If you never revisit restaurants that you have caught serving you limp carrots straight from the microwave or a rage-stirring “Mexican mix” of carrots, corn and green peas and green beans, you are absolutely right. But don’t hate the freezer for it. The freezer is your friend. It is sometimes a dangerous friend, to be sure. Large ice crystals can puncture cell walls in your food and cause odd chemical reactions because they concentrate the stuff that is usually dissolved in water, leaving rancid flavors, browned skins. Also, he is a friend that not all of your other friends will like (see table below). It is not perfect. But, oh how accommodating and understanding he can be. If you have a nice juicy bit of bone or some skin that you have picked off an unsuspecting chicken breast that you would have thrown away, you can just collect it in the freezer until you have enough to make a good consommé. If you make a batch of polenta for grilling (which takes 45 minutes), you can just let it set, cut it up, and freeze it until you need it, and have grilled polenta in 5. The same goes for a pate brisée or a pie crust dough. You will never run out of toast bread or croissants or fresh rolls warm out of the oven. And then there is the stuff that you are bored with now, but will be really happy to have in a couple of weeks. Half of a shockingly sweet dried-plum studded chocolate fruitcake. That Moroccan meat tagine that you made too much of. Cookies that you don’t have to consume in one sitting. A chicken leg left from a grilled chicken. That meat stock that you made from the bits in the freezer and the carcass of the grilled chicken, which you will now be able to use instead of chicken stock cubes for a quick creamed soup. You can also use him to improve some of your dishes. Even the best restaurants freeze chocolate soufflés before baking to achieve that lovely runny center of hot chocolate heaven. Frozen chili con carne is even better than fresh. Freezing is also used to distill alcohol while keeping more of the fruit’s original taste than the usual cooking process, or curing meat. You can freeze leftovers, half-prepared ingredients, sauces, eggs, meat cuts, pasta, home-made TV-dinners, in other words, almost everything – with the proper technique. There are actually very few tricks you need to know. Always freeze as fast as you can to avoid the formation of large crystals that are more likely to puncture cell walls and leech away the tasty stuff. Freeze without any covering, on a plate, then put into plastic bags or containers (unless the stuff is liquid, of course) or wrap in clingfoil. Blanch vegetables before freezing. Defrost in a bath of cold water, if possible, hot water, if not, and use the microwave oven only as the last resort. Think of how you will use what you freeze and form batches accordingly. And always, always use up the frozen stuff as fast as you can. So if you just keep his boundaries in mind, trust him with your secrets, and make some compromises and take the bad with the good, your friendship with the big cold guy in the kitchen will bring you much culinary joy and comfort. Just like human-human friendships. 6 things no-one should ever freeze
- mayonnaise and other fat-based emulsions such as hollandaise
- potatoes they turn into a pasty mush, yuck
- cream it separates into buttery clumps of fat, unless frozen whipped
- salad greens anything you eat raw or lightly steamed loses all crunchiness
- fruits usually turn into a pulp in home freezers, so only freeze them if you will cook or bake them anyway.
