Hi Everyone,
Bruise, bash, chop, crack, crush, grind, pound, smash – are among the many applications we make to ingredients when cooking. As violent as it sounds, these are necessary treatments we must employ at varying times, to extract the ideal element of an ingredient to flavour and enhance a dish.
I know at times it may seem tedious or fussy when a recipe suggests that you crush rather than chop or puree instead of pound. In the larger scheme of things it may not seem important but if you are seeking a certain result in flavour, texture, taste and appearance, then it matters. Specific treatments are about the releasing of essential oils and the exposure of surface area; both of these elements lend themselves directly to flavouring and spicing of a dish – intensely or subtly. There are times when things are to be left whole or cut into large pieces; this determination affects the texture as well as the cooking times, temperature and overall taste of a finished dish.
When it is recommended that ginger be sliced thinly on the bias it means that the maximum surface area from this type of cut will facilitate a lot of the ginger flavour being released. When it is recommended that whole spices be dry-roasted just before being ground, it is to bring the oils of the spices to the surface thus creating an
