SC - Deskinning blanched almonds

[Philip & Susan Troy]

> Date: Mon, 19 Jan 1998 23:57:27 -0600
> From: Stefan li Rous <stefan at texas.net>
> Subject: SC - Deskinning blanched almonds
> 
> Lord Ras mentions:
> 
> >A little tip> To remove most of the skin blanch the almonds, drain and
> place

> Thanks, Ras. Now for a newbie question. What is *blanching*? Is this
> boiling
> the almonds and then perhaps putting them in cold (or ice) water?
> 
> Stefan li Rous

Blanching, as the name suggests, is either rendering or keeping
something white. In the case of almonds, they turn white[ish] when
plunged into boiling water and peeled of their bran layer. Same for
things like meat bones, sometimes blanched before using in stock, or
even some fresh pastas.

By extension, green vegetables can be "blanched" by plunging into
boiling water, boiled very briefly, drained, and immediately placed in
ice water. This denatures the proteins of which certain enzymes are
composed, which means the enzymes that would be breaking down the
greenfood's chlorophyll under high heat are suddenly no longer there,
more or less. So, the vegetable stays green longer, and under harsher
temperatures, than would otherwise be the case.

Effectively blanching is akin to the modern definition of parboiling. It
is _not_ akin to the period definition of parboiling, though, which
generally means boiling till the food is done.

Are you confused yet? ;  )

Adamantius
troy at asan.com
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