There are many different ways of cooking
vegetables and fruits. What follows is a brief
outline of the most common methods and
their general effects. They can be divided into
three groups: moist methods that transfer heat
by means of water; dry methods that transfer
heat by means of air, oil, or infrared radiation;
and a more miscellaneous group that includes
ways of restructuring the food, either turning
it into a fluid version of itself, or extracting
the essence of its flavor or color.
Hot Water: Boiling, Steaming,
Pressure-Cooking
Boiling and steaming are the simplest
methods for cooking vegetables, because they
require no judgment of cooking temperature:
whether water is boiling on a high flame or
low, its temperature is 212ºF/100ºC (near sea
level, with predictably lower temperatures at
higher elevations). And because hot water and