Sous Vide

Sous vide (French sous vide — “under vacuum”) is a modern cooking technique in which a product is sealed in a vacuum bag and slowly cooked in a water bath at a precisely controlled, usually low, temperature for a long time. It is the embodiment of a scientific, precise approach to cookery.

The main idea of sous vide lies in the impeccable control of temperature. The water is heated to exactly the degree at which the product becomes perfectly done, and it is held unchanged for hours. Since the product is never heated above this temperature, it is far harder to overcook or overdry than with conventional methods: a steak comes out evenly pink from edge to edge, fish tender, and vegetables keep their colour and shape. That said, holding food in the bath for too long can still soften its texture, and safety depends on using validated time-and-temperature combinations — low temperatures require correspondingly longer times to make food safe, and any food not served at once should be chilled rapidly and kept cold. The vacuum packaging plays a double role: it keeps dishes from losing their juices and aromas, concentrating them instead, and allows the product to be marinated right in the bag. Since at a low temperature no appetising crust forms, after the water bath the meat is usually quickly seared over strong heat for flavour and look. The precision and repeatability of the result have made sous vide a favourite technique of haute-cuisine restaurants, and compact domestic devices have brought it into home kitchens too. It is a technique that gives unsurpassed tenderness and control.