The cryo-vracking phenomenon started 25 years ago, invented by the French chef Georges Pralus. It’s a cooking method that allows us to preserve all the qualities of a product and to greatly extend its period of durability in safe conditions. It has revolutionized the way the restaurant business functions. Using this technique, it is possible to manipulate and control the temperature at which a product is cooked almost to perfection.
Mr. Bruno Gaussault, scientist and president of CREA (Centre de recherche et d’études pour l’alimentation), affirms that « cooking a product immersed in water is the best way to get the best quality ». It is easy to regulate the temperature of water with great precision, making it the best and the simplest way to heat or cool a product.
But how can the damage caused to a product that has come into direct contact with water best be avoided? The answer is to protect the product from the water by vacuum sealing it into special bags. It will then be possible to perfectly preserve the texture, aroma and flavour of the product, as well as monitor how it cooks with the accuracy of a digital thermometer. It has enabled chefs to save time and improve quality – it’s a complete revolution.
We had a one-week course on cryo-vacking with Mr. Gaussault, also president of the number one company in the world, cuisine solutions, and we did plenty of experiments using fish, meat and vegetable: it means cooking at the right temperature, respecting the hygiene with amazing results, and above all, it means giving new solutions.
Here’s some useful information:
After our tests we discovered the correct core temperatures for the following products:
Fish: 58-60°C
Beef: 58-60°C
Veal: 65-68°C
Pork: 65-66°C
Chicken: 65-71°C
Vegetables: 80-85°C
* You can use a home digital thermometer to have a go yourself, try to avoid harming the product while you do it.
Rodrigo Pacheco is a top-notch Ecuadorian chef who bases half his time in Quito and the other half in Banos, where he prepares meals made from fresh organic ingredients at Casa del Abuelo Art Hotel & Restaurant. He is also the executive chef at Cuisine Standard in Quito.
He has studied with some of the best, including Madrid Fusión in Spain, Alain Ducasse Formation in Paris, the Institut Paul Bocuse in Lyon, France, and the Instituto Inacap in Santiago, Chile among others.
He has done a Government Cultural Exchange in Canada and the Masters of Food and Wine tour of the world in Buenos Aires, Argentina,
representing Ecuador as an invited chef. Rodrigo was also a Culinary radio show host on Saberes y Sabores.
