This site uses only a few technical cookies necessary for its operation. By continuing to browse, you accept their use.
To find out more...
To find out more...
The green of leeks
We are all, consciously or not, very sensitive to the colour of our food. That's why a red strawberry will always seem more appetizing than a pale one, even if it's not necessarily true.
This is true for red, but it is also true for the green of certain vegetables.
This is true for red, but it is also true for the green of certain vegetables.
20 K 4.0/5 (26 reviews)
Keywords for this post:LeekGreenWhiteStorageCookingChlorophyllLast modified on: March 30th 2020
The green of leeks
And this sensitivity to colors is also sometimes a question of taste, we are a little conditioned by that, so much so that when a panel of testers do so-called "blind" tastings, for example of chocolate, the room where they are is only lit by a red light that masks everything, so as not to influence the testers. Indeed, if they like the color of the chocolate, they will tend to find it better than another chocolate less "pretty".
It is therefore a question of color, of the appetite that follows, and indirectly of taste: a beautiful food with beautiful colors will please us more than something ugly and shriveled. In the bowl of apples on the table, you will surely and instinctively take the most beautiful available.
All this to say that making beautiful dishes is not only a question of aesthetics, it is also a question of how your guests will have their first impression, and it counts a lot.
In all this quest for beautiful colors, we have two almost antinomic things in the kitchen: green and cooking. Indeed, a lot of green vegetables are very beautiful and green when raw, but if you cook them (too) long, the chlorophyll they contain will degrade and they will become greenish or beige, in short, much less pretty, even if their taste is there.
An emblematic example: leeks, beautiful and green at the beginning, become dull after a long cooking, and a dish that illustrates it well is the leek-potato soup which is in full season as I write these lines.
If you're going to make potato leek soup, you're going to put potatoes and leeks together and cook them, normal, classic. That's a bit of a problem, the potatoes will cook much slower than the leeks, and to get the potatoes to cook properly, the leeks will be overcooked, and a bit dull in color.
Is there anything we can do?
Yes, it's just a matter of cooking time, finely sliced leek is cooked in 4-5 minutes max, potatoes definitely more. So for the ideal soup, cook the potatoes and onion first, and 5 minutes before the end, add the leek and finish cooking until it is tender.
This will give you the ideal leek-potato soup, tasty and with a beautiful, clean green colour, very appetizing.
To sum up: As a rule, green vegetables do not stand long cooking times, so if they have to be cooked with other products, it is always a good idea to cook them last and for as little time as possible.
It is therefore a question of color, of the appetite that follows, and indirectly of taste: a beautiful food with beautiful colors will please us more than something ugly and shriveled. In the bowl of apples on the table, you will surely and instinctively take the most beautiful available.
All this to say that making beautiful dishes is not only a question of aesthetics, it is also a question of how your guests will have their first impression, and it counts a lot.
In all this quest for beautiful colors, we have two almost antinomic things in the kitchen: green and cooking. Indeed, a lot of green vegetables are very beautiful and green when raw, but if you cook them (too) long, the chlorophyll they contain will degrade and they will become greenish or beige, in short, much less pretty, even if their taste is there.
An emblematic example: leeks, beautiful and green at the beginning, become dull after a long cooking, and a dish that illustrates it well is the leek-potato soup which is in full season as I write these lines.
If you're going to make potato leek soup, you're going to put potatoes and leeks together and cook them, normal, classic. That's a bit of a problem, the potatoes will cook much slower than the leeks, and to get the potatoes to cook properly, the leeks will be overcooked, and a bit dull in color.
Is there anything we can do?
Yes, it's just a matter of cooking time, finely sliced leek is cooked in 4-5 minutes max, potatoes definitely more. So for the ideal soup, cook the potatoes and onion first, and 5 minutes before the end, add the leek and finish cooking until it is tender.
This will give you the ideal leek-potato soup, tasty and with a beautiful, clean green colour, very appetizing.
To sum up: As a rule, green vegetables do not stand long cooking times, so if they have to be cooked with other products, it is always a good idea to cook them last and for as little time as possible.
Lasts posts
Oven height
When we put a dish or cake in the oven, we naturally tend to put it on the middle shelf, and that's what we usually do. But in some cases, this position and height can be a little tricky, so let's find out why.October 8th 20251,1995
The importance of sieving
In recipes that use a fine powder (flour, powdered sugar, etc.), you'll often see the advice to sift before using it. To sift is to pass the powder in question through a sieve (a very fine strainer) before incorporating it into your recipe. It's often advice, but is it really useful?September 3rd 20256,7603
The grease spray
As soon as you have something in a recipe that sticks to the mold, the question always arises as to how difficult it is to remove from the mold. There's nothing more frustrating than breaking your cake when unmolding it, because part of it has stuck in the mold. The classic way to avoid this is...August 26th 20256,1925
Cake moulds
When we make a cake, or a cake of the same rectangular shape, we usually take out our usual mould and tell ourselves that the recipe is anyway "for a cake", but is it really that simple?August 25th 20256,3015
Thinning out herbs
If you need to add a long-stemmed herb (tarragon, mint, verbena, thyme, etc.) to a recipe, you'll probably only need the leaves and not the stem, so you'll need to remove the leaves. Leaf removal means keeping only the beautiful leaves, and eliminating the ugly stems and leaves, but how do you do...August 8th 20254,4485
Other pages you may also like
A few tips for effective kneading at home
When you have to knead dough for bread or some other recipe, you may well use a food processor or the type of machine known as a stand mixer. The best-known brands are Kenwood and KitchenAid. They are useful tools, but here are a few tips to help you get the best out of them.June 23th 2021282 K 23.7
The march forward
When professionals get to work in their kitchen, lab or bakery, they are (if they are conscientious) very sensitive to hygiene and cleanliness. It is impossible for a good baker for example to do a day's work without regularly cleaning the table where he or she works, and it is even more...June 30th 202119 K5
Choosing a chopping board
It's a no-brainer, surely? If you want a chopping board, just find a piece of wood, and Bob's your uncle! You can happily chop away with a knife and not damage the table or worktop. But in reality, it's a bit more complicated than that. You need to be careful what you are buying, in particular the...May 8th 201250 K4.6
The 3 kinds of meringue
Meringue – what could be simpler? Just beaten egg whites with sugar added. This makes a fairly stiff mixture which can then be cooked in a cool oven to create those lovely, light confections. But in the world of professional patisserie, meringue comes in three different kinds. Even if the...June 14th 201364 K4.5
Artichoke stalks
When preparing artichokes for cooking, you may well already know that we often need to remove the first round of leaves, if they are tatty or dirty, as well as the inedible stalk. The operative word here is “remove” , rather than “cut off”.October 25th 201653 K4.3
Post a comment or question
Follow this page
If you are interested in this page, you can "follow" it, by entering your email address here. You will then receive a notification immediately each time the page is modified or a new comment is added. Please note that you will need to confirm this following.
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Alternatively: you can subscribe to the mailing list of cooling-ez.com , you will receive a e-mail for each new recipe published on the site.