How to Sweat Ingredients

Edible Exercises

To understand the flavor and color difference between sweating and browning, place a pan over the lowest heat and add ½ tablespoon of oil. Sweat one finely minced garlic clove, being sure not to brown it. Once softened, add ½ cup of water, bring to a simmer for 30 seconds and then strain into a container. Repeat this process with a second clove of minced garlic. This time, turn the heat up a bit and brown the garlic before adding ½ cup of water. Simmer for 30 seconds and then strain into a separate container. Notice the color difference and then taste each liquid. You will quickly understand why sweating is so important. Post your comments in the forum for this lesson.

Next, make the Tortilla de Patatas (recipe below). This is a great example of sweating. Make sure to take your time with the onions and let them soften slowly so they don’t get any color.

Next, make the Mixed Vegetable Bulgur. Here's where you can practice both your knife and sweating skills.

Make the Almond Coriander Chicken (recipe below). Here, the onions are sweat for a long period of time in order to develop a base flavor for the dish. One thing to note with onions, unlike garlic, is that if you let the onions take on a bit of color, this is okay. Onions simply get sweeter and become more concentrated in flavor which is favorable in many dishes. As this dish is not light in color, it is okay if the onions gain a bit of color.

Practice Recipes