Let's Cut to The Flavor

How you cook a vegetable changes its flavor. Okay...Not groundbreaking I know.

But did you know that how you cut a vegetable changes how it tastes?

Crazy right? But I bet you intuitively knew this. Think about garlic. Even better, go grab two cloves of garlic, a knife, and a cutting board. I’ll wait for you! ⏱

Still waiting...Okay, are you back?

Now mince one clove of garlic. You want it super fine! You could even grate it with a Microplane. For the second garlic clove, thinly slice it into coin-like pieces.

Then smell them both. And then taste them both. (A nibble is okay. 😄) The finely minced garlic will be more pungent, almost spicier than the thinly sliced one.

Why????

It Comes Down to Cell Walls

Think about the humble carrot. If you cut it in half crosswise, you’ll see the intact ring inside. Those rings are the cell walls or “grain” of a vegetable. Or think about the rings of an onion. Same idea. Every vegetable has structural walls—most just don’t show theirs off as clearly as carrots or onions.

Here’s what it means for our cooking. The more cell walls of a vegetable that you rupture, the stronger the vegetable will taste like itself. That’s why grated or finely minced ginger is more pungent than sliced. So if you want the flavor of a vegetable to be stronger: smash it, mince it, or grate it. (Look at you obliterating those cell walls!💥) On the other hand, if you want that vegetable’s flavor to be more subtle, cut it into chunks or slices.  

Down for another experiment? 🧪 Shred half a carrot with a box grater. Then slice the other half into coins or matchstick. Because carrots are naturally sweet, the shredded carrots taste sweeter than sliced one. Personally, it blows my mind every time 🤯.

More Than Just Flavor

When you break down a vegetable’s cell walls, it also impacts its texture and rate of absorption.

Texture

Grating or shredding makes certain vegetables more palatable raw. Dense vegetables like beets, celery root, and fennel are not pleasant when you eat them raw like an apple (unless you’re Little Foot of course 🦕 ). But when you grate them, even though they are raw, they become tender. And sweet! And then they just need a dressing because…

Absorption

Less structural integrity means it’s easier for a sauce to seep into the vegetable. A salad of shredded carrots absorbs a dressing entirely. The same amount of sliced carrots end up going for a swim in the dressing. So broken cell walls mean more flavor in instead of around your veggies.

Where I learned this: Milk Street's free Advanced Vegetable Class.