The best thing that ever happened to me was finishing off some caramelized pork slabs in the cast iron pan…
I put some aged white cheddar, turn the heat off, and put the top of the pan on just to do a quick cheese softening… Well of course I forgot about it and left the room
30 minutes later I came back when my stomach was rumbling, lifted the pan lid and realized that the cheese had melted off the pork and onto the pan. There was just the perfect amount of latent heat, by complete fluke, to perfectly caramelize the aged cheddar into a crispy, greasy disc at the bottom of the cast iron pan.
I have tried to recreate that by frying cheese, and I have never been able to capture that moment of pure tastebud joy and bliss.
Accidents are often the best ways to discover cooking techniques. I remember hearing about a story of a medieval cook who feel asleep cooking his lord’s meat over an open fire. At first he thought his lord would have him whipped or beheaded… but actually enjoyed the roast so much he gave him his own farm!
The best thing that ever happened to me was finishing off some caramelized pork slabs in the cast iron pan…
I put some aged white cheddar, turn the heat off, and put the top of the pan on just to do a quick cheese softening… Well of course I forgot about it and left the room
30 minutes later I came back when my stomach was rumbling, lifted the pan lid and realized that the cheese had melted off the pork and onto the pan. There was just the perfect amount of latent heat, by complete fluke, to perfectly caramelize the aged cheddar into a crispy, greasy disc at the bottom of the cast iron pan.
I have tried to recreate that by frying cheese, and I have never been able to capture that moment of pure tastebud joy and bliss.
Accidents are often the best ways to discover cooking techniques. I remember hearing about a story of a medieval cook who feel asleep cooking his lord’s meat over an open fire. At first he thought his lord would have him whipped or beheaded… but actually enjoyed the roast so much he gave him his own farm!
That was from a documentary in the 90s I believe.