On food and cooking the science and lore of the kitchen ( PDFDrive ) 1194

the consistency is very thick, almost semisolid Stirred into a thinner liquid, these reduced creams have enough fat globules to fill it and lend a substantial body Cream reduction and thickening can also be done at the last minute, for example after a sauté pan has been deglazed; the cook adds cream to the deglazing liquid and boils the mixture until it reaches the desired consistency Crème Frche in Sauce Making Reduced creams have several disadvantages They take time and attention to prepare, develop a cooked flavor, and are very rich, sometimes overly so for the balance of a given sauce A useful alternative to reduced creams is crème frche, a version of heavy cream whose consistency has been thickened not by boiling down, but by fermentation (p 49) The acid produced by lactic bacteria causes the casein proteins in the water phase to cluster together and form a network that immobilizes the water Some strains of bacteria also secrete long carbohydrate molecules that further thicken the water phase and act as stabilizers Used in place of reduced cream, crème frche requires no preparation, is less rich, and has a fresher flavor Thanks to its low protein content, it tolerates temperatures that would curdle sour cream Butter Like its parent material, cream, butter is an emulsion: but it’s one of the few food emulsions in which the continuous phase is fat, not water In fact, butter is made by “inverting” the fat-in-water cream emulsion to produce a water-in-fat emulsion (p 33) The continuous fat phase of butter, together with some intact fat globules that survived churning, takes up about 80% of its volume, and the dispersed water droplets about 15% When it melts, the heavier water droplets sink to the bottom and form a separate layer The consistency of melted butter, then, is the ... one of the few food emulsions in which the continuous phase is fat, not water In fact, butter is made by “inverting” the fat-in-water cream emulsion to produce a water-in-fat emulsion (p 33) The. .. strains of bacteria also secrete long carbohydrate molecules that further thicken the water phase and act as stabilizers Used in place of reduced cream, crème frche requires no preparation, is less rich, and has a... The continuous fat phase of butter, together with some intact fat globules that survived churning, takes up about 80% of its volume, and the dispersed water droplets about 15% When it melts, the heavier water droplets sink