Herbs and Spices

In any number of cookbooks and recipes you will finddifficult. You can buy a peppergrinder just about
advice on which herbsgo with what. I'm not going toanywhere and the peppercorns are available in
take that route.anysupermarket.
While there certainly are marriages that are tried andOf course you can, if you wish, go to the trouble of
tested,such as tomatoes and basil or lamb andbuying apestle and mortar, tracking down the raw
rosemary, the reality isthat the use of herbs is everyspices and then grindthem yourself.
bit as much a matter of personaltaste as any otherIf you do this, you will be richly rewarded with deep
aspect of cooking.andpenetrating flavors. You may also find that you
Consequently, what I want you to do is to sample asget tired of doing itvery quickly. However I would
many herbs asyou can and try to marry up thehighly recommend it for a specialoccasion, or a wet
flavors with the foods you arefamiliar with. That's notweekend in Bargo!
as difficult as it sounds. Just closeyour eyes and thinkGenerally speaking, though, the shop bought variety
about it.are fine,providing you don't keep them hanging
You will find, after a while, that you will instinctivelyaround in a cupboard for toolong. They will lose their
knowwhich flavoring to use, when to use it and howflavor.
much of it youneed.As with herbs, it's very important that you learn the
Do this with both fresh and dried herbs. Crush a littletaste andsmell of each individual spice and, uniquely,
betweenfinger and thumb and smell it. This is muchits pungency. Thislast item is one that is frequently
more important thanyour sense of taste.overlooked, even byexperienced cooks.
Something magical will happen. You will come toJust about everybody is aware that chili needs to be
realize thatfresh herbs are not better than driedusedcarefully for obvious reasons. But for some
ones, they simply impart adifferent flavor. There arereason they do not paythe same attention to
two major exceptions to this.turmeric - which is quite delicate - and,say, star anise
One is mint, which has a strange musty flavor whenwhich can strangle an incautious palate at ahundred
dried, andthe other is chives, which are so delicatepaces.
that the flavor rarelysurvives cooking. Using driedBoth give themselves away, however, if you simply
chives is therefore prettypointless.take the lidoff the jar and sniff them.
One other point to watch out for is that some driedMixing spice
herbs canremained inedible even after thoroughGenerally speaking, it is a rare thing to add more than
cooking. Rosemary is a verygood example of thisa coupleof spices to the same dish. The obvious
and needs to be filtered out of any liquidsin which itexceptions to this are
has been used as a flavoring.Asian and Indian dishes, where the carefully blended
In any case, fresh or dried, it is better to chop upmix offlavors will be both traditional and subtle.
herbs suchas this before using them.You have a choice with these. You either follow a
Using herbs in cookingrecipe, oryou use one of the many excellent
Many herbs, such as basil and coriander (sometimespre-prepared pastes that are nowavailable. I tend
calledtowards the latter choice, although I dostill mix my
Chinese parsley and cilantro in the USA) are terrificown spices from time to time.
simply torn upin salads. Note that I said torn up andYou should do the same. It's fun and you learn a
not cut; only cut herbsif you intend to cook them.great dealabout which spices mix well and which are
It's important to recognize that some herbs losebest kept as anindividual flavoring.
flavor withextended cooking, even in their driedHowever you choose to cook with spice, treat it
state. Fortunately it'sfairly easy to spot which thosewith respect andalways add it a little at a time,
are.tasting as you go.
Tough leaved herbs such as bay can be safely addedRemember also, that the flavor will change with the
at the startof cooking time and will maintain theirlength ofcooking time. It may deepen, or it may
flavor. In fact, theymay need to be in the food forlessen in its effect.
as long as possible in order fortheir flavor to fullyOnly experience will teach you what each individual
develop.spice does andhow quickly it does it.
Herbs with light and delicate leaves, however, will loseOne excellent way to test the effect of adding
theirflavor very quickly once in contact with heat. Tospice, is to cookyour rice with something like
use basil in asoup, for example, you needed to add it,cardamom seeds. These come inlittle pods that
not to the hot liquidas you might expect, but ratherneeded to be cracked open and the seeds extracted.
to the warm plate you intend toserve the soup in.Do this by placing them on a stable surface, place the
Then pour the soup on top of it.flat of acleaver blade over them and apply a bit of
Alternatively, simply sprinkle it on top of the souppressure. They willopen easily. Use about two pods
and leaveit there. It will make an attractivefor one dish of rice.
decoration and impart awonderful aroma as you takeYou could also add some turmeric to the same rice
the soup to the table.dish. Thiswill turn it yellow and also add a subtle flavor
What's that? You want to use a tureen and serverwhich complementsthe pungency of the cardamom.
the soup atthe table? No problem. Sprinkle the herb inCall it saffron rice if you like,very few people will be
its raw state on topof the soup anyway. The effect,able to tell the difference.
when you remove the lid, willbe the same. Just stir itRice is a good way to test any number of flavorings.
in as you serve.Personally
The spices of lifeI find it a bit boring on its own, and I frequently
Most people, including most professional chefs, useaddsomething to it to jazz it up a little. Experiment.
spices thathave already been prepared.You will bepleasantly surprised at what a difference a
That is to say they have been ground up, ready tonew flavor can make.
use. The mainexception to this is probably blackYou will also be pleasantly surprised at your
pepper, which you shouldalways grind yourself. Notgrowingreputation.