Читать книгу Food Facts for the Kitchen Front - Литагент HarperCollins USD, Ю. Д. Земенков, Koostaja: Ajakiri New Scientist - Страница 6

IT WAS once said that English cooking demanded a Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Vegetables. But now we no longer regard them as a mere accompaniment to a meat dish—a food to be cooked in water and served haphazardly. We are learning to value them highly and cook them well.

We can produce enough vegetables in our country to feed the whole nation. Last year saw our production enormously increased by the Dig for Victory Campaign. This year, as the diggers grow more numerous and more experienced, we shall increase it still further.

We recognise the importance of vegetables as a Protective Food. We know that some (potatoes for example) are good Energy Food also.

Not only are they valuable food, but properly cooked or attractively served raw, vegetables are delicious, full of variety, and capable of being used in a number of different ways.

A salad can be as pretty as a bunch of flowers, yet do you as much good as a steak and kidney pudding. Even if you like a meat and vegetable meal best, don’t forget that you can feed well from a course of vegetables alone. Or, if you are near the end of your meat ration, an extra vegetable will transform it into a substantial meal.

The main thing to remember in cooking vegetables is to bring them to table as near their normal selves, and with as much of their natural goodness as possible. Cook them in a steamer if you can; they will retain more flavour.

Wash all green vegetables thoroughly and soak them in cold water with a teaspoon of salt for not more than half an hour. Then shred them finely. If you are going to “boil” them, go easy with the water. Put them into a saucepan with not more than a teacupful of boiling water and a pinch of salt. If you can, add a fleck of margarine or cooking fat on top, though in these rationed days you may not be able to spare it.

Replace the lid and boil steadily for 10–15 minutes, shaking the pan to keep the vegetables clear. Drain the vegetables well and serve them hot. Any stock that remains should be strained off and used for gravy or soup.

Use the outside leaves of green vegetables. Shred them and put them into soup, or add them shredded to a hot-pot.

For root vegetables—carrots, turnips, swedes, etc.—the most important thing to remember is to scrape or peel them lightly, taking as little off the edible parts as possible. Steam them if you can, boil them in a very little salted water if you can’t. They are good, too, baked round the joint or in a very little water in a dish in the oven. The only exception to this rule is beetroot (see p. 15).