FOOD : Cool Food : Room-Temperature Dishes Capture Natural Untamed Tastes and Textures

There are unmistakable pleasures in eating food served at room temperature, particularly when the weather is warm. Foods that can be eaten without cooking show completely different qualities than foods that must be cooked; natural textures and flavors come through without alteration.

When foods are cooked, flavors are tamed. Colors change, too; they mute into pastel shades. Texture is altered.

But foods designed to be eaten at room temperature are served closer to their natural state. Ingredients taste the way they are supposed to--fresh and vibrant. Colors are bright and true. Foods that crunch continue to do so. Colors are bright and true.

Think of the Italian salad Caprese , a room-temperature combination of startlingly red tomatoes, milky-white fresh mozzarella and vivid green basil. There is no dish more commonplace, yet few dishes that could be more perfect.

The pleasures of room-temperature food are not just of the palate. There is a psychological difference in serving food at room temperature. Because diners don’t feel an immediate pressure to get it while it’s hot, dinners occur more leisurely. And because most dishes can be prepared in advance, the cook can relax.

In other warm-weather areas, such as Mediterranean countries, food served at room temperature is so much a part of the culinary life that it is hard to imagine those cuisines without it. In Spain, room-temperature food has been elevated almost to the level of religion with the national passion for tapas , small between-meal snacks that easily become an entire meal.

But it has taken this country some time to catch on to cool food. In the traditional French kitchen, the position of garde-manger (the person who prepares composed salads, terrines and other room-temperature specialties) is one of the highest in the pecking order. In most American restaurants, however, the garde-manger is called a pantry chef, a position at the very bottom of the career ladder in the restaurant business.

Here, too, foods that aren’t served hot often are brought out ice-cold. Perhaps this custom is rooted in a fear of disease. Many people seem to think that any food more than five minutes out of the refrigerator or oven is well on its way to botulism. In the case of protein foods, of course, there is reason to worry--dishes based on milk, eggs, fish or meat should not be held at room temperature for more than an hour. Even so, they can be prepared in advance, refrigerated and brought to room temperature five or 10 minutes before serving. Other dishes--based on vegetables, fruits and cereals--present no problem when served at room temperature.

Yet in most places, foods that should be served at room temperature come straight out of the fridge; salads are made with greens as stiff as cardboard, and tomatoes have the texture of pool balls. Even pasta salads are refrigerated, a horrifying prospect, since ice-cold pasta becomes nothing more than cold, stiff, boiled starch. Compare that to a room-temperature pasta salad, in which the noodles still have their flex, the olive-oil dressing is aromatic and the fresh vegetables keep their natural bite and savor.

In these recipes, the ingredients are cooked just enough to improve them but not enough to tame their color, flavor or texture. Served neither hot nor cold but at room temperature, they are truly foods to cool summer’s heat.

This technique for cooking salmon comes from the well-known French chef Michel Bras by way of author Paula Wolfert. A fast and easy cooking method, it leaves the fish pinkish-orange rather than dull gray.

OVEN-STEAMED SALMON WITH FENNEL GREMOLATA 3 pounds center-cut salmon fillet, skinned 1 lemon 2 cloves garlic 1/2 cup fresh fennel fronds 1/2 cup very good olive oil 3 teaspoons coarse sea salt

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Adjust racks so there is one near top of oven, another lower. Put deep roasting pan on lower rack. Bring pan of water to boil on stove.

Cut salmon fillet into 12 approximately 1-inch-wide strips. Put salmon on ungreased cookie sheet.

Pour boiling water into roasting pan. Put cookie sheet with salmon on top rack of oven. Bake-steam 10 minutes. Turn fillets over and cook another minute. Remove from oven; clean any white, rendered fat from fillets, and store on covered plate.

To make gremolata , peel lemon with vegetable peeler. Cut zest into thin julienne and then into fine dice. Finely mince garlic and add to lemon. Add fennel fronds and finely chop all together.

