Prepreparation Part 8

Putting things together (continued)

Mar, is a general term that includes the other five, which refer to specialized kinds or ways of mixing. Mixing also includes less specialized processes of combining, such as stirring together chicken, celery, and mayonnaise to make a chicken salad.

Blending is a specific kind of mixing in which ingredients are indistinguishably merged. Milk and ice cream are blended to make a milk shake. The yolks and whites of eggs are blended to make an omelet.

Binding is a process that gives permanence to a blend. Blending is a mechanical mixing, and some blends may not stay blended. To make them cohere, or stick together, as a homogeneous product—one that is the same throughout—you can add a binding agent to hold them together. The binding agent usually changes the texture, too, by thickening the product. Some binding agents, such as starches, require cooking the blend together with the binding agent. Others, such as gelatin, simply require mixing and chilling.

Beating is a particular way of mixing. Beating may also be a way of getting lumps out of a product. Getting rid of lumps in this way is actually another aspect of mixing, since what you are doing is breaking up the lumps and blending their contents into the product.

Whipping is a particular way of beating in which you mix air into a food so evenly that it stays there as part of the product. When you "beat" egg whites for a meringue you are really whipping them.

Folding is a special technique for handling a whipped product to retain the air you have whipped into it. You would fold whipped egg whites into a mixture to make a soufflé, or dry ingredients into a sponge cake batter, for example, or whipped cream into a gelatin mixture to make a Bavarian cream.

Bowls are indispensable all-purpose utensils; stainless steel is the material of choice since it is light in weight and impervious to acid. Whips are used to beat, whip, and blend liquids and semi-liquids; a mixture that is too thick will become enmeshed in the wires. Rubber spatulas are often used in folding, and they are invaluable in scraping out the contents of containers.

Mixing is also done by machine; the power mixer is one of the major workhorses of the quantity kitchen. Mixers come in various sizes, from 5 quarts (5 liters) to 140 quarts (140 liters). They perform many tasks, using whips, hooks, and paddles.

For efficiency, and above all for safety, follow the manufacturer's instructions carefully. Use the right attachment for the job, the right-size bowl, and the right motor speed for the task. Stop the motor while you are scraping the bowl or handling the product. Don't leave the machine running unattended.

The vertical cutter/mixer is also a mixer, as noted earlier. Similar safety warnings apply. In addition, do not uncover the bowl until the knives have stopped spinning.

Coating

The term coating refers to covering a food with a layer of crumbs, meal, flour, or other fine substance before cooking it. There are several different ways of coating a food, notably dredging, breading, and battering. Let us examine these one at a time.

Dredging means passing a food through a fine dry or powdery substance in order to coat it. A number of different substances can be used—flour, cornmeal, almonds, and others. The key to dredging is not the substance used to coat but the way it is applied. Another term used commonly to describe this technique is rolling. A recipe may read, "Roll in flour," or in cornmeal, and so on. After rolling, the excess is shaken off, to produce an even coat.

Dredging is often used to prepare meats and fish for sautéing. The coating adds color to the finished product and is sometimes used for flavor, as with almonds or cornmeal. Often it is seasoned. A dredged food cannot be held but must be cooked at once or the dry coating will become moist and soggy.

Dredging is often confused with dusting— a totally different process. Outside the kitchen, dusting is lightly removing particles from a surface. In the kitchen it is just the opposite: it is lightly adding particles to a surface by sprinkling them on gently. In baking we dust a worktable with flour to prevent dough from sticking. And we dust corn fritters, French toast, waffles, and soufflés with powdered sugar, mostly for appearance and for taste.

Dredging is also confused sometimes with breading. It is, in fact, the first step of the breading process.

Mizer, Porter, Sonnier, Food Preparation for the Professional, 1978, Page 55

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