MASTERS OF FLAVOUR

I HAVE NEVER been shy about my love of vegetables. I have been singing the praises of cauliflowers, tomatoes, lemons and my old friend the mighty brinjal for over a decade. It’s become my mission to present vegetables in new and exciting ways and I have embraced it with nothing but enthusiasm.

Still, in the spirit of openness, I must confess to a small niggling doubt that creeps in now and then: how many more ways are there to roast a cauliflower, to slice a tomato, to squeeze a lemon or to fry a brinjal? How many more secrets are there to be discovered in a handful of lentils or a bowl of polenta?

The answer, I am delighted to report, is many. My journey of discovery into the world of vegetables – by which I mean anything, really, which originates from a plant – has taken me in all sorts of directions that I simply hadn’t imagined. If my first vegetable book, PLENTY, was the honeymoon period, a great big party where certain vegetables – peppers, tomatoes, brinjals, mushrooms – got a whole chapter to themselves, PLENTY MORE was all about process; recipes were divided into the ways in which the vegetables were treated: mashed or tossed or grilled, and so forth. FLAVOUR is the third book in the series: it’s about understanding what makes vegetables distinct and, accordingly, devising ways in which their flavours can be ramped up and tasted afresh; it’s about creating flavour bombs, especially designed for veg. This is done in three ways.

1 PROCESS

The first is to do with some basic processes that happen to vegetables when they are cooked, or to some key ingredients that they are cooked with. Browning and caramelising, which happens to many veg (and non-veg) when they are cooked in a certain way, is a key process that teases out flavour. Celeriac, for example, turns from white to golden-brown and becomes sweeter and richer. Other processes that have a similarly terrific effect are charring, ageing (which is mostly done to ingredients well before they reach your kitchen) and infusing, all of which transform and elevate vegetables to great heights.

2 PAIRING

The second is about what you match a vegetable with to draw out one of its distinct qualities. Basic pairings – acidity, heat (as in spicy heat), fat and sweetness – are fundamental,