4 Things Restaurant Chefs Wish They Could Tell You
We chatted up the pros to find out what they're really doing in their kitchens—and how you can steal their moves.
By Lynn Andriani
Photos: Thinkstock
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You Don't Need to Always Start with Olive Oil
Home cooks tend to rely on olive oil for sautéing foods (understandably, since many recipes advise them to), but, says
chef Robert Irvine, who has appeared on
Restaurant: Impossible, chefs often do the bulk of their cooking with another oil, such as canola, grapeseed or safflower, and save the olive oil for finishing dishes. Those other oils have a higher smoke point, so you can get the pan and the oil very hot, which helps give whatever you're cooking—say, a chicken breast or fish fillet—a nice browned crust, without it absorbing tons of oil. Halberg prefers to save his high-quality olive oil for drizzling over food just before serving, to give it a little extra flavor (and, if it's a pasta dish, to help cheese adhere to the noodles).
Published 12/02/2013
