V egetables are a foodstuff that have a direct impact on human health. Cooking tasty food is impossible without them. But, important as they are for health, they are also essential to a chef if he is going to prepare good food. Seven different vegetables, for example, go into the sauce known as ‘demi glace’, a classic component of world cuisine. But, as I see it anyway, vegetables all over the world fail to get the attention they deserve.
In regions with unfavorable climates, the use of vegetables in cooking only began to develop after the Second World War when technological advances in transportation and preservation, and the possibilities offered by the science of genetics, facilitated their use. But vegetables had already been popular in these areas for half a century, either as a garnish to accompany other dishes or as salads or, most often, in soups. Nevertheless vegetables are a dietary staple in geographies conducive to growing a rich variety of them. Especially in Anatolia, all dishes, kebabs included, are prepared with vegetables. Over the centuries the people of Anatolia have cooked and consumed seasonal vegetables and edible herbs of every variety together with meat.