By David James Robinson     September/October 2008

Now that some chefs have achieved rock-star status and culinary curiosity has grown among home cooks, chefs are virtually required to stroll through their dining rooms and let guests shake the hand that feeds them.  During these strolls we are often asked a myriad of questions about why we do what we do in our kitchens.  Here are a few of my favorites:
Why do you brown or sear meat?
            Old thinking went that browning meat sealed in the juices by contracting the outside of the meat and capturing moisture inside.  This is hooey!  No more juice is captured by searing meat than by not searing meat.  What browning does do is known as the Maillard Reaction named after Louis Camille Maillard, the chemist who fully investigated this phenomenon in 1910.
            Browning creates and releases several hundred compounds that add flavor and aroma.  It also provides a crust which varies the texture and has intense flavor, in addition it gives you drippings and brown bits called fond which, when deglazed from the bottom of a pan, help make sauces or pan gravy.  The aroma of browning meat—particularly bacon—has been known to convert certain devout vegetarians into ravenous carnivores.
Why is it an insult to whistle in the kitchen?
            Unlike wishing an actor good luck or putting a hat on the bed, whistling in a chef’s kitchen goes beyond jinx and superstition to be a sign of unacceptable passivity by an underling in the kitchen brigade—and in European kitchens is considered the equivalent of a pronounced middle finger to the chef de cuisine.  There is no bigger insult to a Swiss-, French-, or German-trained chef than to whistle while you work.
Why is a sharp knife so important in cooking?
            A good knife is your best friend.  Like Sweeney Todd’s razor, it is an extension of your hand.  You are much more likely to cut yourself with a dull knife which requires much more pressure and effort to slice through an ingredient—and is therefore more likely to slip under the pressure and cut you.  Chefs are also keenly aware of hand fatigue and a sharp, well-honed knife requires far less force and effort to use.  Knife cuts—the smooth, uniform way in which an ingredient is prepared—are the sign of a chef’s skill.  Uniformly cut ingredients mean uniform cooking, beyond being a badge of honor for a chef.  Buy a good knife that feels comfortable in your hand and take care of it.  Sharpen your knives often or have them professionally sharpened.  Wash them by hand and don’t ever put your knives in the dishwasher.
Why do I love cilantro while my friend hates it?
            Cilantro is the most ingested fresh herb in the world. Also known as coriander leaves (coriander seeds are actually the dried fruit of the plant), it contains a fatty aldehyde called decenal which many people perceive as soapy or chemical tasting.  Each of us has a unique palate and physiologically certain people taste cilantro as something wildly unpleasant.  You cannot convince someone with taste buds that are wired against cilantro to like it.  The battle over this polarizing seasoning rages from the table to the Internet.  There is even a web site called www.Ihatecilantro.com where cilantro-haters compare the flavor of cilantro to soapy pennies, doll hair, and gym socks.  That leaves more doll hair for me to enjoy.  The next most controversial ingredient is blue cheese.
What is the most important ingredient in your kitchen?
            After salt and pepper, a good homemade stock is a chef’s best friend.  Stock is made from bones, vegetables, herbs and water gently simmered for several hours, skimmed of bitter impurities and fat, and then strained.  Broth includes simmering meat for a deeper, richer flavor and more robust mouth-feel.   Both stock and broth are versatile liquids that are the lifeblood of fine cooking for soups, sauces, and gravy and carry flavor without fat.  Stocks can be made from veal, beef, chicken, fish (often called a fumet), or only vegetables, and should be mild without too much salt, yet vibrant so that it can be carried to the next step of the recipe.  If you make a batch of stock, you can freeze it in small portions or ice cube trays to thaw and use when you need it.
Why does a chef wear a toque?
            Originally made of starched fabric, the traditional chefs’ hat or toque is almost always made of paper.  The number of pleats in a toque actually used to signify the status of a chef in the kitchen—the more pleats you had in your hat, the higher in command you were.  New York State law requires chefs to wear a head covering in the kitchen to keep hair, sweat and other cross-contaminates out of your food.  The traditional toque has fallen out of favor in recent years, giving way to the skull cap (indelicately referred to as “the condom cap”), the ball cap or the full-head bandana as the new favorite choices of headwear in the kitchen, much to the chagrin of vertically challenged chefs everywhere who enjoyed the extra height of a toque.
            So while there are trends and fashions in food, certain rules always apply.  Paradoxically, no two legs of lamb are ever the same, no two apples taste identically, even water or humidity can vary the results of a recipe.  That is what keeps cooking interesting and keeps me on my toes in the kitchen.  These variables always make cooking an adventure.