Pot and acid

Appears in
Soup: A Way of Life
Soup

By Barbara Kafka

Published 1998

  • About
Despite the Provocative Title, this is about ordinary cooking. One of the most frequent mistakes in cooking is preparing acidic foods in aluminum or cast iron.

Dramatic instances of the flaw have been provided by readers who have made my Sorrel Soup and called or written to complain about the nasty black color and the unpleasant taste. Invariably they have ignored my instructions to cook in a nonreactive pot. Sorrel is extremely high in acid.

There are many other acidic ingredients that will suffer in such pots. Tomatoes, white wine, and vinegar are only a few. If buying pots, stick to stainless steel with a diffusing base of another metal or well-lined copper.