Cooking tips

Planche ovale en bois de bout avec un couteau Damas et des citrons
Gift ideas for people who love to cook: our selection by budget
Knives, boards, sharpening, serving: kitchen gifts that get used every day, sorted by budget, with Christmas delivery times. Read more...
Couteau à steak XINZUO damassé à manche en palissandre
Steak knives: straight or serrated edge?
A serrated edge saws, a straight edge slices. What that changes on the plate, for sharpening and care, and how to choose. Read more...
Ciseaux de cuisine XINZUO en acier Sandvik 14C28N, poignées aluminium
Kitchen shears: 8 jobs where they beat a knife
Chefs always keep a pair of shears within reach. Eight jobs where they are faster than a knife, and how to look after them. Read more...
Bloc à couteaux XINZUO en acacia massif avec couteaux
Block, magnetic strip or drawer: where to store your knives
An edge wears out as much in the drawer as on the board. Block, magnetic strip, sheath: what protects your knives, and the right habits. Read more...
Wok en fer martelé de 32 cm avec manche en bois
Seasoning an iron wok: the complete method, and everyday care
An iron wok is built up: a few baked-on layers of oil, and it gets more non-stick with every use. The method, and the habits that keep it that way. Read more...
Grande planche ovale XINZUO en bois de bout d'acacia
Cutting boards: end grain, edge grain or plastic?
Your board decides how long your edge lasts more than you might think. End grain, edge grain, plastic: the differences, and how to care for them. Read more...
Santoku XINZUO à cœur Aogami n°2, manche érable
Damascus, Aogami, 14C28N: what a knife's steel really tells you
The Damascus pattern catches the eye, but the core of the blade does the cutting. How to read a knife's spec sheet, and which steel to choose. Read more...
Pierre à aiguiser XINZUO 1000/6000 sur socle en bambou
Sharpening a knife on a whetstone: the step-by-step method
Ten minutes, a stone and a steady angle: that is all it takes to get a like-new edge back. The full method, and where the honing rod fits in. Read more...
Couteau bunka XINZUO en acier damassé
Santoku, nakiri, bunka or Chinese cleaver: which one to choose
Four blades that look alike from a distance and do very different jobs. What each shape does well, and three questions to choose. Read more...
Smash burger maison à la croûte dorée dans une poêle en inox
Homemade smash burger: the food truck crust, in a pan
Two thin patties smashed in a screaming-hot pan, a deep brown crispy crust, melted cheese and a homemade sauce. 15 minutes. Read more...
Pommes de terre dorées dans une poêle Forval en inox 304 : la méthode qui évite les erreurs de débutant
Stainless steel pans: 7 beginner mistakes (and how to avoid them)
Almost everything that makes people give up on stainless comes down to seven mistakes, all easy to fix. The one-page summary, with a link to the full method for each. Read more...
Cordon-bleu doré dans une poêle en inox, fromage fondu au centre
Cordon bleu in a pan: golden crumb, melted cheese, no leaks
Cordon bleu, a Swiss restaurant classic, goes wrong in two ways: burnt crumb with a cold centre, or cheese that escapes. Sealed properly and cooked on medium in enough fat,... Read more...
Côte de bœuf saisie dans une poêle en inox avant la cuisson au four
Bone-in rib steak: the crust in the pan, the finish in the oven
A 1 kg rib steak is too thick to cook in the pan alone. The method: a deep brown crust in the pan, the finish in the oven in the... Read more...
Aubergines dorées et fondantes dans une poêle en inox
Pan-fried aubergine: silky and golden, without soaking up all the oil
Aubergine soaks up oil like a sponge, then gives it back as it cooks. The secret: don't add more. A hot pan, a reasonable amount of oil, and patience until... Read more...
Gnocchis dorés et croustillants à la sauge dans une poêle en inox
Pan-fried gnocchi: golden and crisp, no boiling
Shop-bought gnocchi don't need boiling water: straight into the pan, in one layer, they brown in 8 minutes and turn crisp outside, soft inside. With a 30-second sage butter. Read more...
Rösti suisse croustillant dans une poêle en inox
Swiss rösti in a pan: crisp outside, soft inside
A good rösti holds together as one golden cake that flips in a single piece. Potatoes cooked the day before, medium heat, plenty of patience and a little butter: the... Read more...
Caramelised onions in a pan: soft and golden, without burning
Real caramelised onions take 30 to 40 minutes, not 10. Medium then low heat, a pinch of salt, and a little water to lift the brown bits: they turn soft and deep brown without burning. Read more...
Washing a stainless steel pan every day: 2 minutes, and the dishwasher
A stainless pan washes up in two minutes if you catch it at the right moment. The everyday routine, what the dishwasher does well and less well, and the three products to avoid. Read more...
Poêle Forval en inox 304 posée sur une plaque à induction
Stainless steel pan on induction: what to know before you cook
Not every stainless pan works on induction, and the ones that do heat up faster than you'd think. The magnet test, the right preheat setting, and the two moves that... Read more...
Zurich-style sliced veal: tender meat, sauce in the same pan
Sliced veal turns tough when it boils in its own juices. Seared in small batches, taken straight out, then returned to the sauce off the heat: it stays tender, and the sauce is built on the fond. Read more...
Soft French omelette in a pan: creamy, without sticking
A rubbery omelette cooked too hot, for too long. Medium heat, foaming butter, stir at the start then let it set: it stays soft and rolls up by itself. Read more...
Pan-seared pork tenderloin: golden outside, juicy in the middle
Pork tenderloin dries out if it overcooks and stays pale if it's cooked badly. Seared on every side, finished on medium, pulled at 60 °C and rested: it stays tender. Read more...
