On food and cooking the science and lore of the kitchen ( PDFDrive ) 1176

blender,severalminutesormore.
Strainingthroughasieveorcheesecloth
removesthelargeparticles,andforcing
thepureethroughafinemeshbreaks
largeparticlesintosmallerones.
Heatingsoftenscellwallssothatthey’ll
breakintosmallerpieces,andshakes
looselong-chaincarbohydratesfromthe
cellwallsandgetsthemintothewatery
phase,wheretheycanactasseparate
starchandgelatinmoleculesdo.
Freezingapureeandthenthawingit
causesicecrystalstodamagecellwalls,
whichcanhelpliberatemorepectinand
hemicellulosemoleculesintotheliquid.

A fruit or vegetable puree. Grinding plant
tissue turns it inside out, freeing the cell


fluids and breaking the cell walls and other
structures into small particles. A puree is a
mixture of plant particles and molecules
floating in water (left).If left to stand, most
pureeswillseparate,withthelargerparticles
settlingtothebottom(center).Thisseparation
can be prevented, and the puree consistency
thickened, by cooking the puree down and
evaporatingtheexcesswater(right).
PreventingSeparationTheconsistencyofa
pureeisalsoimprovedbyreducingthe

amountofwaterinthecontinuousphase.The
simplestwaytodothisistocookthewhole
pureedown,simmeringgently,untilthe
separatethinphasedisappears.Anotherway
thatbetterpreservesthepuree’sfreshflavoris
todrainthethinfluidoffthesolidsandeither
discardit,orcookitdownseparatelyandthen
additback.Orthecookcanremovesomeof
thefruit’sorvegetable’swaterbefore
crushingit,forexamplebypartlydrying
halvedtomatoesintheoven.