Techniques
How it's done
Plain-language explanations of the techniques used in Prvi Zalogaj recipes.
Against the grain
Meat is sliced across the lines you can see in the muscle, so each bite is shorter.
Al dente
The pasta is cooked, but the centre still holds a little under the tooth.
Bain-marie
A bowl sits in a pan of hot water, so a custard heats gently and evenly.
Béchamel
A white sauce of butter, flour, and milk.
Blanching
A short boil, then straight into ice, so colour and crunch stay.
Braising
A sear first, then a long, quiet cook in a little liquid under a lid.
Breading
Flour, egg, then crumbs make a coat that turns crisp in the oil.
Caramelizing
The sugar in onion or fruit slowly turns deep brown and sweet.
Deglazing
Liquid lifts the browned crust off the pan and turns it into the start of a sauce.
Duxelles
Finely chopped mushrooms fry until the water is gone and a dark paste remains.
Emulsifying
Fat and water, which usually split, stay bound in a smooth sauce.
Glazing
A sweet-salty coat cooks onto the food until it shines and sticks.
Gratin
Layers in a shallow dish go into the oven until the top browns.
Infusing
Cream, oil, or stock sits briefly with garlic, a herb, or peel and takes on the smell.
Macerating
Fruit sits with sugar, and sometimes a splash of alcohol, until it gives up juice.
Maillard crust
The brown crust on meat. Sugars and proteins on a dry, hot surface.
Marinating
Meat or vegetables sit in a seasoned liquid so the surface takes on flavour.
Medium-rare
A steak browned outside, red and juicy inside, about 52–55 °C after it rests.
Poaching
Food cooks in water that barely shivers, below a boil.
Puréeing
Cooked food is pushed through a sieve so the sauce keeps the flavour and loses the skins.
Reducing
A sauce cooks uncovered until water leaves and the flavour thickens.
Resting meat
Roasted meat sits a few minutes so the juices settle back toward the middle.
Roux
Equal parts butter and flour, cooked briefly, thicken a sauce.
Searing
High heat, briefly, so the surface browns before the inside cooks through.
Sifting
Flour passes through a sieve so lumps break and air gets in.
Simmering
The liquid is hot, but only a bubble or two breaks the surface.
Steaming
Food sits above boiling water and cooks in the hot vapour, not in the water.
Stiff peaks
Whites whipped until a peak stands up when you lift the whisk.
Sweating
Onion or vegetables soften over a quiet heat, without taking colour.
Tempering
Hot liquid is stirred into eggs slowly, so they thicken instead of scrambling.
Toasting
A spice, nut, or flour is heated dry until it smells nutty.
Zaprška
Fat, flour, and sweet paprika. It thickens a stew and gives it colour.
