returns to boil relatively quickly. Large amount also helps to dilute accumulating leached-out

acids that would change the color.

Blanching and parboiling are the same things. The terms imply cooking in boiling water

until nearly cooked but still quite crisp. Once you remove the vegetables from the boiling water,

you quickly immerse them in cold water to stop the cooking process (iced water, that some

cookbooks suggest, is not necessary—cold water instantly stops the process and you avoid an

unnecessary step of ice water preparation). Then the vegetables are ready for a next cooking step,

for cold storage or as salad ingredient. Boiling is a term that implies cooking to a softer stage

than blanching. Today many cooks prefer to serve freshly-blanched crisp vegetables instead of

boiled.

You always add salt to the water to cook vegetables. The amount is about ½ teaspoon for

every quart (liter) of water. Without salt the boiling water leaches out the vegetables’ natural salt

and the flavor becomes flat.

Blanching produces the brightest colored vegetables of all cooking methods. They

become brighter than their natural colors. Why? Vegetables are made up of tiny cells that contain

the coloring pigments. There is a thin layer of air that surrounds each cell and that layer slightly

mutes the color in living plants. It is similar to looking through a fogged-up windshield. The heat

in blanching removes that thin air layer from the surface cells, and the muting effect

disappears—the colors become brighter, like if you had put on the defroster for your windshield.

2. Steaming is a slower process than boiling or blanching requiring nearly twice the

cooking time. Many cooks swear by steaming as the method for best-tasting vegetables. But

others (myself included) disagree. When you steam and blanch the same vegetable to the same

degree of doneness, you notice a slight but distinct difference. Steaming does not bring the

flavors out as fully as cooking in boiling water does. You may want to try it yourself and decide.

You don’t need to salt the water when steaming in spite of some cookbook directions.

Salt does not evaporate with the steam and the vegetables remain unaffected.

3. Stir-frying, sautéing and frying are closely related methods. All use high heat and oil

or fat to prevent sticking to the pan and to develop the flavor by the browning reaction (see

Browning reaction under the Meat chapter). In stir-frying you add just a film of oil, in sautéing

somewhat more and you fry in deep, hot oil. When frying in a lot of oil, the cook needs to coat

the vegetable with a batter, or the fast-escaping steam from the vegetables makes a terrible

spatter in the oil. The coating moderates the direct contact of the hot steam and the oil, resulting

in plenty of hissing and sizzling but less spattering.

4. Baking or roasting is suitable for many of the sturdier vegetables. Those with

particularly high moisture content, such as cucumbers, are not suitable—by the time they are

finished roasting, not much more than a brown pellet left. You always stir in a small amount of

oil or fat with baked or roasted vegetables to help them brown and inhibit sticking to the pan.

You may also add seasonings with the oil. Add robust herbs and spices early in the process but

subtle-flavored herbs lose too much essential oil during the baking process, so it is best to add

them late. For baking or roasting, use whole vegetables or large chunks. If you cut them into too

small pieces, they dry out too much.

5. Broiling and grilling vegetables are just like broiling or grilling meat, except it is

necessary to add some oil or fat to avoid sticking and promote browning. For this method the

vegetables are often in thick slices.

6. Microwave cooking is very popular because of its speed. Many cooks believe in this

method yet it is so fast that overcooking is a real danger. You leave the vegetables in the

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