5 things we've learned about cooking that you wouldn't believe

You thought you knew everything there was to know about cooking? No way! Stéphane Lagorce, former chef de cuisine trained at Jean Delaveyne's, agricultural engineer and professor of Food Science, challenges our beliefs with his new book "Le Grand Précis de Cuisine Pas Pareille : Voyage au center du fourneau". 272 pages of knowledge, humor and anecdotes, including a few examples!

"Cooking is much more than recipes" - Alain Chapel

Combining potty humor and scientific rigor was no mean challenge, but Stéphane Lagorce takes great pleasure in doing so in his new book: "Le Grand Précis de Cuisine Pas Pareille: Voyage au center du fourneau". Chefs, students, initiates, laymen... Whatever your level, you're sure to discover hitherto unknown tips and explanations. Be warned: "this is not a cookery book, but a book of culinary natural sciences". According to him, cooking is first and foremost physics and chemistry, and so "to cook instinctively, spontaneously, you need to understand the culinary matrix ". Behind this grandiloquent term simply lies the scientific deconstruction of a dish. We'll leave you to discover all this on page 96.

Just remember this: it's perfectly possible to create refined cuisine with passable (but fresh nonetheless!) products. On the other hand, beautiful products can be transformed into ordinary foods in no time at all. That's why "tounderstand the matrix is to understand a large part of the recipe, and therefore to be able to master it, improve it, make it your own". Logical, isn't it?

5 things you didn't know about cooking

1. The fatter the fish, the drier it is

The lipid content of a given fish is inversely proportional to its moisture content. The result: the fatter the fish, the drier it is. Fatty fish are therefore drier than others, and conduct heat less well. This has consequences in the kitchen, since the more water a product contains, the faster it cooks. Hence the need to cook oily fish aggressively (by grilling, pan-frying or deep-frying).

2. Here's why Brussels sprouts aren't popular

With bad memories of the canteen for a large part of the population, Brussels sprouts are not the most popular plant... The reason is that "we often harvest both old (at the bottom of the plant) and immature (at the top) sprouts at the same time. And we cook them at the same time, with the result that some cabbages are overcooked and mushy, while others remain hard! The solution? Pick cabbages as they grow.

3. How best to retain the flavour of garlic?

• What we do: by cutting the clove, we decompartmentalize the cells, which leads to contact between the different substances, resulting in more reactions and unpleasant flavors.
• The result: garlic's (normally delicate) flavour is denatured.
• The solution: cut and eat without delay. But be careful, cutting must be done with a sharp knife. Garlic chopped with a sharp knife develops fewer sulphur compounds.
• Bonus: contrary to popular belief, keeping garlic in the fridge is a good idea. "You slow down the biochemical ripening reactions that lead to germination and the appearance of undesirable flavors".

4. A good purée is a question of particles

What is a purée? It's a serum rich in water and pieces of mixed vegetables that are amalgamated by this serum.
What determines the quality of a vegetable purée?

• The proportion of serum to vegetable chunks: By draining the vegetables to a greater or lesser extent after cooking, and by cooking them in water or by other means (oven, steam), in order to encourage or discourage the water they absorb during cooking. Whether or not to add a little water to the purée.
• The size of your vegetable chunks: By blending for longer or shorter periods, and at a faster or slower speed. High-speed shearing (above 1500 rpm) and long shearing times create very small objects.
• Their shape: The shape of the vegetable micro-objects has a major influence on the final texture of the purée. To put it bluntly, the objects created by a potato masher or a blender are not at all the same shape.

5. Lid or no lid?

Using a lid does two things: it speeds up the temperature rise, and it keeps the dish warm.

• With a lid: temperatures are low, but the flow of heat is very intense because of the steam trapped in the device. The result: food cooks very quickly, even if it doesn't color.
• Without lid: heat is higher but only localized at the bottom of the container, as there is no water or steam to conduct it. As a result, food colors but doesn't cook through, or cooks very slowly.

Want to find out more? Visit www.homo habilis.eu or go to a bookshop to buy "Le Grand Précis de Cuisine Pas Pareille : Voyage au center du fourneau" by Stéphane Lagorce.
On sale at www.homo habilis.eu and in bookshops for 35 euros.