Vegetables

Appears in

Published 2004

About

As a form of protest to decades of overcooked, mushy vegetables, many of us now eat only barely cooked vegetables, their bright colors and crispness a welcome antidote to the gray and soggy vegetables of the past. But sometimes I think that the pendulum has swung too far, and I become tired of eating grassy-tasting, almost raw “cooked” vegetables. Pure cellulose holds little appeal for me.

There is a big difference between overcooking and slow cooking. In Italy, an established slow cooking tradition exists that renders vegetables truly tender and full of flavor. Vegetable braises, sometimes called “suffocated” because they cook in so little liquid, coax layers of flavors from vegetables that would be monodimensional if quickly steamed or sautéed. Gratins, tortini (vegetable tarts without a crust), and sformati (unmolded vegetable flans) combine diverse textures and subtle flavors and make vegetables intriguing and delicious.