the cooking process is vital for efficiency and safety. The sink is a critical tool for washing produce, draining, and discarding waste, but it cannot be utilized if it's full of dirty dishes. Taking a few minutes between recipe steps to clean and put away used items prevents getting overwhelmed at the end and ensures the sink is always available.

Read the recipe first. A fundamental step often skipped by home cooks is reading the entire recipe through before starting. This "mise en place" (everything in its place) approach allows you to gather all necessary ingredients and tools beforehand, preventing mid-cooking surprises like missing items or realizing a step requires advance preparation. Forethought saves drama and allows you to focus on the enjoyable part: the cooking itself.

5. Understand Meat: Selection, Doneness, and Safety

There’s no accidentally eating bad meat.

Flavor comes from work. Less expensive cuts of meat like brisket, shank, or thighs are often more flavorful than pricier, tender cuts like tenderloins because they are well-worked muscles. While tougher, these cuts pay off extraordinarily when cooked correctly, typically low and slow with moisture (braising, stewing) to break down connective tissue. Salting meat in advance is crucial for these cuts, helping them retain moisture and seasoning the interior.

Doneness without gadgets. While thermometers are useful for large roasts, they can be tricky for smaller cuts. A simple technique is to insert a thin metal skewer into the thickest part of the meat, leave it for ten seconds, then press the tip against your lower lip to gauge the internal temperature (ice-cold = raw, tepid = medium-rare, burning = overcooked). Another method is the pressure test, where you learn to feel the meat's firmness as it cooks, comparing it to the feel of your palm when your thumb touches different fingers.

Spoilage has warnings. Meat that is bacterially spoiled smells and tastes extremely bad, making it highly unlikely you would consume it by mistake. Flavorless pathogens exist but cause different types of illness than those associated with spoiled food. Meat spoils from the outside in; a slightly funky smell on the surface can often be resolved with a quick rinse. Ground meat is riskier because the exterior bacteria are mixed throughout during grinding.

6. Demystify "Fancy" Culinary Terms and Techniques

Confit is one of those original and thoroughly old-school French preservation techniques that was widely used before refrigeration.

Stocks build flavor. Dashi, the Japanese equivalent of Western stocks, is a family of broths made from ingredients like kombu, katsuobushi, or shiitake, providing a healthy dose of umami to countless dishes. While traditional methods exist, premixed dashi packs or instant dashi are convenient and widely used. Similarly, bouillon cubes and boxed stocks, often maligned, can be perfectly acceptable building blocks for flavor, especially when the stock isn't the dish's highlight, and modern versions are much improved.

Preservation techniques enhance. Confit involves slowly poaching salted meat (like duck legs) or other foods (like garlic) in gently simmering fat, preserving them while tenderizing and concentrating flavors. This technique, originating in southwestern France, locks in moisture and adds richness. Escabeche is another widespread preservation technique involving marinating cooked food (meat, fish, vegetables) in an acidic sauce of vinegar or citrus, popular globally for its versatility and ability to travel well.

Sauces add complexity. Gastrique is a fancy-sounding French sweet-and-sour sauce made by caramelizing sugar or honey and deglazing with vinegar or citrus juice. This balanced sauce amplifies surrounding flavors and is a great addition to pan sauces for poultry or fish. Emulsification is a fundamental French technique where proteins (like egg yolks or mustard) bind immiscible liquids (oil and water) to create smooth, viscous sauces like mayonnaise, béarnaise, or hollandaise, adding richness and texture.

7. Challenge Food Myths and Snobbery

There’s absolutely zero discernible difference in flavor among salts.

Salt flavor is a myth. Despite persuasive advertising and exotic origins, all salt tastes the same regardless of color or cost; differences lie in texture and crystal structure. Expensive finishing salts like fleur de sel or Maldon are best used for their textural crunch and visual appeal on finished dishes, not for cooking where their unique properties are lost. Understanding this saves money and focuses attention on the functional properties of salt.

Canola oil is fine. Canola oil, a rebranded rapeseed oil, is a perfectly good, neutrally flavored oil suitable for cooking and high-temperature frying due to its high smoke point (450°F), unlike olive oil which has a lower smoke point (325-350°F) and a distinct flavor that clashes with many ingredients. Using olive oil by default is often inappropriate; a good rule is if you wouldn't eat something with an olive, don't use olive oil.

Organic isn't always better. While the organic movement started with important goals regarding environmental and health concerns, achieving organic certification is now a costly process with loopholes allowing the use of "organic pesticides." Often, the quality and taste difference between certified organic and non-certified produce is negligible. Relying solely on the organic label is less effective than knowing your farmer or purchasing from a trusted source based on how the produce looks and tastes.

8. Learn Core Techniques for Better Results

My roasted vegetables never get properly crispy. How do I make that happen?

Crisping requires space and fat. To achieve properly crispy roasted vegetables, cut them into smaller pieces for even drying and browning. Use more oil than you think is necessary (at least ¼ cup per head of broccoli) to facilitate crisping. Crucially, avoid crowding the vegetables on the sheet pan; they should not touch to allow for proper air circulation and caramelization. Using a convection oven setting can also help by circulating hot, dry air.

