The Student Chef

Egusi

(Agusi, Agushi, Egushi, etc.) Flour ground from seeds of various species of Cucurbitaceae (the plant family that includes gourds, melons, pumpkins, and squashes, many of which are native to Africa). In Western Africa, the plants and seeds, as well as soups and stews made with them, are all called Egusi, and this is the name most commonly used outside of Africa. In Central Africa’s Congo River region, Egusi is called Mbika. Egusi not only serve to thicken soups and stews, but also add flavor and protein to the dish.

Preserved Lemons

Most recipes prefer to preserve the thinner-skinned, sweeter Meyer lemons, but standard lemons work equally well. To make them, all that is required is lemons and salt.

Wash the lemons well. While holding them over a plate to catch the juice, make four deep longitudinal cuts, evenly spaced around the lemon, effectively dividing it into four sections attached at the ends. Don’t make the cuts so long (going into the ends) that the lemons separates into pieces; you want to keep the lemons whole. (Alternatively, cut the lemons into quarters, leaving the attached only at the stem end.) Pack the cuts generously with salt. Put a couple of tablespoons of salt in the bottom of a jar and pack the lemons in layers, sprinkling a thin layer of salt between each layer of lemons. Push the lemons down firmly to pack them tightly and to help express some of their juice. Finish with a final layer of salt. Pour any juices that collected on the plate when the lemons were cut. Cover the jar tightly. Leave at room temperature for a few days, monitoring the level of liquid in the jar. The lemons should be submerged in juice after a few days. If they are not, add more lemon juice. The lemons will be ready to eat in a few weeks and will keep for up to a year.

Sauté

This dry heat cooking technique is used frequently for a variety of food products. Meats, fish, seafood, fruits, and vegetables can all be sautéed. The sauté technique rapidly cooks food in a pan, over high heat, with relatively little amounts of fat. The juices from the items are collected on the bottom of the pan during the cooking process and are used to create sauces to accompany food.

            Due to the rapid cooking process, the sautéing does not have the same tenderizing effect of moist heat cooking, and therefore, food to be sautéed should be naturally tender. Sautéed foods should be tender to the bite and have a very flavorful and colorful exterior. This is achieved through caramelization of the natural sugars in the food when cooked quickly over high heat. Sautéed red meats and wild game products should have a rich, dark brown exterior when sautéed and delicate fish fillets a light gold color.

            Sautéing is frequently used for vegetables; however, in most cases they are actually stir fried due to their constant tossing or stirring while cooking. Vegetables with a hard texture such as carrots, green beans, and broccoli are par-boiled and shocked in advance. Softer vegetables like snow peas, zucchini, and pencil asparagus are typically not par-boiled but sautéed from the raw stage. Just before service, they are sautéed over high heat in a small amount of fat, usually clarified butter, and seasoning. The process generally takes 2 – 3 minutes and yields vegetables with a rich natural flavor and brilliant color. A variety of culinary preparations frequently call for onions to be sautéed and used as an ingredient. There are two commonly referred to levels of doneness for onions: sweated or translucent and caramelized. Sweated onions are those that are cooked just until the natural moisture begins to escape and the appearance of the onions become translucent. Caramelized onions are cooked until the natural sugar in the onions brown to a dark rich color and possess a sweet flavor.

Procedure—Sauté:

1.   Cut the food into an appropriate shape. Typically for sautéed red meats, the loin cut is used. With more tender white meats such as veal and port, cuts from the loin, rib, and leg are frequent selections. The boneless breast meat from poultry is also a common choice for sautéed items and almost every variety of fish, seafood, and vegetable can be sautéed with excellent results.

2.   Trim the item of fat, bones, skin, and/or silverskin. The skin from fish and poultry items should be removed unless otherwise called for. Fish and poultry should also be free of bones before sautéing. Vegetables should be sliced into uniform shapes and if needed par-boiled in advance of sautéing.

3.   Meats can be pounded and tenderized into thin round shapes referred to as a scaloppini or slightly thicker shapes called medallions.

4.   Season the food item. Complex seasonings and marinades can be used in the sauté process, but care must be taken to prevent the seasonings or marinade from masking the natural flavor of the items being sautéed.

5.   Heat the pan. Sautoir and sauteuse pans are most commonly used to sauté. The pan should be large enough to sauté the food items without overcrowding the pan.

6.   Dredge the item in flour and shake off the excess. This will result in a crispy exterior texture and pale to golden brown color that is pleasing to the eye as well as the palate. Red meats or steak-type fish should not be dredged.

7.   Add a small amount of fat and heat the fat in the pan. To add a more distinct flavor to sautéed items, peanut or olive oil or rendered animal fats such as lard, bacon or duck fat can be used as well as oils infused with flavoring agents.

8.   Place the presentation side of the food into the pan and cook over medium to high heat until nicely browned. If you cannot hear a sizzling sound while cooking, it is a sign that your pan is not hot enough to effectively sauté.

9.   Turn the food once and continue to cook until just before the desired level of doneness is attained. For thicker items, reduce the heat after turning or finish cooking in a medium hot oven until just before done. This will prevent them and the pan drippings from potential scorching.

10. Remove the food from the pan and hold warm until needed.