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The French have perfected the Art of Cooking. I introduce to you, Sous Vide.
I've been doing a lot of research on cooking styles, but didn't know a cooking art from France existed called until I met a friend who introduced it to me recently. OMG, talk about meat that has perfect taste and texture.
Basically the cooking itself is a method of cooking in which food is sealed in airtight plastic bags then placed in a water bath or in a temperature-controlled steam environment for longer than normal cooking times—96 hours or more, in some cases—at an accurately regulated temperature much lower than normally used for cooking, typically around 55 °C (131 °F) to 60 °C (140 °F) for meat and higher for vegetables. The intent is to cook the item evenly, ensuring that the inside is properly cooked without overcooking the outside, and retain moisture.
What you get is evenly cooked meat throughout, no overcooking or overdrying. How would you like a medium rare steak that's cooked to perfection, not just the center of the steak but the entire steak is medium rare?
And if you want to sear or brown your steak, all it takes is 1-2 minutes on a very hot surface to add the Maillard reaction, which gives your steak its initial seared/broiled flavor.
What's a Maillard reaction you ask? Maillard reaction is a chemical reaction between amino acids and reducing sugars that gives browned food its desirable flavor. The reaction is a form of non-enzymatic browning which typically proceeds rapidly from around 140 to 165 °C (284 to 329 °F). The reactive carbonyl group of the sugar reacts with the nucleophilic amino group of the amino acid, and forms a complex mixture of poorly characterized molecules responsible for a range of odors and flavors. It was chemist John E. Hodge, working at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Peoria, Illinois, who published a paper in 1953 that established a mechanism for the Maillard reaction. Cooking, it's a combination of Art and Chemistry. I love both Art and Chemistry.
You will not find a Sous Vide restaurant in the U.S. anywhere, at least none that I know of.
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