Crispy fish skin needs patience. Achieving crispy fish skin is challenging due to its moisture and collagen content, which can glue it to the pan. The key is patience and heat management: salt the skin in advance to draw out moisture, dry the fish thoroughly, heat oil in a carbon-steel or cast-iron pan until smoking hot, and place the fish skin-side down. Press gently for even contact, then lower the heat and wait for the skin to release naturally before flipping.

Pasta finishing matters. The difference between restaurant pasta and homemade often lies in the finishing step. After cooking pasta al dente (a minute or two less than package directions), drain it and add it directly to the sauce with a little hot water (or reserved pasta water). Cook together for the final minute or two, stirring constantly. This allows the pasta's starch to emulsify the sauce, creating a rich, creamy coating that clings to the noodles instead of pooling at the bottom of the bowl.

9. The Power of Patience and Time in Cooking

Cooking is all about patience, and just like the microwave, an Instant Pot can be a useful cooking tool.

Slow cooking tenderizes. Tough cuts of meat benefit greatly from low-and-slow cooking methods like braising or dry braising. These techniques, often taking hours, break down tough connective tissues and render fat, resulting in incredibly moist and tender meat. Trying to rush this process is the biggest mistake, as it prevents the full breakdown of sinew and development of rich flavor.

Seasoning needs time. Properly seasoning meat, especially larger cuts or whole birds, requires time for the salt to penetrate beyond the surface. Salting meat an hour or more per pound in advance allows the salt to work its way into the muscle fibers, enhancing flavor and helping the meat retain moisture during cooking, preventing it from drying out. This is particularly important for roast chicken.

Resting meat is crucial. Allowing cooked meat, especially larger cuts or whole birds, to rest after coming off the heat is essential. During resting, the internal temperature equalizes, and juices redistribute throughout the meat, preventing them from running out when sliced. Resting time should be several minutes per pound; for a five-pound chicken, twenty minutes to an hour is ideal for maximum moisture.

10. Don't Fear Raw or "Gross" Ingredients

Cooking with livers and hearts . . . isn’t that gross?

Raw food safety is manageable. While foodborne illness is a concern, it's highly unlikely you'll get sick from properly sourced and handled raw fish or lean beef. Restaurants serve dishes like steak tartare and fish crudo regularly. For home cooks, the key is sourcing "sushi grade" fish from reputable fishmongers and using lean, tender cuts of beef (like tenderloin) for raw preparations, ideally cut fresh by a butcher.

Offal is delicious. Parts of the animal beyond the standard cuts, known as offal or the "fifth quarter," are prized in many cuisines around the world for their unique qualities and complex deliciousness. Tongue, heart, kidneys, and liver, while less common in American supermarkets, offer incredible flavor and texture when cooked correctly. Exploring these inexpensive cuts expands culinary horizons and honors the principle of using the whole animal.

Botulism is rare. While botulism is a concern in home canning, it's thankfully very rare in modern times, especially if directions are followed carefully. Botulism bacteria are anaerobic and can grow in sealed, low-acid environments. This is why home canning typically focuses on acidic foods (pH below 4.5) like pickles and tomatoes, as the acidity prevents bacterial growth at boiling temperatures (212°F).

11. The Importance of Balancing Flavors

Gastrique is all about balance—the more sweet you add, the more you need to counter it with sour.

Salt and acid balance. Balancing salt and acid is a fundamental concept in cooking that fools the tongue, making flavors pop. Adding acidic lime juice to sweet corn or a hit of vinegar to a salty dish creates a vibrant puckering sensation that highlights the inherent sweetness or richness of other ingredients. This balance is key in dishes like ceviche, adobo, and many sauces and dressings.

Sweet and sour harmony. The principle of balancing sweet and sour is used throughout cooking to create complex and crave-worthy flavors. Gastrique, a French sweet-and-sour sauce, demonstrates this by combining caramelized sugar or honey with vinegar or citrus. This balance amplifies surrounding flavors and can elevate roasted meats, fish, or vegetables.

Fat and acid contrast. While fat carries flavor, acid cuts through richness and adds brightness. Dishes like crispy salmon with lemon or braised Belgian endives with brown butter and lemon juice showcase how acid balances the unctuousness of fat, creating a more refreshing and balanced bite. Vinaigrettes rely on emulsifying fat and acid for a harmonious dressing.

12. Master Essential Classic Recipes

Chicken parmesan was Daniel’s father, John Holzman’s, favorite meal.

Scrambled eggs done right. Achieving perfectly soft, creamy scrambled eggs requires patience and low heat, taking upward of twelve minutes. Using ample butter (a teaspoon or more per egg) adds flavor and prevents sticking. The goal is to cook them slowly, stirring constantly, until just set, resembling loose cottage cheese, then plating immediately as they continue to cook off the heat.

The perfect hamburger. A truly exceptional hamburger starts with the right meat: 80% lean ground beef (chuck is ideal) for flavor and juiciness. Form patties and season just before cooking. Whether using a flat-top griddle or open-flame grill, the goal is a deeply browned crust. Condiments and buns should complement, not overpower, the meat, with balance being key.

Chicken soup's comfort. Chicken soup, a cross-cultural comfort food, varies widely but often relies on extracting flavor and collagen from chicken bones or feet for body. While some versions cook for hours, others are quicker. The best chicken soup depends on personal preference and cultural tradition, but properly seasoning the chicken and vegetables is universally important for a flavorful broth.

Last updated: May 22, 2025