There is no such thing as ‘searing’ meat. Now, celebrity chef’s throw the term around like they do salt and pepper, but the scientific proof suggests otherwise. And it makes sense – if sealing over high heat was required to keep juices within the meat, how could you ever achieve a juicy poached fillet? Heston Blumenthal, in his tome of a book, The Fat Duck, describes how his whole cooking world changed when he started questioning everything we regard as a cooking fact. He started cooking an ingredient like carrot in every conceivable way to taste all possible flavours and textures and in the process threw out many old wives tales with the water.
It was a recent comment on Masterchef that shook up my food knowledge. Julie Goodwin said, “the faster food is cooked, the more flavour is retained.” I thought that you could draw out more flavour by cooking food long and slow. It was time to put my food beliefs to the test.
I decided to make two versions of Carrot and Mint soup, using identical ingredients in identical quantities, only varying the cooking technique. One soup would be designed to cook the ingredients as fast as possible, putting Julie’s claim to the test while the other would be cooked in a more traditional way.
Soup # 1 was made by sautéing onions over a low heat before adding carrots cut in large chunks with the mint and stock and simmering away for an hour.
To cook Soup # 2, my hypothesis was that by cutting the carrots into fine, coin like slices, they would cook faster and according to Julie, retain more flavour. Also, by heating the stock up first, the cooking process would not be slowed by adding cold liquid that would take time to heat up. The mint was to be added at the very end, in the hope that the minty zing would be retained by less cooking.
When both were pureed and ready to go, my family was called in for a blind tasting. The results were staggering: Soup # 2 was dramatically more flavoursome, tasty and delicious than Soup # 1. Soup # 1 was good, but it had nowhere near the depth of flavour as its opponent – Julie was right! The flavour of food is stronger with more rapid cooking, even when you use identical ingredients.
With the finale this weekend, has Masterchef inspired you to get into the kitchen and try something new?
Carrot and Mint Soup
2 Onions
1 Clove of Garlic
1 tbsp Olive Oil
1 kg Carrots
1 Litre Chicken Stock
1 Sprig of Mint
Pour the chicken stock into a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Chop the onions into small chunks along with the garlic. Peel the carrots and cut off top and bottom. Slice the carrots into thin coin-like slices that will cook rapidly. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan and cook the onions and garlic over a high heat, stirring all the time. When the onions are translucent, add in the carrots and continue stirring for 5 minutes. Add in the hot stock and boil rapidly with the lid on for ten minutes, or until the carrots are very tender. Taste for seasoning, adding salt and pepper. At this stage, stir in a few mint leaves and take off the heat to cool a little. Puree with a stick blender or in a blender until very smooth and serve while hot.
© An Original Recipe and Photograph by Chantelle Thompson. Please do not reproduce without permission.
