REHEATING OF FOOD-RECHAUFFE COOKING

 REHEATING OF FOOD-RECHAUFFE COOKING

                   Although freshly cooked food is better than reheated food, in the interests of economy and food management, reheating of food forms an important part of cooking, A clever cook should take pride in seeing that the second appearance is appetizing and that the maximum amount of nourishment is retained.

                          Great care must be taken in reheating food, particularly meat. Since it is already cooked, further cooking will toughen the fibres and harden the proteins, thus making the food indigestible. Therefore, the first rule is never recook, only reheat.

           Food may be warmed in a moderate oven if carefully covered. If the vessel containing food can be placed in a tin containing water, overdrying is prevented. Steaming is one of the best methods of reheating as the heat is gentle and does not dry the food. A covering is necessary to prevent the condensed steam from falling on the food. Frequently it may be necessary to do more than just reheat and, therefore, an ingenious cook must find ways and means of using up cooked food to make new dishes. e.g. cutlets, minced coilops, shepherd's pie, hash, and curry can be made without having to recook.

Rules for reheating food

i ) Never recook, only reheat.

(ii) Make use of all scraps of food eg., vegetables, sauces, gravy, ote but be sure that they are absolutely fresh.

(iii) Remove gristle, bone and skin but not fat unless in excess because fat helps to keep the food moist.

(iv) Divide finely so that flavouring and seasonings can penetrate quickly and the food can be reheated quickly to avoid recooking.

(v) Cook any ingredient such as vegetables before adding it to the food that has to be reheated, e.g, if a cutlet has to be made from rest, the potatoes should be boiled first and then mixed for binding. The short, quick reheating does not allow time for the cooking of raw ingredients.

(vi) Additional moisture is always necessary in the form of sauce or gravy as most of the original moisture will have been remove.

(vii) A binding is essential for croquettes, rissoles, ete, brut see that the binding in properly cooked before being added, eg., as with Panada.

(viii) Cooked meat and fish become insipid when cold. So they must be carefully sensoned and flavoured in rehenting. Ment is improved by the addition of ham tongue, anted meat, onions, tomatoes, mushrooms, curry paste and fresh vegetables, while fish improved by the addition of lemon juice, parsley and other mixed herbs.

(ix) It is often necessary to coat food to protect it from direct heat and therefore, merely reheat e.g.

(A) Covering with potato as in shepherd's pie.

(b) Coating with egg and breadcrumbs.

(c) Enelowing in pastry as in mutton patties.

(d) Enclosing in batter in pan rolls.

(x) Dish daintily and garnish neatly. 

(xi) Serve with a good gravy ar N tharp ave ann Accompaniment.

(xii) Serve hot. Half-warmed, oriented food is far from appetizing.