Cooking aid

Abstract

A cooking aid comprising a sheet of flexible burn resistant material and a composition disposed on one face of the sheet, the composition comprising a mixture of vegetable or animal oil with a melting point below 20 C., vegetable or animal fat with a melting point above 20 C., and one or more herbs, spices and flavor enhancers.

Claims

1. A cooking aid comprising: a sheet of flexible burn resistant material; and a composition comprising: a first blend disposed on one face of the sheet, the first blend comprising: a first oil having a melting point below 20 C., the first oil being selected from the group consisting of a vegetable oil, an animal oil, and combinations thereof; and vegetable or animal fat having a melting point above 20 C., the vegetable or animal fat selected from the group consisting of fractionated palm fat, fractionated fat, and a combination thereof; a second blend disposed on the first blend, the second blend comprising one or more herbs, spices, or flavor enhancers; and a coating disposed on the second blend, the coating comprising a coating of a second oil on the one or more herbs, spices, or flavor enhancers, the second oil being selected from the group consisting of a vegetable oil, an animal oil, and combinations thereof, and the second oil having a melting point below 20 C.

2. The cooking aid of claim 1, wherein the sheet is baking paper.

3. The cooking aid of claim 1, wherein the first and second oils are selected from the group consisting of sunflower oil, rape seed oil, cotton seed oil, peanut oil, soya oil, olive oil, palm oil, coconut oil, and palm kernel oil.

4. The cooking aid of claim 1, wherein the fat is selected from the group consisting of pork fat, tallow, lard, bone fats, butter, fractionated palm fat, and any fully or partially hydrogenated or inter-esterified palm oil, cotton seed oil, peanut oil, soya oil, olive oil, sunflower oil, and rape seed oil.

5. The cooking aid of claim 1, wherein the composition comprises the first oil in the amount of about 20% by weight of the first blend and the fat in the amount of about 80% by weight of the first blend.

6. The cooking aid of claim 1, wherein the composition comprises 0.01 to 1% by weight of the composition an ingredient selected from the group consisting of monoglyceride, sterol, and lecithin.

7. The cooking aid of claim 1, wherein the first oil and fat together comprise 5 to 20% by weight of the composition.

8. The cooking aid of claim 1, wherein the one or more herbs, spices and flavor enhancers comprise 0.5 to 75% by weight of the composition.

9. The cooking aid of claim 1, wherein the one or more herbs and spices are selected from the group consisting of parsley, rosemary, pepper, and chives.

10. The cooking aid of claim 1, wherein the flavor enhancers comprise 10 to 80% by weight of the composition.

11. The cooking aid of claim 1, wherein the one or more flavor enhancers are selected from the group consisting of inorganic salts, salts of amino acids, protein hydrolysates, flavoring preparations, and yeast extracts.

12. The cooking aid of claim 1, wherein the first and second oils are the same type of oil.

13. The cooking aid of claim 12, wherein the first and second oils are both sunflower oil.

14. A process for the preparation of a cooking aid, the process comprising: extending a sheet of flexible burn resistant material on a flat surface; and applying a composition comprising a first blend, a second blend, and a coating on one face of the sheet, comprising: spreading the first blend on the sheet, the first blend being a blend of fat and a first oil, the first oil having a melting point below 20 C., and the fat having a melting point above 20 C., the fat selected from the group consisting of fractionated palm fat, fractionated fat, and a combination thereof; distributing the second blend over the first blend, the second blend comprising one or more herbs, spices, or flavor enhancers; and coating the one or more herbs, spices or flavor enhancers with the coating comprising a second oil, and the second oil having a melting point below 20 C.

15. The process of claim 14, wherein the sheet is baking paper.

16. The process of claim 14, wherein the first and second oils are selected from the group consisting of sunflower oil, rape seed oil, cotton seed oil, peanut oil, soya oil, olive oil, palm oil, coconut oil, and palm kernel oil.

17. The process of claim 14, wherein the fat is selected from the group consisting of pork fat, tallow, lard, bone fats, butter, fractionated palm fat, and any fully or partially hydrogenated or inter-esterified palm oil, cotton seed oil, peanut oil, soya oil, olive oil, sunflower oil, and rape seed oil.

18. The process of claim 14, wherein the composition comprises the first oil in the amount of about 20% by weight of the first blend and the fat in the amount of about 80% by weight of the first blend.

19. The process of claim 14, wherein the composition comprises 0.01 to 1% by weight of the composition an ingredient selected from the group consisting of monoglyceride, sterol, and lecithin.

20. The process of claim 14, wherein the first oil and fat together comprise 5 to 20% by weight of the composition.

21. The process of claim 14, wherein the one or more herbs, spices and flavor enhancers comprise 0.5 to 75% by weight of the composition.

