It’s ok. You can admit it.

We all have those ingredients tucked away in our cupboards used rarely on those occasions when recipes call for it. And although we may know its purpose, we often don’t know what the heck it really is.

For me, that ingredient is Cream of Tartar.

Sure, I get that it can be used as a leavening agent and can be found in meringue or frosting recipes. But up until the other day, I had no idea what it really was and where it came. So here it goes….

According to Wikipedia–and please don’t tell my fellow academics that I’m citing from Wiki ☺:

“Cream of Tartar is also known as Potassium Bitartrate. In food, it is used for:

• Stabilizing egg whites, increasing their heat tolerance and volume;
• Preventing sugar syrups from crystallizing;
• Reducing discoloration of boiled vegetables;
• Frequent combination with baking soda (which needs an acid ingredient to activate it) in formulations of baking powder;
• Commonly used in combination with potassium chloride in sodium-free salt substitutes.

A similar acid salt, sodium acid pyrophosphate, can be confused with cream of tartar because of their common function as a baking powder.”

You can also mix Cream of Tartar with white vinegar into a paste mixture and apply it as a cleaning agent to your stainless steel kitchen appliances. All natural and toxic-free cleaner. Woo Hoo.

But my all-time favorite random fact about Cream of Tartar is that it’s a byproduct of when wine is made! Crystalline acid forms on the inside of wine barrels. Once formed, the barrels are scraped and the sediment is purified and ground to form cream of tartar.

Moral of this Random Fact: Cream of Tartar helps build volume in food, can be made into a “green” cleaner, and is derived from your friend and mine–VINO!

Oh, Cream of Tartar–you’re our hero ☺

Stop the presses!

Renowned Chef Thomas Keller will be a guest judge on next week’s episode of Top Chef (November 18th, 10pm)!!! Are you freaking kidding me?! OH….MY…..BUDDHA.

Of my Top 5 “Culinary Experiences I Must Do Before I Die”, dining at The French Laundry would sure be near the head of that list. I won’t bore readers with my speculations of what a Life Changing Experience would occur at The French Laundry. I simply offer this excerpt taken from their site:

“Every day we create two unique nine-course tasting menus–chef’s tasting and a tasting of vegetables–each a series of smaller focused dishes. No single ingredient is ever repeated throughout the meal. What we want you to experience is that sense of surprise when you taste something so new, so exciting, so comforting, so delicious, you think, “Wow” -and then its gone. We want to the peak sensation on the palate to be all that you feel. So we serve a series of small courses meant to excite your mind, satisfy your appetite and pique your curiosity. We want you to say , “I wish I had just one more bite of that.” And then the next plate arrives and the same thing happens, but in a different way, a whole new flavor and feel and emotion.”

And the Mastermind behind it all….Chef Thomas Keller.

What some may not know is that Chef Keller served as a consultant on Pixar’s Animated Film, “Ratatouille”. If you take a close look at the film, you’ll see quite a parallel to Chef Keller’s own kitchen and even the plating of ratatouille to boot!

And finally, if you haven’t seen the episode of a Cook’s Tour with Anthony Bourdain when he dines at The French Laundry for the first time, then settle on down and check out this clip. I can almost guarantee that you will be calling every day after to try and get reservations.

So until next Wednesday, I will sit anxiously for the show!