vegetables, a tradition that continued until relatively recently. Overcooking kills flavor because

the volatile flavor components escape with the steam, but it also kills color pigments. Compare

the favor and color of overcooked green beans to crisp quick-cooked beans. Today’s tendency of

vegetable cookery among the new foodies is crisp, but tender—brief cooking to the point of al

dente. But such tendency is regional. People in the southern U.S., for instance, still tend to cook

vegetables longer than their compatriots on the East and West coasts.

Green is the most common vegetable color. The pigment chlorophyll gives the green

coloration and this pigment is sensitive to length of cooking and acidity of the cooking liquid.

Both destroy the pigment and change it to another pigment that has a drab, unappetizing army

olive-green color. Never cook green vegetables in acidic liquid. Yet, all vegetables contain some

acid and long cooking leaches those into the cooking liquid. As a result, the water becomes more

and more acidic and the chlorophyll pigment disappears. Cooking green vegetables in uncovered

pot is helpful because in covered pot water concentrates the acid, but without the lid much of it

evaporates with the steam.

Older cookbooks suggest adding baking soda to the cooking water to make it alkaline and

retain bright colors. More recently nutritionists found, on the other hand, that vegetables they

cook in alkaline water lose much more nutrients than those they cook in neutral and acidic water.

Hence, never add baking soda to the vegetable cooking water.

Yellow and orange vegetables owe their colors to pigments called carotenoids. Carrots,

corn, tomato, winter squashes and red peppers carry these pigments. They are very stable in

either long cooking or acids, but if you cook these vegetables very long, even these pigments

transform and the vegetables’ color turn dull.

Red and purple color pigments are called anthocyanins. Beets and red cabbage carry

these. They are very stable on long cooking but prolonged overcooking still destroys them, and

your beet or cabbage turns colorless. But these pigments are extremely sensitive to acidity. Acid

brightens the pigments, alkali changes them to blue or blue-green as you may have noticed when

cooking red cabbage. The change is not permanent—add a little acid (vinegar, lemon juice or

cream of tartar) to the cooking water for your red cabbage that had turned blue, and it changes

back to red.

White color pigments are the anthoxanthins. Potatoes, white cabbage, onion and

cauliflower carry these pigments but also the white parts of leeks, celery, cucumber and zucchini.

White pigments are stable on long cooking and remain stable in acidic cooking water. Alkalic

water changes them to yellow pigments. So if you want your cauliflower to turn dingy yellow for

your dinner guests you don’t like, add baking soda to the cooking water. Otherwise a little lemon

juice or other acid keeps white vegetables snow white. But prolonged overcooking or holding

vegetables over heat too long also changes colors to dull yellow, grayish pink or any

unappetizing shades.

Cooking methods

Vegetables are extremely versatile in the kitchen. We may use any of the following

cooking methods to prepare them:

1. Boiling, blanching or parboiling. All these terms refer to the same cooking method—

cooking in briskly boiling large amount of salted water, akin to pasta cooking. The reason for

large amount of water is to keep it at boil as much as possible when you add the vegetables. A

large body of liquid keeps its heat better than a small amount. When you add the vegetables, it

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