A Mediterranean versus a Nordic way of coarse vegetable preparation

Projet MaxVeg (portage Aarhus university)International audienceThe bitter taste might be the main reason for rejection of many vegetables, especially coarse vegetables,. Besides the taste, coarse vegetable intake may also be related to habitual factors such as preparation methods. To study cross-cultural differences between Danish (n = 204) and French (n = 304) consumers with regard to preparation of coarse vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, curly kale, Brussels sprouts, white cabbage, parsnip/root parsley, beetroot, celeriac and carrot), a consumer study was conducted in each county on following preparations: raw, steamed, boiled, fried, in the oven, soup and pickled. The check all that apply (CATA) data showed that serving the vegetables raw were done significantly more by Danish consumers compared to French consumers, except for raw celeriac which was higher in France than in Denmark. Serving of raw beetroot did not differ between the two countries. Except for beetroot, boiling of all types of vegetables was applied in Denmark by a significant larger group of people compared to France. Beetroot did not differ in preparation between the two countries. Both frying vegetables in a pan and in the oven were practised in a larger extent in Denmark compared to in France with only a few exceptions; pan-fried Brussels sprouts and carrots and oven-fried cauliflower. Serving the vegetables as soup were done in a larger extent in Denmark compared to France – only for carrots in soup no significant difference was found. For pickled vegetables cross-cultural differences were observed, since beetroot was served pickled by 65% in Denmark and only by 1% in France. On the other hand, steaming was found to be more a part of the Mediterranean way of preparation than of Nordic preparation for broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, beetroot and carrot The conclusion is that there are many cross-cultural differences with regard to coarse vegetable preparation