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How to Blanch and Cook Vegetables for Salads
Cut the vegetables as desired, in cubes, lozenges, balls, juliennes, etc. Put over the fire in boiling water, and, after cooking three or four minutes,
The text as printed breaks off mid-instruction, so what survives is the opening of a standard blanching method: cut to shape, drop into boiling water, cook briefly. The conventional completion — drain, chill, dry — is what the rest of the paragraph almost certainly gave, but it is worth saying plainly that the original page is truncated here.
- The cuts namedCubes are dice; lozenges are diamonds cut from flat slices; balls are scooped with a small melon or Parisienne cutter; juliennes are matchsticks, conventionally about an eighth of an inch square and an inch or two long. The recipe leaves size to the cook ('as desired'), but uniformity matters more than the shape itself, since mixed sizes cook unevenly.
- Salt the waterThe recipe says nothing about salt, but water for boiling vegetables is usually salted; about a tablespoon per quart is a common ratio, and unsalted water leaches flavour out of vegetables that will later be eaten cold.
- Three or four minutes is not universalThat timing suits small-cut green beans, peas, carrots or turnip. Cauliflower florets and asparagus tips need less, beetroot and whole potatoes far more. Test with the point of a knife rather than trusting the clock.
- Chill immediatelyProbably the step the fragment is heading toward: lift the vegetables out and plunge them into cold water. Residual heat will keep softening finely cut pieces, and cold water helps preserve the colour of green vegetables.
- Dry before dressingWater clinging to blanched vegetables thins the dressing and makes a mayonnaise slip off. Spread the pieces on a towel and pat them dry, or spin them, before anything oily goes near them.
- Dress while barely warmFor vinaigrette-based salads, tossing the vegetables while still slightly warm lets them absorb the acid and seasoning. Save mayonnaise and cream dressings for vegetables that are fully cold.
- Make-aheadBlanched and dried vegetables keep covered and cold for a couple of days.
Blanching as a preliminary step belongs to the professional French kitchen, where mise en place meant vegetables were cut, cooked briefly and held cold so a salad could be composed to order. The instruction lists cuts by name: julienne, lozenge, and the small scooped balls associated with Parisienne cutters. That is the whole point of the brief boil: enough heat to soften and fix the colour, not enough to collapse the edges of a cube.