IN recent years, we have seen the trend of cooking oils such as coconut and olive grabbing the attention of health enthusiasts.
The humble palm oil, something most Malaysians are familiar with, is often overlooked. It is often misunderstood for its reputation as a non-healthy oil but chefs and cooks around the world are now infusing palm oil into their dishes.
Whether we realise it or not, many of the food products we buy contain palm oil.
According to the Malaysian Palm Oil Council website, palm oil is found in, among others, chocolate, biscuits and peanut butter.
This oil is nature’s source of vitamin E component, tocotrienols, an important nutrient for the body.
Chef Domenico Piras, the Italian chef at Favola restaurant in Le Meridien Kuala Lumpur loves incorporating palm oil in his cooking.
He has spent his time working as a chef in Asia since 2004. “In Europe palm oil is not very popular, but in the last few years, people are slowly starting to use it.”
Palm oil, known to be a healthy tropical oil derived from the fruit of the palm tree, is good for raw dishes, according to Piras.
“It’s good for salad and I love to use it for my fish tartare as it gives a smooth finish,”
“It doesn’t change the taste of the ingredients, which is good for the dish.”
Stable when hot
With its ability to be stable at high temperatures, the oil is less likely to be absorbed in food when used for frying.
When deep frying, Piras says palm oil helps to deliver crispness on the outside while leaving the food soft on the inside.
Just remember to handle palm oil properly, he says.
“If you want to deep fry food and the oil has reached 300 degrees, it’s best not to use it anymore. Throw it out and pour in a new batch as overheated oil shouldn’t be mixed with fresh palm oil,” he says.
Piras says people now are more concerned about health and palm oil should be an alternative for them.
“How we cook now is different from the cooking styles of past generations. The younger chefs now are different, the cooking style has been revolutionised and they constantly try new things,
“In the kitchen, we break it down to four different elements in taste – sweet, salty, sour and bitter. For my dishes, I get that sweetness from the palm oil. It’s not an obvious sweet taste, but it has its own sweetness.”
His current favourite dish that he created using palm oil is Salmon and Seabass Carpaccio.
“The salmon is sweet on its own, then I add Hawaiian salt and drizzle on the palm oil to finish.”
Source : www.nst.com.my
