On food and cooking the science and lore of the kitchen ( PDFDrive ) 292

will kill the bacteria and leave the meat edible for three months.. However, it will still be adulterated meat.. Many consumers set a higher standard than the absence of living pathogens

will kill the bacteria and leave the meat edible for three months However, it will still be

adulterated meat Many consumers set a

higher standard than the absence of living

pathogens and months of shelf life for the

food from which they take daily nourishment and pleasure People who care about food

quality will seek out meat produced locally, carefully, and recently, and for enjoyment

within a few days, when it’s at its best

Cooking Fresh Meat:

The Principles

We cook meat for four basic reasons: to make

it safe to eat, easier to chew and to digest

(denatured proteins are more vulnerable to our digestive enzymes), and to make it more

flavorful The issue of safety is detailed

beginning on p 124 Here I’ll describe the

physical and chemical transformations of

meat during cooking, their effects on flavor

meat well These changes are summarized in the box on p 152

Heat and Meat Flavor

Raw meat is tasty rather than flavorful It

provides salts, savory amino acids, and a

slight acidity to the tongue, but offers little in the way of aroma Cooking intensifies the taste of meat and creates its aroma Simple physical damage to the muscle fibers causes them to release more of their fluids and

therefore more stimulating substances for the tongue This fluid release is at its maximum when meat is only lightly cooked, or done

“rare.” As the temperature increases and the meat dries out, physical change gives way to chemical change, and to the development of aroma as cell molecules break apart and

recombine with each other to form new

molecules that not only smell meaty, but also