Pan-fried vegetables: golden and crisp, not boiled
Vegetables that go soft and release their water have steamed, not sautéed. High heat, a pan that isn't too full, and each vegetable at the right moment. Read more...
Pan-fried shrimp: golden and tender, never rubbery
Rubbery shrimp are overcooked shrimp, often by thirty seconds. Dried, seared on high heat without crowding, 1 to 2 minutes a side: they stay tender. Read more...
Pan-fried cod fillet: golden, without sticking or falling apart
A white fish fillet sticks and falls apart for two reasons: it's wet, and it gets moved too early. How to brown it and flip it in one piece. Read more...
Pan-fried chicken breast: golden and tender, never dry
Chicken breast dries out because it's thicker at one end than the other. Flatten it, sear it, take it off at 74 °C: it stays tender. Read more...
Which sauce with which meat? The pan sauce chart
Beef, chicken, pork, fish, tofu: the sauce that goes with each one, made in the same pan from what's left in the bottom. Read more...
Pan-fried burger patties: browned outside, juicy inside
A good patty has a real crust and stays juicy. Three rules are enough: a properly hot pan, never pressing it down, 71 °C in the centre. Read more...
Pan-fried pork chops: juicy, not dry
A dry pork chop has one cause: it was overcooked. A good sear, turning the heat down at the right moment, 63 °C in the centre and five minutes of rest. Read more...
Pan-seared duck breast: crisp skin, pink in the middle
A good duck breast means thin, crisp skin and pink meat. It all happens skin side down, on medium heat, while the fat renders. Read more...
Shallot and red wine sauce: 4 minutes, in the steak pan
The classic red wine pan sauce is made in the pan the meat just cooked in, while it rests: one shallot, a glass of red wine, very cold butter. Four minutes. Read more...
Homemade peppercorn sauce: 3 minutes, in the pan you cooked the steak in
Real steakhouse peppercorn sauce doesn't come from a packet: it's made in the pan the meat just cooked in, while it rests. Three minutes, six ingredients. Read more...
Crêpes and pancakes: why the first one always fails
It isn't superstition: the first one fails for a precise thermal reason. And the signal that tells you when to flip a pancake. Read more...
Crispy tofu that doesn't stick: the five-step method
Tofu sticks more than anything else, for a precise reason: it arrives soaking wet. How to dry it, sear it, and get a crust that holds. Read more...
Scallops: a golden crust in two minutes
Rubbery, pale, or swimming in liquid. Three failures, one cause — and two minutes flat for the most impressive thing you can cook. Read more...
Crispy chicken skin: the 12 minutes of doing nothing
Soft, pale, rubbery skin. The problem is neither the chicken nor the pan: it's that you turn it ten minutes too early. Read more...
Deglazing: a sauce in 30 seconds, and the washing-up done
The brown stuck to the base isn't dirt, it's the most concentrated flavour in the whole dish. Thirty seconds to turn it into a sauce. Read more...
Golden mushrooms, not grey ones: the four rules
They release their water, they boil, they turn grey and limp. It isn't the mushroom, it's the method — and it comes down to four rules. Read more...
Why your eggs stick, and how to fix it for good
Eggs are the most unforgiving thing you can cook: little fat, lots of protein, no margin. The mechanism, and the method that works even in a stainless pan. Read more...
Salmon with crisp skin: the five minutes that matter
Soft skin, dry fish, flesh that falls apart: three problems, one method. And the 80% rule that changes everything. Read more...
Properly crisp sautéed potatoes: the method
They come out soft, greasy, or welded to the base. All three failures have a known cause. The complete method, with or without par-boiling. Read more...
Searing a steak at home: the complete method
From fridge to plate, no thermometer needed if you don't have one. The three mistakes that give you grey meat, and the two minutes that decide everything. Read more...
Which oil for which cooking: smoke points, simply explained
Butter that blackens, olive oil that smokes, frying oil that tastes reheated: one idea explains all three. The table, and the four rules that go with it. Read more...
A pan that wobbles: why bases warp, and how to avoid it
A pan that spins on the hob, or where the oil runs into one corner, has a warped base. The cause is almost always the same, it takes two seconds, and it doesn't repair. Read more...
White haze, rainbow tint, spots: reading the base of your pan
Five different marks, five causes, five fixes. The ones that wipe off in two minutes, the one that stays, and the only one that should worry you. Read more...
Pommes de terre dorées lors de la première utilisation d’une poêle Forval en inox 304
Your first time with a stainless pan: the first 20 minutes
What to do before the first cook, what not to make on the first night, and why most people give up in the first week. Read more...
Trois poêles Forval en inox 304 empilées sur une cuisinière : comparaison inox, fonte et antiadhésif
Stainless, cast iron or non-stick: which pan for what
None of the three wins at everything. What each does better than the others, what it does badly, and which to take if you only have one. Read more...
Should you season a stainless steel pan? The honest answer
You're told to season it like cast iron. It isn't the same metal, and it isn't the same mechanism. What actually works, and why so many people believe otherwise. Read more...
Les trois tailles de poêle Forval en inox 304 : 22, 24 et 28 cm
22, 24 or 28 cm: which pan size to choose
The size on the label isn't the surface that cooks. How to choose by the number of people you feed, the size of your burners, and the one rule that... Read more...
Poêle Forval en inox 304 sans revêtement, alternative durable à une poêle antiadhésive rayée
Scratched non-stick pan: do you really have to bin it?
The honest answer, without the scare story you get everywhere else: what's known, what isn't, and the real reason to change pans. Read more...