give some protection to the surface and
essentially steam the food in its own moisture,
while allowing in some of the smoky aroma
from the heat source and smoldering wrapper.
And some foods actually benefit from
charring. Large sweet and hot chillis have a
thick, tough cuticle or “skin” that is tedious to
peel away. Because it’s relatively dry
compared to the underlying flesh, and made
up in part of flammable waxes, it can be
burned to a crisp before the flesh gets soft.
Once burned, the skin can be scraped or rinsed
off with ease. Similarly, the flesh of eggplants
is smokily perfumed and easily scraped from
the skin when the whole vegetable is grilled
until the flesh softens and the skin dries and
toughens.
Microwave Cooking
Microwave radiation selectively energizes the
water molecules in fruits and vegetables, and