Cooking by Color: Vegetables

You know when you were little and you were taught to never judge a person based on the way they looked? Well that rule still applies. When it comes to vegetables, however, all bets are off.

I am not sure how many of you watch some of these cooking competitions on TV where chefs are given an item or a basket of items out of which they are to compose a meal, and every so often they look at one of those items and go, "I don't know how I'm going to do this. I've never worked with [item x] before." Then seemingly, through some kind of TV magic, they end up turning out a decent meal. Well, after this post, you can consider yourself one step closer to hosting and dominating your own episode of Chopped.

So let's begin:

• Green: What makes a vegetable green? Chlorophyll. What is chlorophyll? A pigment/acid that converts sunlight (heat) into energy for plants. And what happens if plants get too much sunlight without enough water? They turn brown. Therefore, green vegetables are extremely sensitive to heat. So what does this tell us about the best way to cook them? In order to obtain that bright, almost fake, green color you need to blanch them in a large, heavily salted pot of boiling water. The key here is to make sure you have more than enough room and water for the vegetables. Why? As soon as you throw the veggies into the heat they begin to excrete the chlorophyll (which is acidic). The water helps to dilute the acid and prevents it from turning the vegetables brown. So once you've cooked your vegetables to your desired point, you can them shock them in an ice bath to stop them from cooking any further. This process would actually be great for making meals ahead of time because after we did this in class we briefly sautéed them with garlic and oil and then served them. So you could blanch and shock your vegetables earlier in the day, put them aside, and then once you're ready to serve, quickly sauté them. Sautéing them for the entire cook time would turn them brown. Steaming them is also an alternative ideal for similar reasons. 

• Red-orange: These vegetables are fat soluble, meaning they break down when cooked in fat. You can simmer a pot of tomato sauce for hours and it will retain its bright red color, but sautéing red/orange/yellow peppers for tacos will break them down and they will begin to turn brown. There is no best way to cook these vegetables because it really depends on what you are trying to do with them. You may want them to turn brown (i.e. for brown sauces served with many red meat dishes) in which case you now know you'll need high heat and some fat!

• Blue-red: These are more along the lines of raspberries, blueberries, red cabbage, and the like. These guys are sensitive to alkaline and will turn color, break down, and sometimes taste funny if not exposed to acid. Ever have blueberry pancakes and notice green/blue rings around wherever the blueberries are placed? Well think about how pancakes are made ... flour, eggs, milk, baking powder, etc. Baking powder is alkaline (when mixed with the acid in the milk it makes your pancakes rise!) so when it comes into contact with your blueberries, it begins to break them down causing those rings to form (and can sometimes break them down to the point where they have this chewy texture and funny aftertaste). So whenever you are preparing your mixed berry salad or boiling a pot of red cabbage for dinner, add some acid (i.e. lemon juice) to keep them intact and retain their color. (For the pancakes, try adding your blueberries right when you put them on the griddle to avoid prolonged exposure.)

• White: When we think of white vegetables we often think of potatoes, but some produce that are actually deceptively white are artichokes and avocados. These guys are sensitive to oxygen. So acid and water, or just water, will help them from breaking down. That's why after you peel your potatoes you throw them into a pot of cold water. Or 5 seconds after you open your avocado you squeeze lemon or lime juice on them to prevent them from turning brown. As an aside, leaving the avocado pit in your guacamole will not keep it from oxidizing. It's just an old wives' tale.

So those are the general categories for cooking by color. Now go to the market and pick out a fruit or vegetable you've never used before and give it a try!

F the F Train

Firstly, I would like to publicly say, F the F train! What should have been a 10-15 minute train ride yesterday had me stuck between the tracks for almost 45 minutes. Raise my fares and then trap me stories below street level in a crammed car - and I think of my grandfather when I say this - bunch of crooks! Anyway, if you are interested in learning more about my train ride from hell I will refer you to the linked Seinfeld video for an accurate reenactment of what went down.

So yesterday we started chopping! Large dice, medium dice, small dice, batonette, julienne, fine julienne, brunoise - you name it, I made it. All afternoon. Slicing and dicing up "mirepoix" for soup (aka aromatics, aka the trinity) - a 2:1:1 ratio of onions, celery, and carrots, respectively, which is considered the base for many stocks, soups, and sauces.  Not exciting enough to take pictures (they'll come soon enough), but obviously a necessary step in the process.

