KITCHEN PRACTICE 3 — Low Heat vs. Medium-High Heat Soffritto
==================================================
Chapter: Italian Cookery 4 — Building Sauces from a Soffritto

TASK
----
Cook two small batches of soffritto side by side — one on properly
low heat, one on medium-high — and compare the results.

WHAT TO DO
----------
1. Finely dice two small, equal portions of onion, carrot, and
   celery (half the usual batch size is plenty for this comparison).
2. Heat a small pan with oil over genuinely low heat, and a second
   small pan with the same amount of oil over medium-high heat.
3. Add one portion of diced vegetables to each pan at the same time.
4. Cook both for the same amount of time — around 10 minutes — stirring
   each pan occasionally, without adjusting the heat on either.
5. Compare the two batches side by side: colour, smell, and taste.

WHAT TO EXPECT
--------------
- The low-heat batch should look pale, soft, and translucent, with a
  sweet, mellow smell and taste.
- The medium-high batch will likely show visible browning at the
  edges of the onion and carrot within just a few minutes, and may
  even catch and stick to the pan in spots. It will smell sharper,
  more roasted, and possibly a little acrid if it's browned too far.
- Tasted side by side, the low-heat batch should taste noticeably
  sweeter and more rounded, while the medium-high batch will likely
  taste more assertive, slightly bitter at the browned edges, and
  less like a "background" flavour and more like a foreground one.

WHY THIS WORKS AS AN ANSWER
----------------------------
This exercise makes the chapter's central warning ("soften, don't
brown") into something you've actually tasted rather than just read.
A soffritto's whole job is to sit quietly underneath a sauce,
contributing sweetness and depth without calling attention to
itself — browning pushes the vegetables toward a completely
different, more assertive flavour that competes with rather than
supports whatever's built on top of it. Seeing (and tasting) both
outcomes side by side makes "keep the heat low" a rule you understand
the reason for, not just one you follow because you were told to.