Round Fish

What is the common British English word that the Brits use to talk about reviewing for a test? I guess it's not important, but I've been thinking about that word only because I have a test this Monday. It'll be my third test, yet I feel a bit unprepared and unsure of myself with this one.  Anyways, I'm going to use this blog post to "review" for my test.

On the Fifth Day, God Made Fish... And all of mankind said, YUM.

In this lesson, we focused on heat and how it affects food:
How does it affect food? One important aspect of heat on protein is that proteins denature, or break down, and they coagulate, or knit new bonds with each other and with sugars. The food may change in texture, appearance, or even taste, depending on how much heat is applied. So another principle that we are revisiting is Maillard reactions. This time, it's important to note that 250ºF is an important number. At 250ºF, sugars and amino acids start bonding, forming new unstable molecules that continue to change with more heat. We see surface caramelization, or browning, and find flavors intensifying as proteins denature and coagulate. As for starches, when they are heated between 150ºF~212ºF, they absorb nearby water, soften, and become a less opaque, or they gelatinize. That's why starches are a good way to thicken a soup or to bound a sauce. Heating food with a lot of water in them will find its texture and flavor to change due to water evaporation. And heat allows fats to be a good cooking medium for browning foods, and retaining moisture during cooking.

• Heat denatures proteins and helps with coagulation.
• Heat facilitates the Maillard reactions between protein and carbs, starting at 250ºF, causing browning and enhancing flavor.
• Heat causes gelatinization of starches at 150ºF~212ºF.
• Heat evaporates the water in food, leading to texture and flavor changes
• Heat allows fats to be a great cooking medium for browning foods, and retaining moisture.

There are three types of heat transfer: conduction, convection, and radiation. Conduction requires direct contact. Convection sees the transfer of heat from one place to another by the movement of fluids. Radiation is energy emitted by matter as electromagnetic waves.

Various combination of heat transfer is used to cook. There are three cooking technique categories: dry, moist, and mixed. Dry will brown the food, whereas moist will heat food quicker, while supplying flavors from other ingredients.

• Dry technique: grilling, frying, baking, and broiling
• Moist technique: boiling, simmering, and poaching

There are many different ways to categorize fish. One way is by their fat content. Lean (demersal), medium, and fatty (pelagic). Another way, and for the purpose of this course, we classify fish based on their skeletal structure: round fish or flatfish.

When choosing a fish, check the following: (F.AGES)

• Firm flesh? a firm and intact stomach; a tightly closed anal cavity; firm and resistant to the touch
• Appearance? Shiny and brilliant, scales in place
• Gills? Bright red, moist and full of blood
• Eyes? Bright, shiny, and convex eyes
• Smell? a clean, fresh odor; fish that smells of the water it came from; should not be "fishy"

Then process the fish by dressing it (or scaling, plucking, or otherwise cleaning fish, poultry, or game):

• Remove fins (Fins)
• Scale the fish (Scales)
• Open the belly from the anus to the gills (INnards)
• Remove the gills and the entire intestinal tract (Gills)
• Thoroughly rinse the belly cavity with cold water (Rinse)

Remember to S.IN.G F(orward)/R(everse). In class, everything was pretty much done for us. We only had to remove the fins and the gills.

Round fish are cut into fillets (boneless sides), darnes (steaks, a cross section cut with the vertebra intact), and tronçons (multiple steaks).  To be honest, I still don't get what a tronçon cut would be. I googled it, but I'm not clear.

And we cooked fish in two different methods.  One method was en papillote. A fillet of lean, white fish, like a bass, which had been skinned, was used. On a piece of parchment paper, we placed tomato fondue and mushroom duxelles. We then placed the fillet, which had been in refrigerated with vegetable oil, salt, and thyme sprig, on top. Then on top of that a vegetable garniture, consisting of julienne of carrots, leeks, and celery cooked à l'étuvée, was place. A bit of white wine and garniture juice was splashed on top. The parchment paper was folded over the fish and sealed with the beaten egg whites.  The papillote was then placed in the preheated (450ºF) oven for about 7 to 8 minutes. The papillote should be completely puffed up. The techniques involved in this are baking, braising, and steaming.

The other method was a variation of the à la meunière, or the miller's wife's style. Here, we pan-fried a fillet of trout, skin intact and lightly floured only on the skin side, in butter. Once the fish has been cooked, a whole lot of butter is added to the pan and browned to the noisette (hazelnut) stage. That butter is called beurre noisette. We then added lemon juice and capers to the beurre noisette, to make this dish a poisson à la grenobloise. We sauced up the fish and topped it with diced lemon flesh and croutons.