Private Chef

{{:mywiki:cooking:thai_common_ingredient.png?1000|}}

  * dried red spure chili, bird's eye chilli, yellow spur chilli, bell chilli  
  * shrimp paste, turmeric, key ginger, coriander roots
  * kaffir lime rind, Nutmeg and Mace, cinnamon, cloves
  * Galangal, Lemonngrass, shallots, galic
  * white and black peppercorns, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, 
  * star anise, bay leaves, cardamom

{{:mywiki:cooking:thai_dish1.png|}}
{{:mywiki:cooking:thai_dish2.png|}}

Prepare Paste for Cooking Thai Curry Dishes (Expected Duration 15 mins )
  * - Choose the correct type of mortar and pestle.
  * - Understand techniques of grinding, crushing and bashing.
  * - Fill the mortar only to 1/3 of its capacity.
  * - For whole spices, crush them first and grind lightly with the sides of the pestle and then pound gently with the broad end of the pestle.
  * - Grind all the dry ingredients first.
  * - Pound till desire consistency.

Common Characteristic of Thai Cuisine Dishes 
  * Known for its balance of  hot (spicy), sour, sweet, and salty taste .
  * Naam Plaa (Thai น้ำปลา), a very aromatic and strong-tasting fish sauce, an important ingredient in Thai cooking.
  * A full meal consists of many complementary dishes.


Common Characteristic of Regional Thai Cuisine Dishes
  * Prik Nam Som: This is basically sliced chilli (prik) in vinegar (Nam Som). Gives a sour taste.
  * Nam Plaa: Fish sauce which basically gives a salty flavour.   
  * Prik Pon: Dried red chili which is either flaked or ground to a powder. This gives the heat. 
  * Nam Taan: Which is normal white sugar. The sweetness can be blended to balance the strong flavour in Thai food.
{{:mywiki:cooking:thai_common_characteristic.jpg|}}


====== Chinese Cuisine ======
{{:mywiki:cooking:geography_china_cusine.jpg|}}
===== Identify Eight Regional Cuisines =====

  * Guangdong: light, crispy and fresh
  * Zhejiang: Soft texture, sweet taste
  * Fujian: Fermented ingredients, soft texture, dry and fresh seafood
  * Anhui: sweet, keeps the natural flavor, uses a lot of wild ingredients.
  * Hunan: spicy, salty, uses a lot of fermented ingredients
  * Jiangsu: Natural flavor retained from the original stock with a mixture of salty and sweet taste
  * SzeChuan: Numb spicy and oily
  * Shandong: Tender, greasy salty and some sweet flavor

===== Identify Culinary Basics =====
  * No Single “Chinese” Cuisine
    * - Geographical reasons
    * - Four climate zones
  * •North : Hearty dishes
      * - Temperature could fall below minus 13°
      * - Meals needs to be warming and nourishing
      * - Famous for good solid dishes with generous amount of garlic, onions, black bean paste and cabbage

  * •South : Creative
    * - Regarded by the Chinese as being imaginative and delectable
    * - Dogs and cats as an acquired taste 
    * - Exotic ingredients : snakes, turtle, sea cucumber and shark’s fin

  * •East : Mild dishes 
    * - Cuisine is generally fresh and mild in flavor
    * - Seasoning is more subtle in Jiangsu, Anhui, Shanghai and Zhejiang
    * - Chili or other hot seasoning are seldom use

  * •West : The spicy and Hot
    * - Szechuan and Hunan with very fiery taste and flavor 
    * - Main flavor comes from the chili and Szechuan pepper
    * - Vinegar, sesame, oil and bamboo shoot are essential

===== Describe Eating Etiquette =====
  * The meat and vegetable dishes are all laid out in the center of the table
  * •Diners eat directly from the communal plates using their chopsticks and spoons 
  * •Soup is also consumed from the common bowl (now, separate bowls)
  * •Chinese dining tables are more likely to be square in small restaurants and street foods. Round tables are in larger establishments


====== Basic Dessert ======
===== Key tools and equipment =====
Tools
{{:mywiki:cooking:baking_tool1.png|}}
  * weighting scale, valume measures (spoon/cup/liquid measures), knife(bread knife, paring knife, chef knife)
  * thermometer, cookware(saute pan, crepe pan), baking trays(sheet pan, loaf pan, cupcake tray, tube pan, silicon modules, tart pan and ring, spring form)
  * modules, cake rings, mixing bowl, 
{{:mywiki:cooking:baking_tool2.png|}}
  * hand tool(brush/scrape/spatula/whisk/peeler/zester/scissor), for piping(bags and nozzels), ovens
  * oven rack, cooling rack, mixer(planetary or hand type)
Ingredients
{{:mywiki:cooking:baking_ingredient1.png|}}
  * Castor sugar (also spelled caster sugar) is a type of very fine granulated white sugar.
  * Molasses is a thick, dark, sticky syrup that comes from processing sugar cane or sugar beets.
  * 
{{:mywiki:cooking:baking_ingredient2.png|}}
  * Gelatin (often spelled gelatine in British English) is a protein made from collagen. It’s used to make liquids set into a jelly or gel.

===== Classification of Dessert Items =====
Bread:
  * Quick breads- scones, cornbread, American muffins
  * Lean breads- Baguette, country bread, hard-rolls
  * Enriched breads- Brioche, Pannetone, stollen
  * Laminated breads- Croissant, Danish

Pie & Tarts
  * Cream filling tarts or pies- Pumpkin pie, Pecan pie
  * Custard and soft pie filling- Blueberry and cream pie,
  * Fresh fruit tart
  * •Fruit filling- Apple pie, Tarte Bourdaloue
  * •Flans – Swiss Apple flan, Flan Parisienne
  * •Traditional/ specialties- Tarte Tatin, Linzertorte

Custard and cheese cakes
  * •Baked custards- Crème caramel, crème brulee
  * •Stirred custards- Crème Anglaise, crème Patisserie
  * •Baked cheesecake- New York cheesecake, Japanese Chessecake

Foundation Pastes
  * •Choux pastry- Eclairs, churros
  * •Puff Pastry-Millefeuille, Apple turnovers
  * •Short crust-Pear tart, Lemon tart, chocolate tart

===== Fundamentals of baking and pastry =====
{{:mywiki:cooking:76323szdv2qelawa_wmx5cqjhstqmvunj.jpg|}}
  * Creaming- Beating ingredients such as fat and sugar, till light and aerated
  * Blending- Incorporating ingredients until they are evenly combined
  * Folding-Gently mixing a lighter ingredient such as whipped cream into a heavier ones such as chocolate ganache, to make a light product
  * Kneading- Folding and pressing dough with hands or machine to develop gluten

{{:mywiki:cooking:eyy_i83nyseeo2ns_2fpklscapt0u_etd.jpg|}}
  * Rubbing- Solid fat is cut into dry ingredients
  * Sifting- the transference of dry ingredients such as flour or ground almond to aerate, separate or remove lumps
  * Whipping- beating ingredients with the single purpose of aerating. A whisk is employed for whipping or whisking. Example- whipped cream

===== Serving and storage of pastry and bakery products =====
{{:mywiki:cooking:y41wjjnvr82iphcg_ide54p_zmgz5xcch.png|}}