Enter the world of sous vide. Sous vide means under vacuum in French, but the cooking technique refers to sealing food in airtight, food-safe, plastic bags, and cooking them in a water bath at a controlled temperature for a certain length of time. It is comparable to poaching and slow cooking, but the heat is controlled and there is no loss of nutrients.
Started in the 1970s, it wasnt until early 2000 that chefs started to experiment with it an old-but-new way of cooking initially associated with fine dining restaurants. Now, however, its more mainstream and even available to the home cook.
Cooking the food at low temperatures for longer results in succulent, tender, juicy and flavourful meats, seafood and vegetables. The forgiving technique prevents overcooking and allows for consistency.
While I am an advocate of the technique, not every cut of meat or vegetable tastes best sous vide. It is a dummy-proof way of cooking and rather simple to do, but it still requires an understanding of temperatures and cooking.
Outside of the culinary word, its still rather mysterious and menus often use slow poached to replace the words sous vide to make it easier for customers to understand. If youre new to it, it is likely youve had it before without even knowing it and many of Vancouvers top restaurants and favourite dishes are made using sous vide as a technique.
Its one of Gastowns favourite upscale, yet non-fine dining restaurants. They recently earned a prestigious Four Diamond Rating by AAA and theyre still leaders in the area. About 80 per cent of the proteins on chef and co-owner Lee Coopers menu is sous vide at some stage. The very popular Steak Diane, and my personal favourites, the sweetbreads (pictued below), octopus and warm steelhead are all executed sous vide. Dont worry about overcooked steak, tough sweetbreads, chewy octopus, and dry salmon, they have it all under (temperature) control here.
217 Carrall St. | LAbattoir.ca
One of chef Hawksworths longest running menu item is his 48-hour beef short rib. It is currently servedwith jicama, Chinese long bean, beech mushroom, kimchi, and black garlic, but the execution for the beef has stayed the same. Although I usually prefer short rib braised, sous vide short rib is thinly cut and has a steak like quality. Short rib is an affordable and tough cut of meat, but after a warm 48-hour bath, the collagen breaks down and it becomes soft, tender and incredibly flavourful. This is only one of many items that are sous vide at Hawksworth.
801 W. Georgia St | HawksworthRestaurant.com
So you dont have to go to fancier places to experience sous vide cooking, although executive chef and partner, Dan Olson, (Coach for 2013 Bocuse dOr Team Canada) can cook at Michelin Star levels. Besides The Veggie, all Railtown Café sandwiches are made with sous vide proteins. Since the method uses less oil and fat, their meats are healthier with maximum flavour. I rarely order chicken breast since it tends to be overcooked, but their Chicken Club chicken breast is sous vide and moist. It is topped with 72-hour sous vide bacon, tomato and avocado.
397 Railway St. | RailtownCafe.ca
If youre interested in learning more about sous vide, Cedarlane Culinary is hosting a free sous vide workshop at Dirty Apron (540 Beatty St.) from 11am 12:30pm on Sept. 8. Call 604 879 8588 to book your free spot.
Find Mijune at Feast of Fields at Krause Berry Farms & Estate Winery on Sept. 8, The Grilled Cheese Invitational at Fresh St. Market on Sept. 7, and the Lamborghini 50th Anniversary Tribute dinner at Francescos Ristorante Italia (4 courses for $69) on Sept. 8. Sept. 15 marks the 10th Annual Passions culinary event benefiting the Dr. Peter Aids Foundation at the Dr. Peter Centre. Learn more about Mijune at FollowMeFoodie.com or follow her on Twitter @followmefoodie.
