Culinary Word of the Day

002 Emulsion

Episode Summary

Definition, use, and examples of the word emulsion.

Episode Notes

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Recorded in Greenpoint, Brooklyn NY

Hosted, edited, and scored by Jenn de la Vega

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Episode Transcription

INTRO

I’m Jenn de la Vega and this is your culinary word of the day.

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Today’s word is emulsion.

It is spelled… E-M-U-L-S-I-O-N

It originates…from Latin emulgēre to milk out, 

It’s akin to Old English melcan, to milk, or from Greek amelgein.

According to Merriam Webster  an emulsion is a system (such as fat in milk) consisting of a liquid dispersed with or without an emulsifier in an immiscible or unblendable liquid usually in droplets of larger than colloidal size.

Colloids are two phase substance systems. An emulsion specifically is when two parts are liquid and continuous.

For example, oil and vinegar, otherwise oppositely charged substances, are shaken together to make a vinaigrette. 

Butter is an emulsion of water in butterfat.

Pasta water is an emulsion of starch and boiling water, saving a little after draining pasta helps thicken pasta sauces.

And crema in an espresso is an emulsion of coffee oil in water.

An emulsifier is something that stabilizes an emulsification.

A few examples are 

• Egg yolk – in which the main emulsifying agent is lecithin.
• Mustard – where a variety of chemicals in the mucilage surrounding the seed hull act as emulsifiers
• Soy lecithin is another emulsifier and thickener
• Pickering stabilization – uses particles under certain circumstances
• Sodium phosphates
• Mono- and diglycerides - a common emulsifier found in many food products (coffee creamers, ice-creams, spreads, breads, cakes

You can find this word used 

By Ori Zohar on Food 52, “Homemade dressing is so easy to make, too, and a simple one goes a long way: Lemon juice and a dash of vinegar add acidity, while the mustard lends richness and, more importantly, helps the dressing emulsify.”

From Saveur, “Unlike aioli, its Provençal cousin, allioli—one of the basic sauces in Catalan cuisine—is traditionally worked into an emulsion without eggs.”

And from Melissa Clark of the NY Times “Whisk slowly as you drip the oil into the egg yolk, lemon juice and Dijon mustard mixture. Once it starts to emulsify, you can start adding the oil a bit faster.”

OUTRO

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I’m Jenn de la Vega and this has been your culinary word of the day.

Next time on Culinary Word of the day, a method for softer buns.

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