Chapter 7 : Vegetables

Vegetables

Vegetables are highly perishable

Controlling Quality Changes During Cooking

Cooking affects vegetables in four ways :

i. Texture

ii. Flavor

iii. Color

iv. Nutrients

Cooking & Sweetness

Young, freshly harvested vegetables have a high sugar content. As they mature/sit in the storage the sugar turns to starch.

l To serve sweet-tasting vegetables:

l Serve young fresh vegetables that have not been stored long.

l For older vegetables use a little sugar in the cooking water compensate for the lack of natural sweetness.

Controlling Nutrient Losses

The 6 factors responsible for most nutrient loss:

i. High temperature

ii. Long cooking

iii. Leaching

iv. Alkalis(baking soda, hard water)

v. Plant enzymes

vi. Oxygen

Mushrooms

Cultivated Exotic Mushroom

l Shiitake

l Oyster mushrooms

l Cremini mushrooms

l Portobello mushrooms

Wild Mushrooms

l Morel

l Bolete

l Chanterelle

l Black trumpet