Blanching is a culinary term used in reference to vegetables mainly but can also be used in reference with fruits and even nuts. It is a means of briefly cooking food or softening the vegetables slightly in order to keep them crisp and tender, to enhance their colour and to help maintain their nutritional value. The term blanche means to plunge the food item, be it a vegetable or a fruit, into boiling water for a brief timed interval that can be anything from a few seconds to a few minutes. The food is then placed into ice cold water or placed under cold running water, which stops the cooking process. Asparagus is cooked by being blanched for only 30 seconds. If it was left to continue cooking it would become soggy. By stopping the cooking process by putting it in ice cold water the asparagus stays nice and crisp. Once they are drained you can then freeze them to use as and when you want to. The idea of blanching is not to cook the food thoroughly but to preserve the crisp texture of the food. Blanching can also be used to remove the skin from fruits like tomatoes and peaches so that are easy to peel. Once the fruit has been plunged into the boiling water the skins are easy to slip off. It can also be used to remove the skin from nuts such as pistachios and almonds. Once they have been blanched the outer skin of the nut becomes soft enough so that it can be removed.
Blanching basically is an expression applied in cooking which illustrates the method of food preparation in which the food material, mainly a vegetable or fruit, is dipped inside boiling water, taken out after some time, kept aside and later dipped into iced water or put in chilled running water, to stop the cooking procedure.
Blanching is used in different process like peeling, blanching releases the skin of the fruits or nuts, like onions, tomatoes, plums, peaches, etc. Blanching also improves the flavour of certain vegetable, like broccoli. The process of blanching also improves the colour of certain vegetables by letting out the gases which have been trapped in the cellular substance which obscure the greenness of the chlorophyll.
Blanching also betters the shelf life of food by neutralizing bacteria and enzymes which are there in food stuff, and hence holding up their spoilage.
Blanching is a cooking term. It refers to a process of scalding vegetables in boiling water or steam. After that these vegetables are again drowned into ice-cold water. This method has several uses and purposes such as peeling, adding and preserving flavour, enhancing the appearance etc. when vegetables undergo the process of blanching then they are said to be blanched. Thus blanched is the verb form of blanching and is derived from it. At times blanched also acts as an adjective.
Blanched as a word may also describe something that looks ashen and pale. A person who looks ashen coloured or anaemic looking due to illness, fear or shock is described as looking blanched. Lightened, faded, washed-out, ashen, bloodless, livid, pale etc are the synonyms of blanched.
Blanched is defined as the act of whitening or turning pale. It is often similar to the act of bleaching. It is a word that has originated from the Old French word blanchir or from blanche which is the feminine form of blanc. This word was incorporated into the English language in the medieval times. Many are also of the opinion that this word has Germanic origins.
Blanched is the verb form of the noun blanch. It is also known as blenched. This word is used in different contexts and serves different purposes. Yet its most common explanation is to lose the normal colouration. This verb may refer to a food process where vegetable and fruits are put into boiling water to firm the flesh and loosen skins. These vegetables are known as blanched vegetables. On the other hand if a person turns pale then he is said to have blanched.
The word 'blanched' is a past form of the word 'blanch' and the meaning that can be figured out from the use of the word is to become pale. The word is mostly used to convey the above mentioned idea particularly when it happens if somebody is frightened or shocked. When you are using the word, it is advisable for you to use it in conjugation with 'at something' and mostly use it in the written context only. The following sentence can make the meaning of the word quite clear as it is used in the context: John blanched visibly at hearing the news that he lost the court case of his property.
The word is also used to convey then idea of preparing food by putting them in to boiling water, but only for a short while.
1. To take the color from; bleach. 2. To whiten (a growing plant or plant part) by covering to cut off direct light. 3. To whiten (a metal) by soaking in acid or by coating with tin. 4. 1. To scald (almonds, for example) in order to loosen the skin. 2. To scald (food) briefly, as before freezing or as a preliminary stage in preparing a dish. 5. To cause to turn white or become pale. .
