Spending time at my dad and stepmom’s house yields interesting information about food, as they are both passionate cooks. Subsequently, they have a lot of food-related magazines lying around. One of my favorites is Cook’s Illustrated, with its no-nonsense New England-y take on food preparation. It’s what happens when Protestants get their hands on what could otherwise be a very decadent Catholic supper.
The best parts of the magazine are, of course, the delicate illustrations of gadgets, produce, cookware and quick tip how-to (contrast the tiny color photographs on the last page of the issue’s featured recipes, which make the food look very Betty Crocker, in a bad way).
Today’s most fascinating facts and tips involve onions and apples:
#1 Did you know that the way you cut an onion affects its flavor? I did not. Apparently cutting with the grain (pole to pole) makes the onions less pungent than cutting across the equator. Wow! This has to do with odorous substances that are released when the cells of the onion are disrupted. Onions cut against the grain = more disrupted cells. But if you’re dicing them, I guess, all bets are off. (On a related note, I recommend slicing with the grain first when you’re dicing. The onion holds together better when you’re doing your second perpendicular cut).
#2 To keep a cake moist (when it’s underneath a cake dome), place a whole apple alongside the sliced part. The moisture from the apple is like a built-in humidifier.
And one more fact, courtesy my stepmom when I had my “oh wow” moment with the onion, if you chiffonade a basil leaf and want to keep it from going brown when you cut it, slice parallel to the vein instead of across it. This is useful if you’re topping pizza with it, and want maximum decorative effect.
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