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:
- Clean the vegetables and cut into the desired piece sizes
- Place in a saucepan of boiling salted water
- 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)
- Cook until crunchy but not quite cooked
- 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.
