Chefs Secrets from the Wall Street Journal

by Nicole Weston, Posted Nov 27th 2005 @ 10:20AM

While all of us have had under-seasoned chicken or a side of far-too-salty potatoes, there have also been times when a restaurant has blown us away with the taste of a dish. Sometimes it seems that there are flavors on the plate at restaurants that the home chef cannot reproduce. Do they use expensive, aged balsamic vinegar? Some sort of secret, specially made sauce with a closely guarded recipe? The Wall Street Journal revealed that chefs do, unsurprisingly, have secrets, but also that their secret ingredients are often neither as secret nor as expensive as you might expect.

Specialty foods, particularly oils and spices that are wonderfully intriguing to the palate, are becoming more and more accessible to the non-professional consumer. The goal to achieving that outstanding edge is to find ingredients with a subtle but noticeable impact. In a survey of 60 outstanding chefs, the six best secrets made the Journal’s recommended list.

Pimentón de la Vera: The most frequently appearing “secret” spice, it is a smokey version of paprika made from milk chili peppers in Spain

Pumpkin-seed oil: A deep nutty, toasty flavor distinguishes this unusually colored oil made from pressed green pumpkin seeds. A drizzle on cold foods, like salad (or even vanilla ice cream) can take a dish to a whole new level.

Verjus: A sweet-tart juice made from unripe wine grapes, this chef-favorite is mellower than wine because it is unfermented. It pairs particularly well with fruit dishes.

Vinegars: Aged and reduced balsamics were popular with all the chefs. One of their favorites was Minus 8, which has a rich, mellow raisiny flavor.

Citrus salts: Toss some citrus zest and salt into a food processor and presto: a bright and wonderful way to add an extra bit of flavor to meats and veggies.

Truffle salt: Like citrus salt, this salt has black truffle pieces mixed in with salt. Adding a bit of this to a hot dish will give it a truffle aroma without the expense of using whole truffles.

Filed Under: Newspapers, Ingredients
Tags: condiments