High quality ingredients require less work in preparing, and vice versa
Summary
- Expensive, fresh ingredients require less work to make them tasty
Details
- Sometimes the worst cuts of meat can be made delicious, but often require more time or effort
Reflections
- This principle may work in other things also: Expensive tools and parts are easier to work with, but patience and effort expended on poorer tools may yield superior skills
References
Quotes
That we now think of such peasant fare as fancy or elite, while regarding the tossing of pricey filets of meat on the grill as simple food for the masses, represents a complete reversal of the historical situation. There has always been a trade-off between time and technique in the kitchen and the quality of the raw ingredients. The better the latter, the less of the former is required to eat well. But the opposite is equally true. With a modicum of technique and a little more time in the kitchen, the most flavorful food can be made from the humblest of ingredients. This enduring formula suggests that learning one’s way around the kitchen—knowing what to do with the gnarly cut, the mirepoix, and the humble pot—might still be a good recipe for eating delicious food without spending much to make it. These are skills that confer a measure of independence.