Building a Sweat

Sweating vegetables is remarkably similar to building a sweat during workout. As the temperature rises moisture beads out on the cut surfaces of produce, giving the appearance of sweating.

 

What’s the difference between sweating vegetables and sautéing? Both use uniformly cut pieces of produce, so that everything cooks evenly and both are cooked in an open pan generally in some type of oil or fat. Essentially the difference is between temperature, speed and the ultimate goal of the dish.

 

Both can be used as an initial step for creating a dish, but the end result is very different. Sautéing cooks the vegetables at medium to high heat. It may include browning or caramelization though that doesn't necessarily have to occur. Sautéing primarily refers to the speed of cooking, it's done very quickly and used to release the natural sugars that exist in the dish. 

 

Sweating a dish is done very slowly and prevents browning. Sweating a dish opens up the aromatics  (onions, garlic, shallots etc.) prior to adding other ingredients. It breaks down or weakens cell walls in what were previously very crunchy elements (celery, carrots). The breakdown slowly brings out the natural flavors (and aroma) and gives the initial building block for the rest of the dish.