Food Stuff

Use of a Meat Probe

Use of a meat probe or thermostat to help you gage the temperature of your food is both food safe and helps to get the perfect degree of taste. When inserting the probe do not place it near the bone the reading will be lower. Remember to allow the meat or chicken to stand for 10 mins before carving to allow the juices to settle. The temperature will rise 10° in the centre as it rests.

Temperatures for Beef:
Rare: 140°F or 60°C
Medium: 160°F or 71°C
Well-done: 170°F or 82°C

Lamb: 170°F or 77°C

Chicken: 160°F or 60°C

Turkey: 170°F or 77°C

Time required will vary in temperatures if the meat or poultry is organic or kosher because no water is used in processing. Congratulations to Marg Clancy of Ladysmith for winning the Tajine at our 3rd anniversary draw. A thank you to all who have supported us in make The Worldly Gourmet a success.

Salt & PEPPER

Most meals need pepper and salt but not all are equal to the job, so I thought I would give the reason why they differ!

Salt

• Kosher Salt is pure, from the earth, nothing added, nothing removed. It can be used in any foods at cooking time.
• Sea Salt is harvested from the sea by evaporation. Maldon from UK, fleur d'sel from France. These salts are used as a finisher, as the flavour is lost in cooking plus it's expensive and have more trace elements.
• Rock Salt is from deep in the earth and very ancient, forming larger crystals that need grinding or crushing. Himalayan Pink & Salt Lake are the most famous.

Pepper

Like all peppers the colour has to do with ripeness, green being the lest ripe to black being the ripest:

• Telicherry is a black pepper from the Kerala region of southern India and most prized for the robust pungent flavour.
• Sarawak is a smaller black pepper with a toasted milder aroma.
• Lampung is also black but picked early to keep the essential oils. Much hotter.
• Cubeb or comet tail's are brown with a taste of lemon and allspice used mostly in Moroccan spice 'raz el hanout' and Bombay Gin.
• White Muntok is hot and expensive as it is hand picked the black shell removed and soaked in a stream kept the white colour. Used in cream sauces and soups.
• White Sarawak same as above but hotter and prized it's after burn.
• Pink are picked red then dried slightly sweet and less pungent, mostly from Africa.
• Green are picked un ripened and dried. Usually brined in water or mortared as they will gum up pepper grinders. Mild taste with a fresh bite. Madagascar.
• Paradise Seeds are from the Ivory Coast are not a true peppercorn . Flavour is a mix of cardamom and ginger, hot.
• Szechuan like the paradise seed are not a true peppercorn but a berry from the ash tree, very hot with a citrus flavour.

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