spicy sauces

Ugly Veggies

BUTTER

HANDMADE

WHAT’S COOKING AT THE CIA?

Here at The Culinary Institute of America, we’re showcasing recipes to pair with some of the most re-cent prominent food trends. Why are butter, spicy sauces, and “ugly” vegetables a hot topic of conver-sation? Find out here, and then try them out in your kitchen!

Butter

Maître d’Hôtel Butter

RECIPE VIDEO

Butter is making a comeback. After years of moving away from butter (for fear of its saturated fat and cholesterol) in favor of butter substi-tutes, professional and home cooks alike are returning to traditional ingredients such as butter thanks to culinary discourse about “real” food.

Butter is made by churning fresh or fermented cream or milk until the butterfat and buttermilk separate. You can make butter at home with a stand mixer or even a hand mixer. All it takes is the time and patience to process good-quality cream until the liquid transforms and separates into solid (butterfat) and liquid (butter-milk). Then you simply drain off the buttermilk and knead the butterfat into a solid mass.

Spicy Sauces

Charmoula with Grilled Vegetables

RECIPE VIDEO

Sriracha is finding its way into more American refrigerators and all manner of foods. The spicy Thai chili sauce has become popular for adding flavor to everything from scrambled eggs to potato chips. Now that sriracha has become ubiquitous, chefs and food lovers are looking for the next big thing in spicy sauces.

Some are going the route of the sweet and spicy, such as hot sauce paired with honey, while others are delving into the sauces of other cuisines apart from Asian. One such sauce is charmoula. Traditionally used as a fish marinade in North Africa, classic charmoula is made with cilantro, garlic, lemon, and spices, and can be used to top everything from vegetables to fish.

Ugly Vegetables

Celeriac and Tart Apple Salad

RECIPE VIDEO

If you were to search the web for “ugly vegetables,” you would surely read about a trend in Europe where supermarkets are selling misshapen fruits and vegetables at a deep discount in an effort to combat food waste. While this is a noble initiative to be commended, it’s not the one we’re talking about here. For our purpose, ugly vegetables refer to unusual root veggies such as celeriac (a.k.a., celery root) and kohlrabi.

While these culinary diamonds in the rough may not be runway-ready off the supermarket shelf, they can be prepared in a myriad of ways and are a wonderful addition to daily meals, especially in the winter, when summer vegetables are less available and more expensive.

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