Get to know the world’s best white
chocolate. Photo by Claire Freierman |
THE NIBBLE.

But it is!

White chocolate was once not classified as chocolate by the FDA, because it has no cocoa solids (which make chocolate brown). That’s changed.

In 2002 the FDA agreed that the cocoa butter qualified it as true chocolate, and classified this ivory delight as chocolate. The other components are milk, sweetener such as sugar, vanilla and a drop of lecithin as an emulsifier.

White chocolate used to be classified with the chalk-white product called “confectionary coating.” This product, which is made with cheaper vegetable oil, milk and sugar, has no relation to chocolate (and in our opinion, doesn’t taste so terrific—if you think you don’t like white chocolate, you may have been eating confectionary coating.)

• See our review of the best white chocolate brands.
• Find great milk and dark chocolate in our Gourmet Chocolate Section.

Conventional citrus crops are heavily sprayed with pesticides, and a simple rinse won’t dislodge all of it from the nooks and crannies of the rind.

The zest is the outermost part of the rind of citrus fruits (the white part underneath is called the pith). It has both a strong citrus flavor and intense, perfume-like aromatic oils.

To zest a citrus fruit:

They may look pretty, but they’re covered in pesticide. Photo courtesy SXC.

If you can’t get organic lemons and limes and don’t have a spray bottle of fruit and vegetable wash, take a kitchen brush and scrub the citrus thoroughly. You can use a bit of soap, as it washes off easily.

What’s the difference between roast chicken and baked chicken, both made in the oven? One is cooked whole, the other in pieces with some liquid (photo © Mackenzie Ltd..

Both take place in an oven, so what’s the difference between baking and roasting?

They’re the same process: cooking the food in an airtight device, surrounded by radiant heat (hot air) instead of direct flame.

The two words originated in different cultures and became more specific over time—roasting for meats (the genesis is roasting meat on a spit over a fire, which dates back to the discovery of making fire), baking for breads and cakes (which came later—the history of bread and the history of cake).

Yet, there are baked meat dishes—baked chicken and fish, for example. Why are they called baked instead of roasted?

Back to the cavemen: Roasting refers to cooking an entire bird, fish, or large cut of meat (which we refer to as a “roast”). The outer level of the meat coagulates, keeping in the juices (and in the case of poultry and fish, crisping the skin).

Baking takes place in a pan covered with foil or in a casserole dish with a lid. The protein is not cooked whole but is quartered, fileted, etc. A liquid is added to the pan and the cover keeps the steam in. The result is moister and softer than roasting.

Today, the cavemen’s technique of cooking meat over a direct fire—whole or in pieces—is called…grilling.