The Fine Art of Peeling

The peel, since it rarely has anything desirable to contribute to the taste of food, interests us in only one way: how to get it off. In many circumstances, it can be pulled away easily enough when the ingredient has been cooked or blanched. Examples are potatoes that are skinned after boiling, peppers after roasting, tomatoes and almonds after blanching. There are occasions, however, when it is to our advantage to skin a vegetable or fruit while it is raw. If you are sautéing peppers for a sauce or a meat dish, you want the peppers to be firm and dry. If you roast them first to peel them, they will become moist and soft, and impossible to brown. If you leave the skin on, it will slip off during the cooking and mingle with the other ingredients—and there is nothing interesting about chewing on bits of vegetable peel.