De-mystifying Foods- 5 popular dishes

Lots of people love to eat, but don’t understand what exactly they need to make certain dishes. As soon as you know the basis of a dish, you can explore and add in whatever it may be to elevate and bring another dimension to it.

I’ve decided to take 5 popular dishes and/or condiments, and break them down to the base of what they are to make more sense of them.

1. Risotto

   Many home cooks have ‘issues’ with risotto. It actually needs absolutely no cream, milk or whatever else you may think. The very base of risotto is : arborio, carnaroli or any other risotto rice, stock or water, butter, and parm (or an aged hard Italian cheese.) Risotto is one of the only dishes where the rice shouldn’t be washed - this is because the starch present in the rice helps the dish become creamy, thats why no liquid dairy is needed.

2. Carbonara

   Carbonara is famously one lots of people get wrong. The sauce traditionally contains no milk or cream, but is actually made from eggs and pecorino romano. The pork used in it is not pancetta or bacon, but guanciale- a cured pork product made from pig’s cheek.

3. Mayonnaise

   Most people buy ready-made mayo. It’s more convenient and most of the time, it lasts a lot longer than home-made. With this one it’s more about knowing what ingredients are actually used so you’re not buying some product full of filler ingredients that really honestly have no actual good use. Mayonnaise is an emulsification of egg yolks, and oil, with the addition of either lemon or some sort of vinegar and finished with salt, you can also find some mayo’s with mustard added.

4. Chocolate Mousse

   A very famous dessert, often remembered as french.. (but as we know the french were colonisers and did not know of chocolate until the 16th century) This dish is a chocoholics dream. Maybe made of the most basic of ingredients; chocolate mousse consists of eggs - both white and yolk, chocolate - in form of a bar, usually at least 70%, and sugar. The addition of whipping cream into the mix is mostly an American version, it makes the dessert fluffier and airer, whereas the french is a little denser and rich.

5. Sorbet vs Gelato

   Now, this one isn’t exactly 1 dish- it’s two kinds of 1 thing. I’m sure loads of people know the difference, but if you don’t here is the difference: sorbet is vegan, dairy-free, egg-free… the base is made up of a water and sugar solution with whatever flavouring - the percentage of sugar keeps the whole mixture from freezing into a solid block. Gelato is a mixture of milk, sugar, flavouring, and eggs - the use of heavy cream makes ice cream, different from gelato in texture and overall fat content.

Using these bases helps you figure out the best way to make the dish as well as different ingredients you may want to add or replace; whether it’s for flavouring purposes or if you simply just can’t eat or don’t like one of the ingredients.

That said, anyone can enjoy any dish however they like it best; if you love heavy cream in your risotto or some milk in your mayonnaise, go for it.