Fat is flavour. I remember the moment I learned that lesson. I’d recently started my chef apprenticeship at Chez Panisse in California and I was prepping one of the restaurant’s classic dishes: pasta with tomato, eggplant and caramelised onions. I’d made caramelised onions a few weeks earlier – for a galette – so I felt confident I could do it again. Just like before, I heated the humongous pot and added a pound of butter, stick by stick. Once it melted, I added a few dozen sliced onions and a palmful of salt, and I stirred it with a wooden spoon the size of a small canoe paddle. I tended to the onions for nearly an hour until they were the colour of a committed beachgoer’s skin at the end of summer – and sweet to taste.
Expecting praise, I was shocked when Gilbert – an animated, yet serious chef – gave me a disapproving look.
“Did you use butter for these onions?” he asked.
I told him yes.
He bowed his head in frustration. “And what sort of dish were those onions for?” he asked.
“An onion galette.”
“Yes, very French. And what are these onions for today?”
“A southern Italian pasta with eggplant and tomato... ” I replied, tentatively.
“Name some famous dishes from southern Italy,” he said.
“Margherita pizza. Eggplant caponata. Pasta alla puttanesca.”
“And what fat are those dishes built upon?” he asked.
A light bulb switched on. It had never occurred to me that a cooking fat was an ingredient worth considering for its flavour. I realised that entire cuisines are distinguished by their fats. These onions would never taste Neapolitan, because a Neapolitan cook would never use butter. And onions cooked in olive oil would never be right for a galette, because a French cook would choose butter. For the first time, I understood that since fat is the foundation of so many dishes, the choice of it must be guided by the culture I hoped to evoke.
I went on to learn that fat also determines texture, which can be used to excite our palates. Take today’s caramelised onion galette with fried sage. Made with very cold butter and creme fraiche, the crust emerges from the oven both flaky and tender. Flaky because the pieces of butter remain distinct in the dough even after it’s rolled out, then melt in the hot oven to trap steam and push apart layers of dough – which goes on to create flakes. Yet it remains and tender enough to yield to a fork because the creme fraiche has coated the loose flour with fat as it brings the dough together, and this prevents it from growing tough. And then there’s the fried sage strewn atop for a light crunch. Cooked for 30 seconds in very hot oil, then salted and cooled on kitchen towel, the leaves become crisp. Fat can withstand heat well beyond the boiling point of water, which means the water in the leaves quickly evaporates. While it can be explained by science, it certainly feels like magic.
Fat also can be creamy – a quality we seek every time we make a vinaigrette. Consider my tahini dressing below. Pour the liquids together and the heavy tahini will sink to the bottom of the bowl. The oil will float above the lemon juice and water. But whisk the liquids together and the lemon juice and water will disperse into the oil and tahini, creating a hom*ogenous liquid with a new, thicker consistency. This is called an emulsion. It will evenly coat any leaves and offer balanced flavour in each bite. Try it for yourself. You’ll never look at fat in the same way again.
Kale and apple salad with tahini dressing
Serves 6
½ tsp cumin seeds, toasted
Salt
150g tahini
60ml lemon juice (about 1-2 lemons)
30ml extra virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, pounded with ½ tsp salt
A large pinch ground cayenne pepper
2 tbsp iced water
1 tart, crisp apple, quartered, cored and cut into 5mm slices
2 bunches kale, stripped and sliced
50g pumpkin seeds, toasted
A large handful mint leaves, torn
1 Grind the cumin seeds finely with a pinch of salt. Whisk the cumin, tahini, lemon juice, oil, garlic, cayenne, water and a pinch of salt until combined. The mixture might look broken at first, but trust that it’ll come together into a smooth, creamy emulsion with stirring.
2 Mix the apple, kale, pumpkin seeds and mint. Massage the tahini dressing into the kale using your hands and ensure everything is evenly coated. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt. Serve immediately, or refrigerate for up to 30 minutes before serving to allow flavours to come together.
Caramelised onion galette with fried sage
Makes one 30cm tart
240g plain flour
30g sugar
¼ tsp baking powder
½ tsp fine sea salt
115g unsalted butter, chiled, cut into 1cm cubes
85g creme fraiche, chilled
Iced water
For the topping
55g butter, for frying
9 medium onions, thinly sliced
Sea salt
A little red wine vinegar
1 heaped tbsp flour
100g parmesan cheese
1 egg, whisked
24 sage leaves
250ml groundnut or grapeseed oil
1 Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer. Freeze, along with the butter and the paddle attachment, for 20 minutes. Chill the creme fraiche and cream in the fridge.
2 Slowly work the butter into the bowl of dry ingredients until it looks like broken-walnut-size pieces (don’t overmix – bits of butter are good!). This will take 1-2 minutes in a stand mixer, or a little longer by hand.
3 Add the creme fraiche. This may be enough to bind the dough with a bit of mixing. If not, add 1-2 tablespoonfuls of iced water. Resist the urge to add so much water, or mix for so long, that the dough comes completely together. Some shaggy bits are fine.
4 Cut a long piece of clingfilm from the roll. Empty the dough on to it, but avoid touching the dough. Lifting both ends of the plastic, encourage the dough into a ball. Don’t worry if there are some dry bits – the flour will evenly absorb the moisture with time. Twist it tightly around the dough, flatten, and chill for at least 2 hours or overnight.
5 Put a large frying pan over a medium-high heat. Add the butter and heat until it shimmers, then add the onions and some salt (this will draw water out and delay browning initially. It will also soften the onions and lead to more even browning in the long run).
6 Reduce the heat to medium and cook for 45-60 minutes or until deep golden brown, stirring as necessary to keep from burning. Set a fine-mesh strainer over a large bowl and spoon in the onions. Drain in a sieve to remove as much liquid from the onions as possible, then return to the pan. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt. Add a few drops of red wine vinegar to balance the sweetness. Sprinkle the flour over the onions and stir to combine.
7 Roll the dough into a disk, while still wrapped. Unwrap. Sprinkle the counter, rolling pin and dough with flour. Roll the dough out into a 35cm wide, 3mm thick circle. Put on a lined baking sheet and chill for 20 minutes.
8 To assemble the galette, sprinkle the parmesan over the dough. Spread the onions over the cheese, leaving a 3cm rim uncovered. Pleat the crust by folding the outer dough up and over itself at 4cm intervals while rotating the tart. Return the baking sheet to the fridge for 20 minutes. Set the oven to 220C/435F/gas mark 7.
9 Brush the crust generously with the egg. Bake for 20 minutes, then reduce the heat to 200C/400F/gas mark 6 for 15-20 minutes, then to 180C/350F/gas mark 4 for 15-20 minutes, or until done. Rotate the tart as it bakes to ensure even browning. If it browns too quickly, loosely cover it with parchment.
10 Meanwhile, fry the sage. Line a baking sheet with paper towel. Fry the sage in hot oil over a medium-high heat. If a leaf sizzles when it’s dropped in, the oil is ready. Add the leaves. As soon as the bubbles die down (about 30 seconds), remove and spread on to the paper. Sprinkle with salt.
11 The galette is ready when the crust is a deep, golden brown, and you can slide a paring knife under the crust and lift it off the pan with ease. Remove from the oven and allow it to cool for 20 minutes. Just before serving, strew the fried sage on top.
- Samin Nosrat is a food writer, cook and teacher and the author of the forthcoming Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat (Canongate, 2017). She lives in Berkeley, California. saminnosrat.com @ciaosamin
