Tempering an opinion means moderating it.
Temper is a verb that refers to attenuate, contain, calm or mitigate something . The concept can also mention the fact of adapting one thing to another .
For example: “The new government will have to work hard to temper the spirits of the different sectors of the economy that are going through difficulties due to the international panorama,” “The coach will surely seek to temper the impact of the captain's statements,” “We should temper expectations.” of the children so that they are not disappointed when they arrive."
The etymology
Before entering fully into clarifying the meaning of the term, we have to highlight its etymological origin. In this case, we can establish that it is a word that derives from Latin, being the result of adding three elements of said language:
- The prefix ad- , which can be translated as “towards” .
- The noun tempus , which is equivalent to “time” .
- The suffix -ar , which is used to form verbs.
Temper as moderate
The idea of tempering is usually used with respect to moderation of an opinion, an activity, etc.
Suppose an Inter Milan footballer states: “I will never play for another team in my life.” However, just a few months later, he declared: “If an attractive offer arrives for the team and for me, I am willing to leave.” Faced with this reality, many journalists point out that the athlete decided to temper his position and was open to a change.
To temper or temper chocolate, it is usual to melt it in a bain-marie and then cool some of it on a marble surface.
Chocolate manipulation
On the other hand, what is known as tempering (or tempering) chocolate is a process that is carried out with this food to be able to handle it without losing shine or suffering quality changes in its finish. Tempering chocolate involves heating it and then cooling it to certain temperatures so that its structure becomes more stable.
The classic method for tempering chocolate consists of melting the food in a bain-marie and then taking two-thirds of the total to cool it on a marble surface. For this, the cook must use a spatula and stir the chocolate. Once it has cooled and reached the appropriate temperature, this chocolate must return to the original container to be mixed with the rest and thus reach the tempering temperature .
Temper meat and eggs
Within the field of gastronomy, the term tempering is not only used to refer to this process in relation to chocolate, but also for other actions with various products. Thus, for example, it is common to mention tempering meat . This is a step that is essential when it comes to being able to prepare that food in a perfect and juicy way.
It basically consists of removing the meat from the refrigerator an hour before it is going to be cooked. In this way, it is considered that the fact that it is at room temperature will make it juicier as well as prevent it from shrinking when fried or splashing water when placed in the pan.
Of course, one should not forget that it is also very common to talk about tempering eggs when preparing a dessert, for example. It basically consists of pouring the beaten eggs into a bowl and adding a little hot milk or cream to them to prevent them from curdling.