Art of cooking smart
Dan Pashman really uses his noodle to help us all ‘Eat More Better’
Think you know how to make a cheeseburger?
You’re probably doing it wrong. The cheese should go on the bottom — at least according to Dan Pashman, host of WNYC’s podcast “The Sporkful.”
His theory is that the closer in proximity to the tongue that ingredient is, the more that you taste it.
“It’s comic in its simplicity,” Pashman says. “The fact that we have a recipe to put cheese on the bottom of cheeseburger is a joke in itself.”
But Pashman takes this and other food tips and tricks seriously, cataloging them in his funny new book “Eat More Better,” (Simon & Schuster, $24), out Tuesday.
“It’s the culmination of five years of working on Sporkful, and the past 37 years of just being someone who really obsesses about every detail of the eating experience,” Pashman says. “You only get so many bites in life, so you want to make every one as delicious as possible.”
Here, Pashman shares some of his favorite food tips to help you make meals as tasty as possible.
PROBLEM: SOGGY CEREAL REAL SOLUTION: USE “THE SINGLE STREAM” TO POUR MILK
The most common way people pour milk on breakfast cereal is a technique Pashman calls “The Drizzler,” which is moving the milk carton around the bowl as you pour, which coats the surface of the cereal. But when you’re eating a cereal that turns soggy quickly, “The Single Stream” is more effective.
Do this by pouring milk into a single spot so as much surface area of the cereal stays dry. Then as you eat, start in one quadrant and eat down to the bottom of the bowl before moving on, rather than eating the top layer of cereal first. That way, some of the cereal stays dry and crunchy.
PROBLEM: UNEVEN BURRITO BITES SOLUTION: MIX BEFORE YOU ROLL
Ever bite into a burrito and just get a mouth full of sour cream (or any one component)? Pashman says there are a couple of ways to achieve bite consistency in a wrap or burrito. One method is to chop and mix x the fillings before they are wrapped. The other is a technique he dubs “The Snail’s Cochlea,” where the cook spreads the fillings thinly across the entire re surface, and then roll the wrap like a scroll to create a spiral shape.
PROBLEM: MUSHY GRILLED CHEESE SANDWICHES
SOLUTION: STAND THEM UP ON THE PLATE
The key to keeping toasted or grilled sandwiches crisp is to place them on the plate vertical vertically. “I hate to spend th the time making a golden, crispy g grilled cheese only to go get a glass of water and have it ge get soggy,” Pashman says.sa “I’m definitely not the greatest science student ever, but I knew it had something to do with condensation.”
To avoid the moisture that collects when the hot sandwich hits the cold plate, Pashman discovered an easy fix was to change the way the air flows around the sandwich when steam escapes — just stand the sandwich up on the plate. No more sog.
PROBLEM: BLAND BAKED POTATOES
SOLUTION: CUT THEM INTO WEDGES FOR MORE SURFACE AREA FOR TOPPINGS
For many, a baked potato is just a delivery device for deli delicious toppings like so sour cream, butter and c chives. But when you c cut the standard Vsh shaped cavity, you end up with two thick chunks so that bites are either little bits of potato paired with topping, or just plain potato. Pashman suggests instead cutting the potato into several smaller wedges to increase “potato-totopping contact.”
But there’s a downside to wedges. Just like how a grilled cheese gets soggy when laid flat, potato wedges have more contact with the plate than thicker halves, exposing them to condensation, and making the potato’s crispy skin mushy.
Pashman says the key is to prioritize what you care about
most — tasty toppings or crispiness — and then prepare your potato accordingly.
PROBLEM: INCONSISTENT SALAD BITES
SOLUTION: SLICE FLATTER PIECES TO FIT MORE ON FORKS
Even if you have all the ingred gredientse ts foro a great salad on the pl plate, Pashman say says, “If you can’t ge get the compon nents together in o one bite into your m mouth, your salad is a as useless as a great novel written in Wingdings.”
The solution is pre-slicing components flat, rather than in cubes.
“Forks are longer than they are wide and can accommodate more food when salad pieces are flatter,” Pashman writes.
He also suggests inverting your salads (greens on top) so when you stab it with your fork, you get lettuce at the base of the fork, not on the tip. This means the more flavorful ingredients will be the first ones to hit your tongue (rather than the leaves), and you’ll taste them more.