Today, though, we covered nutrition. And we actually had a few pretty interesting conversations, specifically on different types of fats. Now, many people know what Omega 3 fatty acids are (an essential fatty acid that should be incorporated into your diet to promote better health), but have you heard of Omega 6 and 9? Perhaps you have and I have been completely oblivious, but if you have not then, in short, Omega 6s are bad for you and Omega 9s are good for you. Americans pre-1970s had 1:5 ratio of Omega 3s to Omega 6s in their bodies. 1970s roll around, Nixon is elected, and Earl Butz is appointed his Secretary of Agriculture (you can look him up if you're interested in his background). Now there are a lot of politics in this, but basically this is the time frame when corn and soy based products began being promoted in the country as healthy (i.e. corn and soybean oil) primarily because they were extremely cheap to make. Throughout the 70s-90s America's consumption of corn oil, high fructose corn syrup, and the like (including animals being fed a corn diet), skyrocketed ... and the ratio of Omega 3s to Omega 6s in people's diets changed to a 1:25 ratio. In the last decade, the American ratio has since become 1:250 (enter the numerous brands of Omega 3 pills you can find at any grocery store or pharmacy). So the overall lesson? Read your labels (Splenda's closest chemical cousin is DDT - a pesticide), and eat olive oil (an Omega 9) and grass fed animals (because you are what you eat!). And to satisfy your sweet cravings, Mars actually has some of the better candies on the market. Why do you think islands in Italy and Greece are blue zones?

Lastly, before I sign off I would like to address some feedback I received about adulterated food, specifically from my Grandma Marisa (who was flattered to be featured in my first post). Below is the question she e-mailed:

"I understand that the restaurants don't hold the food more than 3 days, and I cook Monday for the whole week, that means 5 days, That I understand. I don't know why I am not poisoned already. So long."

What I was trying to say is that many restaurants buy their produce already fully ripened so they are able to use it immediately (also making it spoil more quickly). In addition to that, there is arguably a difference between food suitable to serve at a restaurant and in your own home. Using the word "adulterated" was just to make a point. Mushy bananas won't kill you, but they're also not the most appealing items to place atop a sundae.

Just some food for thought.

"I have nipples, Greg, could you milk me?"

Did you know that you can milk a reindeer? I don't know why you would necessarily want to, but you can. The first two days of classes at the ICE have been full of interesting factoids on sanitation in the kitchen, dairy, eggs, and (of course) school policy.

First of all, before I get into all of those goodies, can I just say how happy I am to be back on a student's calendar? I get Passover off next week! Growing up in the Catholic school system, getting "vacation" days for Jewish holidays seemed like an urban myth. And at Columbia you just had to take your own "days of observance" as an excused absence. So, in summation, I get off for Passover and I am thrilled!

Back to classes ... 3 mornings a week I have culinary business/management, which has around 20 people in it (mostly people my age actually). Since we're only on day 2, I don't have too much to report on this front. Thursday we have a field trip/project that we will be working on so I will let you know how that goes!

In the afternoons (every day) I have my culinary arts class. Similarly, it has around 15 or so people in it from all over the world (exotic places like Brazil, Poland, Colombia, and even Staten Island). Like I mentioned, it's pretty much been kitchen basics the last two days - complete with the outdated 1980s food sanitation VHS. So some take home points that I think you might be interested in hearing?

Did you know that vanilla ice cream has to have a minimum of 10% milk fat in it, while all other flavors are only 8%? I bet you'll be getting another flavor next time!

Buttermilk, by definition, is the by-product of making butter. You take heavy whipping cream and whip it until your arms fall off - the solid becomes butter and the left-over liquid becomes the base for buttermilk. What this all basically translates to is NO fat. Now go make yourselves some buttermilk pancakes!

Moving on to sanitation. Adulterated food - food unfit for human consumption - is a concept I fear my Grandmother Marisa will never grasp. Did you know most restaurants don't keep produce beyond 3-4 days? (Dios Mio!) I know. Some stuff you just have to let go.

And lastly, but perhaps more importantly, the key to sanitation in the kitchen? Wash your hands. Go figure.

I'm sure I have enlightened you all. Tomorrow we start officially using our knives, and it only gets better from there! I will be updating as often as I can so come back whenever to check in. Hope you enjoy!