Broccoli Rising, and Yay, Team!

Political events are not an Olympic sport.  It just feels that way, with news unfolding at record-breaking speed. It’s like we’re all going for the gold. But who’s winning? Let’s take a deep breath and slow down for a minute. 

“Let’s give each other a chance, It’s time to put away the harsh rhetoric, lower the temperature, see each other again, listen to each other again. And to make progress, we have to stop treating our opponents as enemies.” These words come from  President Biden, from his 2020 inauguration address. It’s like that African proverb — If you want to go fast, go alone, If you want to go far, go together. 

For real teamwork in action, check out your kitchen. I bet your winning team’s right there. I’m talking aromatics.  Fancy-sounding name for vegetables and spices. As their name suggests, they add savoriness and scent to recipes.  I don’t mean the diva vegetables, the ones that get all the buzz — tender asparagus and creamy favas in the spring, sweet corn and heirloom tomatoes in the summer.  I mean the undersung hard workers like garlic, onion, chile, ginger, celery, peppers, and carrots. Aromatics are the flavor-building backbone of every cuisine.

Okay, a carrot by itself is nice, but it doesn’t command excitement. But combine and cook it with onion and celery, and you have a classic French mirepoix, the gold medalist team of aromatics that’s launched a thousand dishes, including the plant-based bourguignon Chef Charles Guilloy created for Olympic Village athletes. Offering a more vegetable-forward menu to both athletes and attendees is part of the host city’s commitment to making the Paris Olympic’s the most sustainable ever.  You wanna reduce greenhouse gases?  A new study indicates switching to a plant-based diet can shrink carbon emissions by 68%.

The combination of vegetables composing aromatics changes based on where you are in the world.  The further south you go, the more things heat up. 

Creole cookery’s aromatics team of onion, celery, and pepper, known as the holy trinity, can impart flavor fast in mushroom étouffée, but sometimes the medal goes to low and slow-simmered dishes, like RBR (that’s red beans and rice, y’all).

Put a Latin spin on mirepoix and you’ve got sofrito, the bold aromatics team in feijoada, Brazil’s slow-simmering black bean stew.

Asian dishes call on ginger-garlic-scallion for the aromatic win. Taste it in Hetty Lui McKinnon’s sesame tofu and broccoli. Swoon.

Indian aromatics skew more towards ginger-garlic-chile,  as in chana masala, spiced-lavished chickpeas, and onion-garlic-chile in Anupy Singla’s spin on refried beans  — it’s an Instant Pot recipe, too, so it’s speedy, and we do seem to love speed.

Bringing it back to Africa, the same powerful aromatic team plays out differently in recipes like Pierre Thiam’s brilliant and brilliantly green Senegalese soup.

I could keep going, but you get the point. Aromatics are affordable, accessible, and versatile,   simple ingredients that play together, with endless, complex, and delectable results.  Aromatics offer a vegan edge too. They’re plants in action, offering flavor and wellness, with no disqualifying animal products, fat, salt, sugar, or weird additives.

That carrot not only adds sweetness to your bourguignon, it’s rich in fiber for better digestion and vitamin A healthy, glowing skin. 

Celery isn’t just crunch, it’s antioxidant and hydrating, so don’t waste an inch of it. Those feathery celery leaves are my favorite bit.  They’re very essence of aromatic. 

Ginger soothes the stomach and balances blood sugar.  

Garlic and onion belong to the allium family. Onion makes feijoada rich and savory, and has proven cancer-fighting phytochemicals. The sulfur compounds in garlic give zip to recipes and zip away bacteria, too.  

Chile belongs to the mighty capsaicin clan, an immunity-building, anti-inflammatory team. Despite its chile burn, is an analgesic — chile has applications as a pain killer.  Pain is not desirable. Aromatics are.

They’re sustainable for the planet, sustaining for us, simple, affordable, I’m telling you, aromatics are in it for the win. They’re in the game and on the menu for these vegan Olympians  and for you too. For all of us.

Please participate in the coming election. Please register to vote if you haven’t done so yet, because we’re all in this together. We’re a team.

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