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Written by Lara Ritchie
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Tuesday, 01 July 2008 |
Every kitchen holds a cache of herbs and spices. This kitchen fingerprint defines the resident cook. Each collection differs, sometimes reflecting nationality, or, more often, a family’s history and sense of adventure.
Amazing power lies in one little jar of spice. Black pepper was once worth its weight in gold. Some spices are thought to hold medicinal properties and dietary advantages. Others have been used in religious rituals. Still others have been employed to cover up the smell of spoiled food.
The term “spice” has evolved to include all seasonings. However, there is a difference between herbs and spices. Herbs are leafy, fragrant plants, generally grown in temperate climates. Dried herbs are three times more potent than fresh. A simple substitution guide is one teaspoon of dried herb for every tablespoon of fresh. Spices come from the bark, roots, stems, seeds, and buds of aromatic plants.
Setting up a kitchen requires attention to herbs and spices. Can you imagine ice cream without vanilla, chili without the chili or marinara minus oregano? If you are storing your spices in the cabinet above the oven every time you turn it on, these precious ingredients, monuments to flavor, are being cooked.
Storage is critical to the life of herbs and spices. Pick a place that maintains a constant and cool temperature. So, for instance, storing them above your stove is not recommended because of the heat exposure. When it comes to what to contain your herbs and spices in, the best bet is to use a container that does not let in light, as light, like heat, ages your seasonings. The fragrance of these flavor agents resides in their oils. Every exposure to light and heat slowly cooks these ingredients, lessening their flavor. Hence, flavor is significantly compromised after a shelf life of a year and a half.
Label spices with a permanent marker on the day purchased as an easy reminder of when to replace them. And, trust your nose—if you cannot tell what spice it is with one whiff, chances are it will dust your food, not flavor it.
To get more flavor for the dollar, buy the whole spice or herb, rather than the ground version. Treat yourself to a spice grinder for those times when recipes call for ground spice.
In stocking your kitchen there are a handful of spices that will be the backbone of many recipes. These are your “go to” ingredients. Salt and pepper are as necessary to a kitchen as a stovetop.
Quality vanilla is a must-have for successful baking, with three prime choices. Madagascar, otherwise known as bourbon vanilla, is reputed to have the most flavor. There is also Mexican and Tahitian. Purchase vanilla extracts, as opposed to imitation vanilla, which is synthetic and has no real vanilla in it.
Cinnamon is another popular baking spice; it comes from the bark of an evergreen tree. Cinnamon is often confused with cassia, a less expensive version of cinnamon with less flavor that comes from Burma (now Myanmar). True cinnamon comes from Sri Lanka. In the Middle East cinnamon is used in savory dishes as well as sweet.
Marjoram and oregano are widely used in both Italian and Greek cooking and are similar in flavor and appearance. This is no accident as oregano is actually the wild variety of marjoram. In a pinch, they can be used interchangeably. Keep in mind that marjoram is more delicate than oregano and adjust your recipe accordingly.
Chili is one well-traveled spice. After Columbus introduced it to Europe, the Portuguese took it around the world. There are hundreds of varieties and levels of heat. The longer the chili is cooked, the hotter the flavor. A good practice is to use kitchen gloves when handling this hot spice. Check your recipe to see specifically what it calls for before measuring out this spice!
We can borrow techniques from other cuisines that enhance the fragrance and flavor of spices. In Egypt, there is a famous national dish called dukkah. It is a spice and nut blend that truly celebrates the beauty of its spices. The recipe looks like a laundry list of ingredients, but don’t be fooled into thinking it is a melting pot of flavor. Each spice is toasted and then added to the recipe. It is this toasting that allows each spice to impart a slight sweetness. By toasting them separately, you will get layers of flavor.
Travel to India and you will be perfumed with the spices of tantalizing cuisine. Indians heat spices to release their flavors by using a cooking oil or ghee to achieve this. In this method, oil is heated, and then spices are added to a hot pan before any liquid is added. The other ingredients follow shortly thereafter. In this method, whatever is cooking, be it potatoes or lamb, the spices penetrate the ingredients powerfully and fully.
If you find yourself freshly home from work and craving a homemade pasta sauce, take a page from Indian cooking. In a saucepan, sauté onions and garlic, then add favorite herbs. Make sure you really smell the herbs and spices before adding the tomatoes. This way flavor is released earlier than in the traditional technique, and the process is expedited. Thai cuisine incorporates this approach, too.
While fat is associated with flavor, it can mask the flavors of spices and herbs if added too soon. In the ubiquitous Tom Yum Gai soup, the cook needs to truly smell the aromatic herbs and spices before adding coconut milk, or suffer the dampening effect the milk has on flavor.
The key to getting the most out of your spices is to keep an open mind and open palate. If variety is the spice of life, as William Cowper suggests, then be fearless and imaginative when entering your kitchen. You just might be surprised by what spice combinations delight you!
Lara Ritchie is the culinary director and a teacher at Nothing To It! Culinary Center. |
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