Sous-vide plums. Pics/Datta Kumbhar

Cooking in the time of fancy cooking shows means we often encounter terms and techniques that largely seem out of reach for amateur home chefs. If you are the kind that binges on Masterchef Australia or Top Chef, you have heard of the sous-vide technique. The French style of cooking translates into "under vacuum", and was tried out for the first time in 1974 by French chef Georges Pralus. It involves sealing meat, fish, vegetables or fruits in a zip lock bag, submerging it in a water bath for the specific amount of time required. The result is that the ingredient is cooked uniformly.