What Happens During Sweating in Cooking?

Sweating concentrates flavours and releases sugars. The vegetables become tender as tough cell walls are broken down, and in the case of onions, they may become translucent. This change in texture is often desirable in soups, stews, and sauces.

Sweating is similar to sauté eing, with the difference being that in the latter technique, higher heat is used, and the food will often be browned. Sweating is more about softening, not browning. It is used when you do not want the brown colour and flavours that happen in the Maillard reaction of browning.

Often, the cook will keep stirring the vegetables during sweating to ensure they are cooking uniformly and they have not started to brown. Cutting the vegetables into uniform pieces also helps ensure that they all cook at the same rate. Salt is also often added as it helps draw out the moisture.

How to Sweat Vegetables

A common step when making a dish where aromatic vegetables are used is to dice them and sweat them. Usually, these are dishes, such as stews, where the vegetables are not the featured item, but they add their background flavours and aromas to complete the dish. You will see it in recipes for soups and braised meat dishes as well.

First, the vegetables are chopped uniformly. Diced into quarter-inch pieces, they will sweat in less time, and there is more surface area for the process than with a larger chop. If garlic is called for, it should be minced as well, but often you will wait to add it to the other vegetables as it may cook too quickly if added at first.

The pan is heated over medium-low heat, and a small amount of butter or oil is added to coat the bottom of the pan. Once it is hot, the vegetables and salt can be added. Now the cook needs to ensure the pan is not getting too hot and there is just gentle sizzling rather than any vigorous pops. Adjust the heat accordingly.

Stir the vegetables often and observe for any signs of unwanted browning. It will take 5 to 10 minutes for the vegetables to become softened. If onions are part of the mixture, you will know you are done when they are translucent.

VOCABULARY:

sweating ['swetɪ ŋ ] лёгкое обжаривание на медленном огне некоторых видов овощей с целью удаления лишней влаги и размягчения

objective [ə b'ʤ ektɪ v] цель

crunch y [krʌ nʧ ɪ ] хрустящий

cell wall [ sel w ɔ ː l ] клеточная оболочка

translucent [træ nz'l(j)uː s(ə )nt] полупрозрачный

to stir [stɜ ː ] помешивать

uniform ly ['juː nɪ fɔ ː m l ɪ ] равномерно

uniform ['juː nɪ fɔ ː m] одинакового размера

rate [reɪ t] зд. скорость

to dice [ da ɪ s ] нарезать кубиком

sizzling ['sɪ zlɪ ŋ ] шипение

vigorous ['vɪ g(ə )rə s] сильный

pop [pɔ p] зд. шкворчание

to adjust [ə 'ʤ ʌ st] контролировать

EXERCISES:

I. Answer the following questions:

What is sweating?

What is the objective of sweating?

What is a commonly used fat for sweating

4. How do sauté ing and sweating differ from each other?

5. How should vegetables be cut before sweating?

II. Find in the text the synonyms for the following words:

aim, to liberate, semitransparent, evenly, speed, to extract, to finish, to regulate

III. Fill the gaps in the following sentences:

1. In culinary terms, the definition of the word “sweat” means to cook something … in a small …, usually in a covered ….

2. Sweating is usually a … in preparing vegetables to add to a dish, ensuring they are not still … and they have the desired ….

3. Cutting the vegetables into … helps ensure that they all cook at ….

4. Often you will … garlic to the other vegetables as it may cook … if added at first.

5. It will take … minutes for the vegetables to become ….

IV. Fill in the table:

Information you had known before reading the text	Information you have known from the text	Information you would like to know

 

V. Match the words and their definitions:

1) carrot; 2) celery; 3) moisture; 4) translucent; 5) stew; 6) to stir; 7) to dice; 8) garlic; 9) to mince; 10) to sizzle.

a) a dish of meat and vegetables cooked slowly in liquid in a closed dish or pan;

b) a cultivated plant of the parsley family, with closely packed succulent leaf stalks which are used as a salad or cooked vegetable;

c) a strong-smelling pungent-tasting bulb, used as a flavouring in cookery and in herbal medicine;

d) water or other liquid diffused in a small quantity as vapour, within a solid, or condensed on a surface;

e) to make a hissing sound when frying or cooking;

f) a tapering orange-coloured root eaten as a vegetable;

g) to cut up food into very small pieces, typically in a machine;

h) to cut food or other matter into small cubes;

i) allowing light to pass through;

j) to move a spoon or other implement round and round in (a liquid or other substance) in order to mix it thoroughly.

VI. Find the false sentences using the information from the text. Correct them.

1. The objective in sweating vegetables is to soften and brown them and release the moisture in them.

2. Sweating may also be known as “oil-steam”, especially because oil is a commonly used fat for the sweating step of a recipe.

3. Sweating is similar to sauté eing, with the difference being that in the latter technique, higher heat is used.

Vegetables need to be stirred constantly during sweating to ensure they are cooking uniformly and they have not started to brown.

If garlic is called for in sweating, it should be added at first.

VII. Translate the following words and word combinations:

· to release moisture

· to keep stirring

· at the same rate

· background flavour

· quarter-inch pieces

· клеточная оболочка

· изменение текстуры

· одинаковые кусочки

· шипение

· шкворчание

VIII. Translate the recipe from the appendix illustrating sweating.

Roasting and Baking

Roasting is a dry-heat method of cooking, where hot air from an oven, open flame, or other heat source completely surrounds the food, cooking it evenly on all sides.

Baking is a type of dry-heat cooking, similar to roasting, that is done in an enclosed space such as an oven, not over a direct flame.

So, roasting and baking are both dry-heat cooking methods. These cooking techniques use hot air to conduct heat, typically at 300 °F (149 °C) or higher.

Both methods brown the exterior of the food, adding delicious flavour (think: crispy chicken skin and crusty bread ). While roasting used to signify food cooked over an open flame, roasting today is done in an oven.

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