SALT, FAT, ACID, HEAT

If you master these four elements, you will master the kitchen

Perhaps you own the cookbook, or maybe you’ve seen the adaptation on Netflix and sat, like many, drooling in front of the TV.

In her award–winning cookbook, Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat, Samin Nosrat breaks cooking down into the four essential elements to guarantee a delicious meal and, in the Netflix documentary, she shows viewers how it’s all done.

This is what you will learn if you watch the series or buy the cookbook:

SALT enhances flavour — or modifies other flavours — and affects the texture of your dish, so you should know the different kinds of salts, how much to add and when to add it.

Like salt, FAT is essential for flavour and texture and is used to create five distinct textures: crispy, creamy, flaky, tender and light.

While not necessarily great all by itself, ACID balances flavour by contrasting with other tastes, like salt or sweetness.

The last element to master —

HEAT — is arguably the hardest one. Heat transforms your ingredients from raw food to a beautifully cooked meal, but can cause everything to go awry if not treated with respect.

Whether you decide to cook your food slowly over gentle heat, or quickly over high heat, will determine how well the other three elements come together in the end.

Choosing the right heat can be a bit tricky, but once you get the hang of it, it will seem like common sense.

As Samin promises, if you master these elements, you will become master of the kitchen.

At the very least, developing a good working knowledge of these elements will help you host friends and family with confidence.