Appears in
Oxford Companion to Food

By Alan Davidson

Published 2014

  • About

blanch means for the gardener to earth up vegetables such as (celery, leeks, or cardoons, etc.) and thus keep white.

The blanching carried out in the kitchen is often to parboil. A restaurant chef blanches green vegetables (refreshing them in cold water to arrest any further cooking) if he wishes to have them ready for later orders or for finishing in butter. And vegetables or herbs are blanched before they are frozen, deactivating enzymes and setting their colour.

Fruits (peaches and tomatoes) and nuts (especially almonds) may be blanched to permit them to be peeled.