Many people think that cooking French food is a complicated process. While there are some elements of cooking French food that are incredibly complicated, like any other regional cuisine the basics are not too difficult to learn and can inspire and compliment your current cooking repertoire. I have found that starting simple when it comes to cooking French food is the best way to go. Start with a few easy cooking recipes and then grow your skills from there. Read on to take a look at some simple French cooking techniques that you can apply to your everyday meals.
The Key To Cooking French Food
The real key to cooking French food is to learn some basic techniques and then develop your cooking from there. The first and easiest to learn is probably broiling. There are two basic methods to broiling – grilling and using the oven to broil. When grilling a piece of meat, you simply cook it on the stovetop on a moderate to high heat. When you broil in the oven, you take the meat, coat it in oil, then cook it on a high heat. While these techniques are not unique to cooking French food, they are used quite frequently.
Next up is sautéing. Sautéing is a French cooking technique that you can use for just about anything. From chicken breasts to pork chops, shallots to onions just about anything can be sautéed. In order to properly execute this technique you need to take a couple of steps. The first is to preheat the pan. Do this by keeping the heat low, so that the pan heats up uniformly. Let the pan sit until you think that it has reached the appropriate temperature. Next you will need to add your oil – usually I use a mixture of butter and olive oil as butter alone burns too easily, and olive oil alone does not have as much flavor. I have found the two together make a great sautéing mixture. Once your pan has reached the desired temperature, usually around 180 degrees, add your oils. Wait a couple seconds then crank the heat up. When the oil and butter mixture gets to be a light brown color, add your meats or vegetables to the pan. You want to turn your meats and vegetables regularly to avoid burning. Do not use a fork to do this as you will pierce the meat and cause the juices to spill out. A spatula or spoon will work much better. Once the meat or vegetables are cooked you want to serve them immediately as sautéed food is best served hot.
Well there you have two simple ways of cooking French food that you can apply to your everyday cooking. Take a look at braising, poaching and flambéing as other ways of cooking French food you can use in your everyday meals.