Blanching

Clean and blanch the Brussels sprouts
Blanch in boiling salted water

Blanching is a technique of pre-cooking vegetables in a little salted water.

The advantages :

  • the final preparation time during the à la carte time is reduced
  • colors are retained, even when subsequently heated

When blanching, salt (approx. 8g/litre) in the water is essential. It contributes to the fact that green foods such as beans, spinach or broccoli retain a fresh green color after blanching. Blanched vegetables stay fresh and attractive for longer when properly cooled.

Blanched vegetables are therefore an essential part of the mise en place.

The procedure:

  1. Clean the vegetables and cut into the desired piece sizes
  2. Place in a saucepan of boiling salted water
  3. Add the prepared vegetables to the boiling water (not too much, otherwise the water will take too long to boil again and the vegetables will leach out)
  4. Cook until crunchy but not quite cooked
  5. Remove immediately and place in ice water. Leave there until the pieces are chilled.

For larger quantities, we recommend using a steam cooker and connecting a blast chiller, which quickly cools the hot food to below 4°C. In this way, nutrients are preserved even better.