food cooking physical/chemical modification process heat treatment food preservation food blanching http://www.langual.org/langual_thesaurus.asp?termid=J0175 Blanching is a cooking process wherein a food, usually a vegetable or fruit, is scalded in boiling water, removed after a brief, timed interval, and finally plunged into iced water or placed under cold running water (shocking or refreshing) to halt the cooking process. Blanching foods helps reduce quality loss over time. People often use blanching as a pre-treatment prior to freezing, drying, or canning—heating vegetables or fruits to inactivate enzymes, modify texture, remove the peel, and wilt tissue. Blanching is also utilized to preserve color, flavor, and nutritional value. The process has three stages: preheating, blanching, and cooling. The most common blanching methods for vegetables/fruits are hot water and steam, while cooling is either done using cold water or cool air.