Watch Out For These Two Flavor Fighters! Burnt Burt is always burning all of his dishes, because he is so impatient! Because he is so impatient, he is always using super high heat when cooking all of his dishes. Th is causes him to burn everything! Don’t be like Burnt Burt. Always use a medium […]
Category: Culinary Theory
Lesson 11: Knives and Knife Cuts
Knives and Knife Cuts Knives There are 4 knives that you absolutely must own. They are: 1 Chef ’s Knife A chef’s knife is the most versatile tool in your kitchen. It slices. It dices. It chops. It minces. It can do just about everything. Think of your chef’s knife as an extension […]
Lesson 10: Picking Kitchen Cookware
Not all equipment is created equal! The first thing you should know about kitchen equipment is that price does not always dictate quality. In home goods, most items are priced based on the brand name, color, and material they are made of. If you can get your hands on a good set of restaurant grade […]
Lesson 8: Basic Ingredients You Should Always Have In Your Kitchen
Basic Ingredients You Should Always Have In Your Kitchen It’s time to start discussing the actual cooking part of the cooking experience. But before we do this, let’s make sure that we have the right basic ingredients in our kitchen at all times so that we can guarantee a fun and stress free cooking environment. […]
Lesson 9: MSG, Miso, Soy, and Umami
MSG, Miso, Soy, and Umami Welcome to Chef Ryan Callahan’s personal website dedicated to the discussion of food, flavor, cooking techniques and the people inside of the restaurant industry! If you came here looking for whether or not Miso contains MSG then you came to the right place. After reading this you’ll be fully informed […]
Lesson 7: Learn Your Own Palate
Learn your own palate! Understanding the simple culinary theories on flavor is very important. By understanding flavor and its root, you can begin to understand how to develop flavors you love and learn to omit, augment, or modify flavors that you don’t like. Many dishes or recipes may also contain a food that you may […]
Lesson 6: The Other Senses (Sight, Sound, Touch)
The Other Senses (Touch, Sight, Sound) Touch Touch is a sense that is even more involved in the sensory experience of food than most people would even realize. After sight and smell, touch has the largest impact on whether someone enjoys eating a food or not. Touch is typically expressed as texture in your mouth. […]
Lesson 4: Herbs and Spices
Herbs and Spices Now that we are familiar with taste, its complexities, and the basics of our other senses, we need to talk a little more in depth about smell. Or, what I call “the nose of your food.” You can make many fantastic dishes with very basic ingredients, like kosher salt, MSG, black pepper, […]
Lesson 3: Mixing the 5 Flavors
Mixing the 5 Flavors Now that we have a basic understanding of the 5 flavors as they exist independently, we now need to discuss the interactions that 2 or more flavors have while interacting simultaneously. Secondary Flavor Senses Now as we are trying to build our Roundness of Flavor, it is important to keep in […]
Lesson 5: Aromatics
Aromatics Something like 90 percent of all experiences that you have with food are actually nasal related. This is super important to know, because embracing the role that your nose plays in the eating experience will enable you to create richer, fuller eating experiences. As I have previously pointed out, it is the smell of […]
Lesson 2: Taste and the 5 Flavors
Taste and the 5 Flavors Taste itself, is in reality only a small fraction of the sensory experience of cooking and eating. What you actually taste when you eat are 5 primal flavors which are: salty, savory, spicy, sour, and sweet. Each one of these basic taste sensations lends itself as a piece of the whole […]
Lesson 1: What is Flavor?
What is flavor? And how do we experience it? If someone were to ask you to define the idea of flavor to someone who had never eaten before, how would you describe it? Would you aim for the scientific concept of the action of chewing and the detection of chemical compounds and flavors by the […]