NOTES...

TEXTURE – Whatever the food is prepared in the kitchen, must be consists of perfect texture. A texture as related to food, is not an entity in itself, but rather the accumulated effect of several characteristics or qualities to create an individuality, such as –

a) Appearance

 b) Feel to touch

 c) Softness

d) Mouth feel.

Texture is the terms used to describe the characteristics of a finished food products.  The variety includes some hard and soft in a meal. This is one of the main points that should considered while planning a menu. The menu includes different dishes that have different textures as soft, crisp, hard, smooth etc.

All the above mentioned factors contribute to the concept of texture.

Appearance – It is the first factor in the appreciation of food . The size, shape and distribution of cells (holes) are of prime importance. Ideally, the hole should be comparatively small, slightly oval or elongated and evenly distributed. Large cells produce coarseness to the eye, as in cakes, bread etc.

Feel to touch – The perceptiveness to touch in the food product should be exact as it is desired to be in real. E.g – cake, pastry,biscuits, roasted meat etc.

Softness – It shows the characteristics of texture and the product should possess the resiliency to gradually return to its normal shape as –idlis, dhokla, bread etc.

Mouth feel – Texture involves feels or bite tenderness as  – dry, soft, wet, hard, firmness, crumbliness and short. Mouth feel gives the best result of the dish. Observation and experience in prepairing foods by adding the right ingredients and incorporating and applying the right principles.

There are different forms of texture, which can be seen when the product made. These are as follows –

1)      Firm and close – Raising agents added to raise the food, hence, the volume increased, the holes becomes small and many. The products are crisp not spongy. E.g- biscuits, tartlets etc.

2)      Short and crumbly – The product is short and it should be melt in the mouth when eaten. The right quantity of fat added to get this effect. If more fat is added, and it prevents the mixture from becoming hard and short. It is similar to firm and close texture e.g – biscuits, nankhatai, shortcrust pastry etc.

3)      Light and even – There are plenty of holes of more or less the same size. It is less short than pastry and less spongy than a sponge cake. The product is firm to touch e.g – cake, pastry etc.

4)      Spongy – The holes are small and evenly distributed, as air has been included. It is soft and elastic to touch as in idlis, dhokla,  swiss rolls etc.

5)      Flaky – The products have thin crisp flakes and they are formed by air pockets. The crispiness is due to the method of rubbing fat with the flour. In order to get a good flaky texture, the right amount of ingredients, proper mixing and correct temperature essential required.  E.g – Paratha, patties etc.

6)      Smooth – When a dry ingredient is added to a liquid and the blending results in a smooth texture, e.g – sauces, gravies etc.

Incorrect textures spoils our dish and it should be avoided at the time of preparation. Few of the incorrect texture are  as follows-

a)      Coarse and open texture – This may be due to insufficient creaming of the fat and sugar, or careless mixing of flour, when added to the product. Too much of raising agents also give a coarse and open texture that is not good for our related dishes. So, we should avoid extra or less addition of ingredients in our dish.

b)      Hard texture – The air enclosed has been driven off, maybe due to the addition of more liquid than required, or has not been mixed properly. Low temperature of the oven also spoils the texture.

c)       Soggy texture – This occurs where there is the presence of too much moisture, as it combines the ingredients and the starch gets overcooked and tends to stick, e.g – rice preparation.

d)      Lumpy texture – This happens when the liquid and solid are not mixed properly. At the same temperature , once the lumps are cooked, they are difficult to remove. This texture may occur in sauces, gnocchi, suji halwa etc.

 @ Consistencies – The term consistencies means a particular forms of the food items which are supposed to follow certain standards.  Example - Tomato soup has to be semi thick in nature with smooth consistencies. Similarly, all the food items which are made in kitchen should have a pre-decided and pre-fixed consistencies. In case, if the dishes are not upto the proper consistencies than the dish is term to be invalid cookery.

However ,  there are the other following consistencies  are defined in the kitchen, which are as follows –

1)      Thick consistencies  -  It indicates that the food products should be thick and should pass through strainer in last for the good taste . e.g -   sauces etc.

2)      Semi-thick – It indicates that the food product should be not so thick nor so thin. And it must be pass through strainer as soups.

3)      Thin consistencies – it shows that food products should be in liquid state as water or milk and it should also strained through strainer for final product.  E.g. – tomato  shorba, consomme etc.

4)      Sticky consistency – In this, food product should be thick and sticky means when we will pour it through spoon , it will get stuck to the spoon or ladle. E.g – mayonnaise sauce.

@ Techniques used in pre-preparation :- The word techniques means various ways applied while preparation of food , also called mise-en-place. This indicates that all the activities starting from the opening from the actual start of cooking till it final completness. It should be done in a proper manner.  A good chef will always work in a proper way .

  However, the pre-preparation should be done by keeping in mind the following points, as

1)      As soon as the chef starts his/her work in kitchen, firstly all the utensils and equipments should be thoroughly checked under the supervision of sub-ordinate staff.

2)       If any, incidents occur in the kitchen, should be immediately informed to the head chef.

3)      A proper briefing session should be carried out on a regular basis to avoid mistakes. There should not be any confusion among staff members regarding anything in the kitchen.

4)       The jobs and task should be equally distributed among the sub-ordinate staff members

5)      As soon as the raw materials are received, the sectional incharge should cross check them thoroughly against the menu items to be made.

6)      All the vegetables should be thoroughly washed before cooking. However, the vegetables should not be washed after peeling or cutting. It is done to avoid wastage of nutritive products.

7)      The non-veg materials should be properly washed before using and stored safely before and after preparation.

8)      Keep separately vegetables and non-veg products to avoid contamination.

9)       The starch rich products should be kept in cold water after peeling and cutting, to avoid browning reaction.

10)    Once the mise-en completed , chef should clean their working areas for proper hygiene and cleanliness.

11)    And wastage should be  thrown in a garbage bag.

12)   No cutting, chopping should takes place after the pre-prepartion done and other  cooking starts.

These are the few main techniques , which we have to follow before pre-preparation.