Food

Flavour first

A recent correspondent takes me to task for my method of cooking vegetables. Apparently my habit of using large volumes of boiling water does not preserve the vitamins.

I feel it necessary, therefore, to make a disclaimer. I am not, and never have been interested in saving vitamins, and I have never claimed that I am. My attitude is to save the flavour, and let the vitamins take care of themselves. I plan meals to present as wide a variety of flavours as possible, rather than to achieve a balanced diet. I think that my approach probably does give a balanced diet, as I have not noticed any signs of scorbutic or other forms of decay, but if it does not, I don't really care. I would rather eat tasty food and have to take vitamin pills, than be wondrously healthy on stodge.

My method of cooking vegetables is thus designed to make them taste as pleasant as possible, by cooking them as rapidly as possible so that they do not spoil or discolour, and remain tasty and crisp. This is why I use sufficient boiling water to prevent the liquid going off the boil when the vegetables are added. Simple physics will tell us that if we add a large mass of cold solid to a small mass of boiling water, the temperature of the mixture is likely to fall below boiling point, the rate of heat transfer to the interior of the vegetable will be less than if boiling temperature were maintained, and so the cooking time, will be longer. Hence the chances of spoilage will be greater.

When I use this method of cooking green vegetables (known as blanching, by the way) I find a large quantity of salt essential. Not only is the salt highly disseminated throughout the cooking liquid, but its chances of penetration into the vegetable are fairly small since cooking time is short. Unfortunately I can't give an exact figure to the amount I use, since I have never measured it; but it would be of the order of one tablespoon per pound of vegetable. And I do not like salty foods.

My correspondent, Lisa Strong, suggests steaming vegetables. I often used a method that is similar to the one she describes, but has some important differences. Firstly, I begin with a shallow pan containing a little oil over a fairly high flame. I toss in the vegetables, and stir them vigourously for several minutes, until they have turned a bright green colour. I then reduce the heat, add a little water (some vegetables, e.g. damp brussels sprouts, need none), cover the pan, and leave the vegetables to steam until they are cooked, but still crisp. Sprouts, cabbage, bean sprouts, capsicums and possibly cauliflower respond well to this treatment, which is a typical Chinese way of cooking greens.