Cooking Green Vegetables à l’Anglaise or à la Française

In French classic cooking, there are two ways to cook green vegetables: slowly and covered—à la française—and quickly and uncovered—à langlaise. Cooking à l’anglaise, which we Americans sometimes call blanching or parboiling, is the method most of us are familiar with and the most popular method in an era when we like our vegetables bright green, lightly cooked, with a little resistance to the bite. The first time I saw something (sweet peas) cooked à la française, in a fancy Paris restaurant, I was shocked. The peas, after cooking for about half an hour, had a pleasant sweetness but looked and tasted like they came out of a can. I’ve since found that some vegetables benefit from long, slow cooking in a covered pot. Broccoli and broccoli rabe, cooked with olive oil and lots of garlic, develop a depth of flavor that they don’t have when cooked à l’anglaise.