While at the Annual Meat Conference, Sam Gazdziak spoke with Lance Layman of Sugar Creek Foods about a European cooking technique called sousvide that never burns the meat.
Sam Gazdziak:I'm here with Lance Layman of Sugar Creek Foods, and could you tell us a little bit about some of the stuff that you've got here?
Lance Layman:The product that we're serving here is gonna be part of our new capabilities, and it's called sousvide. It's a French term that means under vacuum, and it's a cooking process that's really about cooking in bags. It's a cooking process that has been around for centuries. It's a dominant cooking behavior in Europe in restaurants and also consumer packaged goods at the retail level. For the most part, it's been done in a boutique type of way here in the States, and we're going to try to take that mainstream. So what it is, is really we have the ability to sear char mark seasoned proteins, and then we chill them. We then vacuum pack them in a bag, and then we cook them in a water bath at a very low temperature for an extended period of time. What that allows you to do is it never burns the meat, so you get better yields. You get more tender proteins with great flavor. The proteins are amazing. We can also cook vegetables, as well as fruits, and we're looking forward to taking this mainstream in the States.
Gazdziak:It looks fantastic, and I'm going to have to give it a try now, because it's too good to pass up.
Layman:Excellent! So we have some Pork Carnitas, some fingerling potatoes and carrots, and then one of my favorites, are the baby-back ribs. We also have some beef short ribs. So help yourself and Bon Appetit!