Food - Drink
The Secret Ingredient Alex Guarnaschelli Uses In Savory Dishes
By AUTUMN SWIERS
Alex Guarnaschelli is a chef who knows her stuff, but despite all her expertise, much of her work focuses on bringing professional culinary techniques and unconventional ingredients to the home cook. She hosts "Alex's Day Off," in which she invites viewers into her kitchen and shows them her approachable style of cooking, step by step.
It's fitting, then, that her go-to secret ingredient for transforming any savory dish is one of the most seldom-reached-for, but readily accessible ingredients in the grocery aisle: Worcestershire sauce. "It just seems to fill the gap in flavor that is so often missing," she says and recommends adding a splash to everything from scrambled eggs to clam chowder.
For the uninitiated, Worcestershire sauce is a fermented condiment made from vinegar, molasses, anchovies, sugar cloves, chili pepper extract, and tamarind and was developed in Worcestershire, England during the early 1800s. If home cooks want more of Alex Guarnaschelli’s expert tips, they can also check out her three cookbooks.