Water is a widely used cooking medium, both for heat transmission and for the diffusion of aromatic components. Depending on the nature of the food and the purpose of cooking, the food can be cooked in cold water, hot water, pressure or bain-marie.
Boiling
The boiling consists in immersing the food in hot or cold water, kept or brought to a temperature of about 100 ° C.
The different foods can be boiled in cold or hot water depending on the nature of the preparation to be pursued.
In cold water: meat and bones for the broth (favor the loss of water-soluble substances); dried vegetables to soften the skin; potatoes for effective cooking.
In hot water: meat for boiling (to avoid the loss of water-soluble substances), pasta for adequate cooking.
Bleaching and blanching are two techniques that are applied in some foods and are practiced in boiling water without a lid. Bleaching is a technique applicable to certain vegetables, while blanching is a real pre-cooking.
Affogatura
The drowning consists in slowly cooking the food in water or in a bottom of vegetables and water. It is done with low (80 ° C) and prolonged cooking, occasionally checking the condition of the food (it can also be practiced in a bain-marie).
The foods that lend themselves to drowning in WATER are: eggs, sausages, gnocchi. The foods that lend themselves to drowning in FONDO are: fish and birds.
Principle of steam and pressure cooking
In the steam cooking system the food comes into contact with water in the gaseous state and undergoes less losses than boiling; you can cook in the steam pot or in the pressure cooker, but always using the perforated bottom that houses the food to be cooked. On the bottom is placed the water that by means of the flame evaporates and transmits the heat to the food; in the steam pot (not pressure), the water level on the bottom must be constantly present.
In steam cooking, the greater the pressure inside (1.4-1.5, up to 2 bar total), the higher the boiling point, consequently the cooking temperature; with this technique exploited by pressure cookers the dispersions are reduced MA increase the losses of thermolabile vitamins.
The most suitable foods are: vegetables and cereals, potatoes, fish and meat.
