Embracing International Cooking Techniques

There may be nothing more universal than our love for food. In various global communities, people have handed down word-of-mouth recipes and loving instructions for generations, resulting in exceptional cooking techniques capable of crafting soul-stirring dishes.

If you’re unsatisfied with the same old homemade meals, eager to elevate your home-cooking skills, or simply enthusiastic about finding new flavors, take inspiration from the storied halls of international cuisine. Embark on this tour to learn about some of the most unique and impactful methods you can incorporate into your skill set.

Moroccan tagines

We’ll begin in the vibrant, bustling cities of the Sahara. Moroccan cuisine is perhaps best known for its tagines: stew-like dishes featuring meats with aromatic produce and spices. Tagine also, though, refers to the vessel used to make such a dish—a beautiful, ceramic, cone-shaped pot for steaming food. It distributes heat evenly, locking in moisture and intensifying flavors, and is surprisingly simple to use. You only need to toss a protein and a few veggies with some fragrant spices and olive oil, sauté them in the tagine’s base on a stovetop over low heat, add water, and cover the mixture with the hood to let the dish cook.

It’s easier than you may think to find tagines in the States; various retailers such as World Market and Williams Sonoma offer them in stunning patterns and colors. Once you select one you like and grow confident in using it, turn to your tagine for making various meals, such as stews and creamy casseroles, noting how this method lends each dish a delightful texture and more impactful seasoning.

Mexican dry-roasting

Salsas, the flavorful and sometimes-flame-packed sauces of Mexican cuisine, may often be thought of as just mixtures of tomatoes, peppers, and seasonings, but they also encompass far more intricate recipes, including mole and chipotle sauces. The secret to all of them? The dry-roasting technique, which unlocks the complex flavors dormant in peppers and spices, imbuing them with a delightfully distinct smokiness. To achieve this, char ingredients on an unglazed clay or cast-iron pan on medium heat until they are fragrant. Just take care not to overcook them; veggies should remain intact and pliable, and spices should change color only slightly.

While dry-roasting is central to Mexican salsas, it’s certainly not limited to them; you can also add this step as you prepare your usual home-cooked recipes. For example, dry-roast shallots to elevate their flavor in a stew, or toast whole cinnamon sticks and pecans before crushing them to add to a pie. You’ll be amazed at the difference it can make.

Korean saucing

Korean cuisine’s unique identity may be rooted in its funky, aged products known as jangs: a family of pastes and sauces made with fermented beans that lend richness and depth to any regional dish. Simply put, something just won’t taste Korean without an ingredient like ganjang, doenjang, or gochujang, which may be stirred into a stew or tossed with veggies to soften them. While they all vary in method, use, and taste, each adds powerful flavor to staple dishes like bulgogi and kimchi.

You can likely find such sauces at your nearest international market, so try taking home a few and testing them in your standard recipes. You could add a tablespoon of rich, briny doenjang to elevate chicken noodle soup or blend a salad dressing with spicy-sweet gochujang. And if you can’t hunt down any jangs, simply apply an American take on the Korean saucing technique, such as by stirring a few tablespoons of brown mustard into a slow-cooker stew or using pickle juice to brine a chicken before roasting.

Italian deglazing

There is much to learn from Italians’ strict cooking approaches—which has helped make theirs among the most beloved cuisines the world over—but one of their greatest contributions is featuring wine not just as a beverage but also as an ingredient. Deglazing with it can transform all kinds of dishes, from a weeknight spaghetti meal to a comforting weekend roast, infusing them with flavorful sugars, a bouquet of complex aromas, and scrumptious pan drippings.

To master this technique, first select a dry wine with a flavor profile that suits your recipe, seeking guidance from your local wine purveyor if needed. (As you shop, bear in mind another statute of Italian cuisine: only use quality ingredients that are good enough to enjoy on their own. That means deglazing with a wine that’s also tasty to drink.) Then after sautéing foods, pour in the wine and scrape the cooking vessel as you stir to enjoy its fruits to the fullest.

Broaden your horizons

These tips are just a sampling of the many ways we can learn from one another and celebrate the monumental power of food. To expand your culinary skill set even further, try researching an ingredient like Brazilian sal grosso, a technique like Indian spice blooming, or a serving preparation like Ethiopian wot or injera. Open your heart and your palate to these cuisines—there’s a whole world to savor.