22. The process of claim 14, wherein the one or more herbs and spices are selected from the group consisting of parsley, rosemary, pepper, and chives.

23. The process of claim 14, wherein the flavor enhancers comprise 10 to 80% by weight of the composition.

24. The process of claim 14, wherein the one or more flavor enhancers are selected from the group consisting of inorganic salts, salts of amino acids, protein hydrolysates, flavoring preparations, and yeast extracts.

25. The cooking aid of claim 14, wherein the first and second oils are the same type of oil.

26. The process of claim 25, wherein the first and second oils are both sunflower oil.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(1) The invention provides a simple and effective way to cook food with a minimum of splashing and splattering of cooking juices onto walls and other surfaces and with a coating of garnishes and flavour enhancers without burning of garnishes or any cooking materials.

(2) The consumer can pan fry or oven cook using a conventional baking paper coated with a mix of fat, oil, herbs, spice mixes and flavour enhancers. An important advantage is that no additional fat or oil needs to be added to the pan or oven dish. In other words, the fat and oil used for coating the baking paper with herbs, spice mixes and flavour enhancers have a dual purpose, i.e. to adhere the herbs, spice mixes and flavour enhancers to the paper and to provide the fat or oil needed for cooking.

(3) Several additional benefits are provided by this invention: the herbs and other garnishes will not burn during cooking the food (especially beef, lamb, chicken, or fish meat) will preserve its natural juiciness as loss of moisture is markedly reduced by the sheet covering excess fat in the pan or oven dish is avoided so that the splashing of cooking juices on walls and cooking surfaces is dramatically reduced or avoided altogether, and post-cooking cleaning is minimised

(4) The sheet of burn resistant flexible material may be any film, foil or laminate, or any combination of such materials including, for example, paper, Teflon, or susceptor materials, and even natural leaves such as banana leaves and algae leaves. The preferred sheet material is baking paper, which is paper typically used commercially for baking purposes. Such paper is usually a cellulose paper coated with silicon. Although this paper is more often used for oven cooking, it is suitable for use in this invention for cooking either in a pan or in an oven.

(5) The mixture of fat and oil in the composition coating the sheet has two important functions. The first is to maintain the flexibility of the sheet and ensure that the herbs and spice mixes adhere to the sheet during handling, transportation, preparation and cooking. The second is provide the fat or oil for cooking so that no additional fat or oil needs to be added by the cook.

(6) In the context of this invention, an oil is liquid at a temperature of 20 C. at a pressure of 1 atm, and a fat is solid at this temperature and pressure.

(7) Examples of vegetable and animal oil are sunflower oil, rape seed oil, cotton seed oil, peanut oil, soya oil, olive oil, the refined edible fractions of palm oil, coconut oil, and palm kernel oil, which may be used alone or in combination. The preferred choice is sunflower oil or a refined palm oil due to their neutral flavour and good commercial availability.

(8) Examples of animal and vegetable fat are butter, pork fat, tallow, lard, and bone fat, fractionated palm fat, and any fully hydrogenated, inter-esterified, hydrogenated, non-hydrogenated, fractionated oil such as palm oil, cotton seed oil, peanut oil, soya oil, olive oil, sunflower oil, or rape seed oil. Most preferably, the fat is a fractionated fat or a hydrogenated and inter-esterified palm oil, which has a neutral flavour, low trans-fatty acid profile and good commercial availability.

(9) The amount of oil is preferably between 1 and 34% and the amount of fat between 66 and 99% by weight of the composition. Most preferably, the amount of oil is around 20% and the amount of fat around 80% by weight. The optimum oil/fat blend composition may be determined by function of the processing temperature and the output of the production line needed for the manufacturing process to be economically viable.

(10) 0.01 to 1% of a monoglyceride, sterol, or lecithin may be included as a stabilizer and emulsifier to control and improve product stability against temperature fluctuations after production and use in different climatic conditions.

(11) The amount of fat and oil may between 5 and 20% of the total weight of the composition, more preferably about 15%.

(12) The amount of herbs and spices in the composition may be between 0.5 and 75% of the total weight of the composition. Preferably, the amount is between 10 and 20%, depending on the recipe. The herbs used are typically parsley, rosemary, oregano, marjoram, tarragon, pepper, chives, and other similar herbs common in culinary use. The more commonly used spices include chilies, paprika, tomato and other natural flavour rich fruits used in culinary applications.

(13) The amount of flavour enhancers may be between 10 and 80% of the total weight of the composition, preferably between 60 and 70%. The flavour enhancers used are typically salts, such as sodium chloride or potassium chloride, salts of amino acids and derivatives such as monosodium glutamate, protein hydrolysates, ribonucleotides, natural and non-natural flavours and flavouring preparations, yeast extracts and other preparations known as taste enhancers.

