Debate: do you brown your soffritto or keep it pale?

I used to fry my onions, carrots, and celery until they got some real color, like a deep golden brown, because I thought that was the only way to build flavor. Then I worked a pasta station at a place in Little Italy where the old chef showed me that a pale, sweat-only soffritto gives a cleaner, sweeter base for things like brodo or light ragù. Which side do you fall on for a Sunday gravy: dark and caramelized or barely colored?

3 comments

3 Comments

diana_west271mo ago

You ever taste test them side by side with the same broth recipe...

the_jessica1mo ago

@diana_west27 I did that once with two different store brand tomato soups. Used the same generic crackers and everything. Couldn't tell them apart but one gave me wicked heartburn later so that one definitely lost. My spouse thought I was nuts standing there with two spoons making notes on a napkin.

wendy6281mo ago

Ha! Honestly, I did one time and it was a disaster. I got so into it that I forgot to label the bowls and ended up just guessing which was which. Tbh my taste test turned into me just eating two bowls of pho for lunch like a chaotic gremlin. Ngl, I still don't know which one won.