What is Sous-Vide?

Today’s guest post is by Cuisine Solutions, a company that specializes in sous-Vide prepared foods. This is a sponsored post.

So What is Sous-Vide?

You’ve probably heard the phrase before- or believe you’ve heard it. Like so many food terms tossed around in the culinary word, it sounds quick, curt, and vaguely French or Italian. Au gratin, al forno, or any number of words with a deep culinary history that sound familiar even if we can’t always place the meaning.

Sous-vide has a similar sound to it, but its invention is relatively new. First pioneered in the 1970s as a means of preserving the freshness of meats without sacrificing texture and flavor, the food preparation method has caught on rapidly with restaurants throughout both Europe and the United States, and has become popular with top-end catering companies as well. Any style of meat, and even hearty vegetables and pastas, can be sealed beforehand with its sauces and legumes. Once unsealed, the preparation can be slow-cooked to bring out the flavor and texture that has seeped into the food during its sealing.

There are multiple benefits to preparing food in the sous-vide method, and here are some of the big ones:

• Flavor: While flash-freezing or other conventional methods of food preservation run the risk of draining meat of its flavor, sous-vide actually enhances the taste of the meal in question. The process of immersing a food with its accompanying ingredients actually accents flavors that otherwise wouldn’t be noticeable, and can even tenderize meats that might have a tougher texture.
• Preparation: Purchasing sous-vide prepared meals allows chefs – whether at home or in a restaurant – to skip the messier aspects of meal prep and go straight to cooking. Sous-vide sealing allows chefs to set aside the mess and inefficiency of much of the prep process, and focus their energies on simmering, stewing, or whatever is necessary to give their meal just the right texture.
• Texture: Speaking of that last word, sous-vide sealing gives certain meats a tender, rich character that they wouldn’t get from same-day preparation. Since so much meat is sealed or flash-frozen before transport, a necessary amount of succulence is sacrificed in the process. With sous-vide sealing, the meat retains its character while keeping its freshness as well.

There are many reasons to give sous-vide meals a try, and intrepid chefs won’t be disappointed with the results. Whether you’re going for seafood or poultry, lamb or beef, any home chef would do well to flesh out their culinary palette and venture into sous-vide.

More information about Cuisine Solutions can be found here:
Company: http://www.cuisinesolutions.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/cuisinesolutions
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/SousVideCuisine
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/cuisinesolutions/feed

Full Disclosure: This post is a sponsored post. I found this post relevant and informative and a good fit for my blog.