Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking

If only one lesson from this book stays with you, let it be this: Salt has a greater impact on flavour than any other ingredient. Learn to use it well, and your food will taste good.

A few secret drops of lemon juice will produce creamier, more tender scrambled eggs.

food can only ever be as delicious as the fat with which it’s cooked.

My general ratios for measuring salt are simple: 1 percent salt by weight for meats, vegetables, and grains, and 2 percent salinity for water for blanching vegetables and pasta.

Cooking is part artistry, part chemistry.

A Panzanella for Every Season
Panzanella is the ultimate proof that Tuscan cooks excel at making something out of nothing. Traditionally made with little more than stale bread, tomatoes, onions, and basil, panzanella is as much about texture as it is about flavor. If the croutons aren’t soaked in vinaigrette long enough, they’ll scrape the roof of your mouth. Let the bread get too soggy, though, and the salad will bore you. Aim for a broad spectrum of crunchiness by staggering the addition of croutons. Your mouth will thank you

To make Greek Salad, toss 1/2 thinly sliced red onion in 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar in a small bowl and let sit for 15 minutes. Stripey peel 4 Persian cucumbers, cut into 1/2-inch slices, and place in a large bowl. Add cherry tomatoes, 1 pounded or finely grated garlic clove, 1 cup rinsed, pitted black olives, and 4 ounces rinsed and crumbled feta cheese to the cucumbers. Mix in the onions (but not their vinegar, yet). Season with salt and pepper and dress with . Taste the mixture and add some of the reserved vinegar if needed, then continue as above, mounding the mixture atop the sliced tomatoes. Skip the herb salad

In a small bowl, toss the sliced onion with the lemon juice and let it sit for 20 minutes to macerate

And remember, the richer the food you plan to serve with it, the more acidic the slaw should be

Halve 2 Eight-Minute Eggs () and sprinkle them with flaky salt and freshly ground black pepper. Drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil, and if you like, lay an anchovy filet over each half. Arrange atop the salad.