Paint 6 individual serving plates with 2 tablespoons olive oil, and swirl to cover serving surface. Arrange two salmon fillets in narrow V on each plate. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of gremolata and 1/2 teaspoon sea salt. Makes 6 servings.

There is a Sicilian dish called caponata e pana made from stewed eggplant, peppers and onions and served with bread. This lighter version combines the earthy flavors of grilled eggplant and roasted red peppers with the tang of anchovies and the bright flavor of basil.

GRILLED CAPONATA E PANA 4 cups stale Italian bread cut into 1/2-inch cubes 4 red bell peppers (or 2 cups roasted red bell peppers) 6 Japanese eggplants Olive oil 2 anchovy fillets, rinsed and chopped 2 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped Salt and pepper to taste 1/2 cup fresh basil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Toast bread 10 minutes or until light brown. Remove to air-tight container.

Roast red bell peppers over open gas flame, turning slowly to blacken entire surface. Put peppers paper bag, close tightly and steam for 15 minutes. Remove peppers from bag and peel away blackened skin. Remove stem end and seeds. Cut in 5 or 6 sections lengthwise, then in half. Reserve.

Cut stem end off eggplants and cut in 1/2-inch diagonal slices. Lightly cover with olive oil. Grill under broiler or over charcoal or gas grill until soft and lightly brown.

Add eggplant to peppers. Add anchovies, garlic and 1/4 cup olive oil. Toss well to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Just before serving, add bread and mix well. Top with fresh basil, either torn in small pieces or cut fine julienne.

Makes 6 servings.

The combination of the nuttiness of the wild rice and the bite of the orange juice dressing is a backdrop for an explosion of fresh herbs. It’s a twist on tabbouleh .

WILD-RICE SALAD 1 1/2 cups wild rice 1 1/2 cups chicken stock plus enough water to cover rice by 1/2 inch 2 bay leaves 1/4 red onion, sliced paper-thin 1 clove garlic, minced 1/4 cup orange juice Juice of one lemon 1/2 cup olive oil Salt and pepper to taste 1/2 cup fresh parsley 2 tablespoons fresh basil 2 tablespoons fresh mint 2 tomatoes, coarsely chopped

In medium saucepan, add chicken stock to wild rice and bay leaves. Add water to cover. Bring to boil over medium heat; then reduce to low and cover. Check after 20 minutes. If rice needs to cook more and pot is dry, add more water (since there is little starch in wild rice, it won’t toughen as regular rice will). When rice is firm to bite but cooked through, drain in colander and remove bay leaves.

While rice is still warm, transfer to large mixing bowl and add red onion and garlic. Add orange juice, lemon juice and half of olive oil. Fold rice over with spatula to coat with juice and oil. Add oil until rice shines, but not so much that extra oil collects in bottom of bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cover and chill until ready to finish.

Just before serving, coarsely chop fresh herbs and fold into salad. (If you do it too much in advance, herbs will blacken.) Repeat quickly for tomatoes. Makes 6 servings.

Nothing could be simpler--either in concept or in execution--than this dish. But given perfectly ripe tomatoes, there’s also little that could be better.

SPAGHETTI SALSA

1 pound dried spaghetti 4 ripe tomatoes 2 cloves garlic 2 jalapeno peppers, charred and peeled 1/4 cup fresh cilantro 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar 1 teaspoon kosher salt 1 tablespoon butter

Bring pot of salted water to rolling boil. Add spaghetti.

Meanwhile, seed and coarsely chop tomatoes. Coarsely chop garlic, jalapenos and cilantro. Combine in small mixing bowl with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Mix quickly and add salt.

When spaghetti is cooked, add butter to serving bowl. Drain spaghetti and put that on top of butter. Mix well to make sure pasta is well coated. Add 2/3 of salsa and mix well. Spoon other third on top of spaghetti. Makes 6 servings.

Food styled by Alice M. Hart and Julie Madonia; props styled by Laura Kahn; tableware from Tesoro, Los Angeles, and Lynne Deutch Ltd., Los Angeles.