On the Food network they boil potatoes, but they poach carrots. They poach turkey, but they boil eggs. They sauté’ onions, but they fry eggs in the same pan. Likewise, they fry hash browns, but they sauté’ onions in the same pan before adding the potatoes.
I can go on for days.
You’re correct but it begs the question, why the hell would they poach carrots? If any vegetable can stand up to boiling it’s a carrot. Blanching I could see, (that’s a 2 minute dunk in boiling water, OP, with a quick cooldown) if you wanted to pre-cook them so they wouldn’t be harder than everything else. Maybe they were just being poncy.
Well it depends on the texture you are going for. A poached carrot will still have a little crunch and not be too soggy so they can pair well as a side dish or be a component that’s meant to stand out. Boiled carrots can lose a lot of flavor and texture since they’d be cooked too close to the core, meaning you wouldn’t serve them as a side dish or as the star of a dish. They’d instead impart their flavor and texture into things like soups or broths.
Firstly, I appreciate you breaking it down! I knew they were different terms, but never really knew them outside of the standard ‘poached eggs’.
Secondly, soggy carrots can get bent. If it doesn’t crunch it’s not for me.
Happy to help! It’s something I got frustrated with when I started cooking and wondered why my food turned out different than the times I’d ordered it or how the recipe made it seem.
Ah I wish I loved carrots. Sadly too much carrot flavor makes me feel sick and I’m not sure why. The crunch from a fresh one is immaculate. It’s unfair lol