(14) The sheet may be any size suitable for the cooking operation, and may be adapted to the local commonly used individual sizes of meat, which is typically 100 to 300 g in most countries.

(15) The invention also relates to a process for the industrial or home preparation of the cooking aid, which may be a continuous process in the industrial setting, where: the sheet is extended on a flat surface, a blend of the fat and oil is spread on the sheet, the herbs, spices and flavour enhancers are distributed over the coated sheet, the herbs and spices may be coated with oil, optionally containing flavouring substances dispersed or solubilized within the oil.

(16) In a typical process, the sheet is extended on a flat surface and a mix of oil and fat is spread on the sheet at a temperature above the melting point of the fat/oil blend. Just prior to the liquid fat/oil blend cooling below its melting temperature, a pre-mix of flavour enhancers, herbs and spice mixes is evenly applied across the surface of the sheet. The herbs and spice mixes may be coated with oil to enhance their adherence to the sheet. Gentle pressure can be applied to the sheet to achieve close contact between the sticky fat/oil mix and any dry pre-mix components. The sheet can be cut into smaller segments to fit the size of typical consumer meat portions.

(17) The invention also relates to the use of the cooking aid for cooking food in a pan or an oven. The food is preferably meat, which may be beef, lamb, chicken, or fish, or any other meat suitable for cooking in this way. The pieces of meat are placed on the cooking aid in direct contact with the composition and are then cooked in a pan or an oven, or any other suitable cooking device. The consumer places the meat portion on the coated surface of the sheet. The sheet can be folded over to cover most or substantially all of the portion. The covered meat is placed on or in a cooking device, such as a pre-heated pan at medium heat or preheated conventional oven (between 70 and 220 C.). The cooking process is normally carried out during 5 to 7 minutes on each side, depending on the type and cut of meat. The food is ready to serve by removing the sheet.

(18) Vegetables may also be cooked using the cooking aid of this invention. Examples include zucchinis and egg plant (aubergine). Any protein/starch food matrix having a water activity less than 0.7 may be suitable, for example, tofu and cheese.

(19) One product possibility is a package comprising 4 units of sheet. The size of each sheet may depend on the size of the meat portions and will normally be in the range 15 to 20 cm. Each sheet will typically have 5 to 8 g total weight of fat/oil, herbs, spices and flavours.

EXAMPLES

(20) The invention is further described with reference to the following examples. It is to be appreciated that the examples do not in any way limit the invention.

Example 1

General Method

(21) The cook takes a portion of food and places it on the cooking aid. The food portion is covered on both sides with the sheet or loosely wrapped in the sheet. The cooking aid containing the food portion is placed on a pre-heated pan and cooked for the required time period, and on each side if appropriate, at moderate temperature. Low temperature cooking avoids fast protein degradation and improves palatability, taste perception and natural bite. The food portion is ready to serve by removing from the sheet. The ingredients of the composition give flavour to the cooked food, and the sheet protects the food from drying out ensuring natural juiciness. Flavours are better perceived due natural preserved juiciness and palatability is enhanced.

(22) The basic method for cooking meat comprises the following steps: 1. Place a clean pan on the heating station (e.g. induction, electric or gas hob) at, for example, 50% of the maximum heating capacity. No need to add oil or fat. 2. Open the cooking aid sheet. 3. Place the meat on the open sheet and fold or wrap the sheet around the meat. 4. Place the wrapped sheet on the pre-heated pan. 5. Cook for several minutes each side. 6. Remove from the pan. 7. Discard the sheet before eating.

Example 2

Recipes

(23) The recipes below may be used for cooking beef or chicken, or any other suitable meat or food, depending on consumer preference.

(24) TABLE-US-00001 Amount Recipe Component (%) provencale fractionated palm fat/sunflower oil 25 flavours & flavour enhancers 68 (including cultured wheat gluten, NaCl) herbs & spices (oregano, basil, 7 tomato granules, thyme, black pepper, marjoram) garlic fractionated palm fat/sunflower oil 25 flavours & flavour enhancers 60 (including cultured wheat gluten, NaCl) herbs & spices (garlic powder, 15 onion powder, dehydrated garlic pieces, parsley) tomato fractionated palm fat/sunflower oil 25 flavours & flavour enhancers 57 (including cultured wheat gluten, NaCl) herbs & spices (tomato pieces, 18 marjoram, oregano, parsley) paprika fractionated palm fat/sunflower oil 25 flavours & flavour enhancers 65 (including cultured wheat gluten, NaCl) herbs & spices (bell pepper 10 powder & pieces, parsley)

(25) It is to be appreciated that although the invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments, variations and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the claims. Furthermore, where known equivalents exist to specific features, such equivalents are incorporated as if specifically referred to in this specification.