While some people know about these little tricks， the majority do not. These are small tips to help you improve the foods we commonly eat—most are recommended by top chef.

以下所要介紹的這些烹飪技巧，絕大多數(shù)人都是不知道的。這些小貼士可以讓一些我們熟悉的食材變得更美味——大部分都來源于頂級廚師的推薦。

1. Apples and Vanilla

蘋果和香草

Apples are very acidic and normally require some sugar in their cooking. Most people add nutmeg or cinnamon to their apple dishes， but vanilla extract adds a deep layer of flavor that most people won’t recognize but will certainly appreciate.

蘋果很酸，所以烹飪時通常會加入一些糖。很多人在烹調(diào)含蘋果的菜肴時會加入肉豆蔻或者肉桂，而其實加些香草精能夠增加菜肴的層次感。人們不會意識到加入了香草，但絕對會感到好吃。

2. Potatoes and Nutmeg

土豆和肉豆蔻

Add nutmeg—just a little—it adds a depth to the potatoes that people won’t recognize， but will definitely like. This is true of

va76d1adc776037389a32067de8694919irtually every potato dish.

在土豆中加入一點點肉豆蔻來增加風味。人們不會意識到加入了肉豆蔻，但一定會喜歡這種味道的。這個技巧幾乎對所有土豆菜肴都適用。

3. Chili and Chocolate

辣椒和巧克力

Add chocolate to chili. It deepens the meaty flavor of the chili while giving a strong base note to the peppers. This is a trick well known in the South of Us where Chili bake-offs are common.

在辣椒醬里加入一些巧克力。這不僅能增加辣椒粉的基調(diào)，還能加深辣椒醬的肉味。這是美國南方出了名的技巧，那里經(jīng)常舉辦辣椒醬烹飪大賽。

4. Coffee and Salt

咖啡和鹽

Add a touch of salt to coffee to heighten the flavor—this is a very common use of salt as it is used in virtually all dishes （including sweet dishes served for pudding）. Just a pinch is enough to make a brilliant espresso.

在咖啡中加入一丁點鹽能變得更好喝——這是一種普遍做法，幾乎對所有菜肴都適用（像布丁這樣的甜點也不例外）。少量的鹽就可以變出一杯完美的意式濃咖啡。

5. Chocolate and Coffee

巧克力和咖啡

When baking with chocolate， add a little coffee—it strengthens the chocolate flavor without adding a strong coffee flavor.

當你烘焙巧克力時，試著加一些咖啡吧——這會增加巧克力的風味而不必擔心會有濃烈的咖啡味。

6. Cooking Tomatoes and Foliage

番茄和它的葉子

Throw in a tomato branch—the branch contains all of the flavors that we love in tomatoes—pick a leaf and smell it and you will see what I mean. Simply throw in a small stick of the tomato plant and it will give your cooked tomatoes a much stronger tomato flavor.

扔一段番茄的枝丫——枝丫含有我們所喜愛的番茄的所有味道——摘片番茄葉子聞聞看吧，你會懂得我所說的。烹飪番茄時扔一段番茄的枝丫進去吧，這會讓你烹飪的番茄大大增加番茄味。

7. Meat and Aniseed

肉類和茴香

When stewing meat， throw in a star aniseed—you can’t taste the aniseed but the flavor adds a deep richness to the meat. This is a trick used in all meat dishes by Heston Blumenthal， the owner of the Fat Duck （3 Michelin stars）.

燉肉時放一個茴香進去吧——你幾乎嘗不出茴香的味道，但卻能大大地增加肉的口感。這是Heston Blumenthal烹飪所有肉類時的小絕招，他可是米其林三星餐廳Fat Duck的主人！

8. Strawberries and Pepper

草莓和胡椒粉

Strawberries （fresh） are usually served with a sprinkling of confectioners sugar， but the addition of very finely ground pepper heightens the flavor.

人們通常會在新鮮草莓上撒一層糖霜，不過再加上一層研磨得非常細的胡椒粉會更美味。

9. Tomatoes and Sugar

番茄和糖

Use sugar， not salt. Tomatoes are already acidic and the addition of salt just increases that acidic flavor. Sugar sweetens and increases the tomato flavor. Tomatoes are fruits after all.

烹飪番茄的時候不要加鹽，而是加糖。番茄本身就有酸酸的味道，加入鹽只會增加它的酸味。糖可以讓番茄變甜變好吃。番茄畢竟也是一種水果。

10. Carrots and Sugar

胡蘿卜和糖

While it may seem strange to add sugar to vegetables， it is a very common method of preparing carrots in France. The technical term for this dish is Vichy Carrots， in which you combine carrots， salt， pepper， sugar， and Vichy water （a sparkling water from the Vichy region） and cook them down until the carrots are glazed. The sugar heightens the flavor of the carrots and the final result is a stunning dish of brilliantly orange vegetables.

雖然把糖加到蔬菜里顯得很奇怪，但在烹飪胡蘿卜時加入糖卻是法國人的習(xí)慣做法。這道菜的學(xué)名叫維希胡蘿卜，烹飪這道菜時，法國人會把胡蘿卜、鹽、胡椒粉、糖和維希水（法國維希鎮(zhèn)出產(chǎn)的蘇打水）一起燉煮，直到胡蘿卜完全入味。糖的加入襯托出了胡蘿卜的美味，而結(jié)果是令這道橙黃的蔬菜變得絕妙無比。