Inspiration comes from everywhere these days and social media is no exception. I live in an amazing community. One that has online groups to share important news of neighbourhood restaurant openings, local break-ins and general help when a neighbour is in need. Yesterday, a neighbour asked for some help with dinner and about 30 minutes later she had a selection of recipes and recipe ideas to choose from. It was the first time I had seen recipes being shared and I thought it was incredible.
Now that’s an amazing community!
While perusing some of the advice and recipe ideas, I realized that some of the advice differed from the techniques I teach. I thought today I would share one of my favourite techniques again.
f-word
When I first started working in the culinary world, it was frightening. Surrounded by cooking veterans and even some legends, I never wanted to mess up. But I did. And thankfully I learned.
Generally speaking, young cooks starting in professional kitchens follow similar paths; they start by peeling potatoes and carrots and then hopefully within a few months they get promoted to the salad station and then to the sauté or grill station. To quote a line from Coming to America, (one of my favourite movies), “and that’s when the big bucks start rolling in!” Although the money wasn’t great, it was certainly where most of the action was happening.
I remember cooking at East City Grill, one of the top restaurants in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. I had been there for a few months and had done my time peeling vegetables and was on the salad and appetizer stations. It was time for my big promotion to the sauté station. But my first night on the hot line I made a huge mistake. I threw away the fond. Thankfully, I was given the chance at redemption on night two and I succeeded. The technique I learned then I still use today.
So, if you’ve taken a Clean (your) Soul Food cooking class you know that I have a favourite four-letter ‘f’ word, FOND.
what the fond?!
When you watch a cooking show on television and the chef removes the pan from the heat and adds wine, stock or various other liquids, they are adding the liquid to remove the fond.
I explain fond like this; when you sear a chicken breast or sauté onions or even fruit in a pan, small bits of food stick to the bottom during the caramelization process. Those bits of food are fond and FOND IS FLAVOUR!
Fond, literally means ‘base’ and for good reason. It is the base for all pan sauces, braises, stocks and soups.
To take full advantage of fond you add liquid to the warm pan. Using a heat-proof spatula or wooden spoon gently scrape the bits of food from the pan and create unparalleled flavour. Often, in my cooking classes I demonstrate this by using water which reassures my students that they too can create amazing flavour by employing simple techniques.
To my neighbours making quesadillas the other evening I suggest you prepare your fillings this way; sauté your beef, chicken or fish and cook to your desired temperature. Remove from the hot pan and add your sliced peppers and onions. Sauté the vegetables for a minute and add ¼ cup (60 mL) liquid (stock, wine or water) to the pan. Using a spatula or wooden spoon remove the fond from the pan and serve immediately.
Good fond makes great food! And cooking great food is not only about recipes but using good technique. This one is a game changer.
Chef Jordan Wagman
