with an acidic sauce, some pungent products
increase sixfold. (Soaking the chopped
cabbage in cold water will leach out most of
the flavor compounds formed by chopping, at
the same time that it hydrates the leaves and
makes them crisper.) When cabbages and
their relatives are fermented to make
sauerkraut and other pickles, nearly all of the
flavor precursors and their products are
transformed into less bitter, less pungent
substances.
The Effects of Heat Heating cabbages and
their friends has two different effects. Initially
the temperature rise within the tissue speeds
the enzyme activity and flavor generation,
with maximum activity at around 140ºF/60ºC.
The enzymes stop working altogether
somewhere short of the boiling point. If the
enzymes are quickly inactivated by plunging
the vegetables into abundant boiling water,
then many of the flavor precursor molecules