other ingredients. Often the cook wants to
avoid browning, or to minimize it; here the
low heat and oil function to soften the
vegetables, develop and concentrate their
flavors, and blend those flavors together.
Vegetables cooked in a version of the confit
(p. 177) are immersed in oil and slowly
cooked to soften them and infuse them with
the oil’s flavor and richness.
Grilling Grilling and broiling cook by means
of the intense infrared radiation emitted from
burning coals, flames, and glowing electrical
elements. This radiation can desiccate, brown,
and burn in rapid succession, so it’s important
to adjust the distance between heat source and
food to make sure that the food can heat
through before the surface chars. As in
baking, a coating of oil speeds the cooking
and improves flavor. Enclosing the food in a
wrapper — fresh corn in its husk, plantains in
their skin, potatoes in aluminum foil — can