Comment by jjeaff
Pepín is an excellent chef to learn from. Because most of his recipes focus on technique and simplicity rather than recipe and seasoning. One of the biggest mistakes that I think people make is just not cooking things to the correct doneness at the right temperatures and times. Often people think that a fancy mix of spices and seasonings is what is important. I grew up not liking chicken or pork or steak unless it was in something because I had never had perfectly cooked chicken, pork chops, or steaks it was always cooked to well done and so dry you needed steak sauce. My parents grew up in an era where everyone feared undercooked meat. especially pork. And it's such a shame because I grew up on a cattle ranch. We would butcher a cow for ourselves every year. Grass fed, but lean, and butcher to thin steaks because you can cook them to saw dust a lot quicker that way. Now, I get beef from the ranch after fattening and have it butchered to steaks at least an inch thick and I always cook with a thermometer and usually just salt. A well done vs medium rare steak is such a night and day difference. Same with pork and chicken, although I prefer them both a little closer to medium.
Well done! I mean you got out of the fire and into the fat. Sorry. Oh, I so feel for those sacrificial cows, if they knew how their corporeal selves would be so disrespected.
"I always cook with a thermometer" Not bad, not bad at all, but! I just hardwood grilled another Choice 1" thick steak cut from a full rib roast which was aged a week. Woulda done two weeks but I got hungry. I thought about the thermometer because I wanted perfect (for us 115F, burnt outside, warm inside) but the finger press worked perfect as a doneness detector. Fresh ground Telicherry pepper, salt, and a light marinade of Worcestershire Sauce made for a truly memorable meal. Had some today left over: pepper, salt, and little Worcestershire to moisten it all up. Outstanding. Still gonna go the full two weeks next time.
Now let us talk fish. Or seafood in general. Somebody like Pepín knows how to do those too, and it's quite simple: intensely fresh, cooked to barely done, which is different for say salmon and tuna or an oyster vs. grouper and flounder or freshwater bass or a lobster. No need for fancy sauces or seasonings (blackening, I'm looking at you).
When cooking for family the pork and chicken are still moist and tender, but with guests and modern sourcing they get the dry shoe and a great sauce unfortunately.
I see a lot of people focusing on Julia's videos (and videos in general) but I don't think those were her major contribution. Translating the French culinary curriculum into US vernacular measurements and sourcing, via the books, was her contribution. I stand in awe at how good they are, so many decades later.