The Difference Between Ghee and Cooking Oil

 You might come across a recipe that requires you to add ghee instead of oil. There isn't a big difference and you can substitute ghee with cooking oil if you prefer.

Ghee is a type of clarified butter that is prepared from cow's milk. Normally, the ghee is made by heating up the butter in a deep pan to avoid spilling. The butter is stirred slowly to avoid remixing the fat. The oil from the butter will eventually separate from the butter.

You will notice that when you cook with butter it will release froth once heated and melted. This froth will be strained so that none of the oil will be wasted and discarded. The leftover oil from the butter will turn into a pale yellow which will be strained to remove any remaining bits and then stored as what is known as ghee.

On the other hand, cooking oil is a neutral and non-polar chemical substance which means that it does not have an electric charge and will not conduct electricity if it is in such a situation. It is also a sticky or greasy liquid when it is exposed to regular temperatures.

The extraction process of oil is dependent on the type of fruit or seed it comes from. For instance, the sunflower seeds are compressed until the liquid gets released. It will also be refined to change the appearance so that it looks like the cooking oil on the shelves. Other cooking oil may also go through processes to change the taste and smell of it thus making it more appealing.

In some cuisines, the type of cooking oil used in the dish is very important. Flavour is important and chefs prefer to achieve unique textures and flavours that are native to their culture.

Ghee is lighter on the stomach because of the way it has been extracted from the butter. There are some people who struggle to digest food because of the viscous properties it may have. With ghee, a person does not have to worry about uncomfortable indigestion.

Cooking oil, however, has properties that can only come from fruits, vegetables and nuts. This means that there are other fats, such as trans fats, that your body needs to maintain a healthy immune system.

Those are the properties and differences between ghee and cooking oil. It is up to you as the chef to decide on which one is best suited to your recipe.

Various Knife Cutting Techniques

 Chopping and cutting might not be the most relevant activity in the kitchen but it can make the life of the chef much easier and the food on the plate much prettier. There are some cutting and chopping techniques used regularly in the kitchen that can be learned by anyone.

• Slice

This is the most basic cutting technique that anyone who works in the kitchen will know how to do. This technique is often used on vegetables such as baby marrows and cucumber. Depending on which fruit or vegetable you are slicing will determine which knife to use, namely whether it should be serrated or straight edged. Depending on what type of dish you are making the thickness of the slice will vary too.

• Julienne

This is a technique similar to slicing but not quite. The style leans more towards the cutting of strips. To achieve this type of cut, you would first need to top and tail (cut off both ends) the vegetable. The seeds will then need to be removed to cut the vegetable into rectangular pieces. After it has been cut into rectangular pieces you will need to cut it into strips along the longer side.

• Dice

Dicing is another common cutting technique used by anyone who works in the kitchen. Chefs often use this technique on onions when making anything from pasta sauce to curries. There are also different sizes that you can cut the onion into depending on what you are fond of. Professionals prefer to leave the root of the onion intact when using the dicing technique. They do this so that they can keep the onion together during this process.

• Mince

Use this technique when dealing with garlic. Many people prefer not to have pieces of garlic floating around in their food but love the flavour. Mincing is a way to get the flavour into the dish without having large pieces in the food. Crush the garlic with the flat side of the chef's knife then constantly chop and repeat until you have miniature pieces.

• Chiffonade

This technique might sound complicated and difficult but it really is quite simple. Chefs often use this technique to create a presentable garnish for the plate. All you do is roll up the herbs or leaves such as basil or spinach and slice them to make coils of garnish.