A Taste of the Book
Here are a handful of tips from Onions Without Tears to give you a flavour of what's inside. The book has over a hundred pages of these.
The 20-second mayonnaise
A young chef cooking for a group on the River Spey in Scotland showed Ali how to make mayonnaise in about twenty seconds using a stick blender. Place all the ingredients into a close-fitting jug, insert the blender right down, turn it on and count to ten. The rest is in the book.
The saffron test
Real saffron is hideously expensive and easily faked. To test it, put a few stamens in warm water and leave for ten to fifteen minutes. Real saffron releases a golden hue; fake saffron bleeds a strong red, like food dye. Ali learned this the hard way in a Marrakech market.
Crispy roast potatoes
Use a floury potato like Maris Piper. Parboil until the outside is soft but the inside still firm, then drain and give them a good shake in the colander to rough up the edges. It's those rough edges that go golden and crispy in hot fat. There's more to it — the book has the full method.
The lump-free béchamel
A local school cook near Nîmes in Provence shared this trick: instead of the usual roux method, there's a way to make a perfectly smooth béchamel that virtually eliminates lumps. Ali swears by it. You'll have to get the book for the full secret.
Anchovy essence on roast lamb
It sounds unlikely, but rubbing anchovy essence on roast meat — particularly lamb — gives it a wonderful lift. It doesn't leave a fishy flavour at all, just an umami boost that makes everything taste more of itself.
Freeze your butter, then grate it
For pastry, freeze butter and then grate it into the flour. This prevents the flour being overworked and keeps everything cold — the key to a light, flaky crust. It's also brilliant for dotting over a dish when a recipe calls for it.
Chapters include
Every chapter ends with a "Leftovers" section — because waste nothing is a tip in itself.
These are just six tips from a book full of them.
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