Eat and live healthier


Herbs and Spices

In any number of cookbooks and recipesdifficult. You can buy a peppergrinder
you will find advice on which herbsgojust about anywhere and the peppercorns
with what. I'm not going to take thatare available in anysupermarket.
route.Of course you can, if you wish, go to
While there certainly are marriages thatthe trouble of buying apestle and
are tried and tested,such as tomatoesmortar, tracking down the raw spices and
and basil or lamb and rosemary, thethen grindthem yourself.
reality isthat the use of herbs is everyIf you do this, you will be richly
bit as much a matter of personaltaste asrewarded with deep andpenetrating
any other aspect of cooking.flavors. You may also find that you get
Consequently, what I want you to do istired of doing itvery quickly. However
to sample as many herbs asyou can andI would highly recommend it for a
try to marry up the flavors with thespecialoccasion, or a wet weekend in
foods you arefamiliar with. That's notBargo!
as difficult as it sounds. JustGenerally speaking, though, the shop
closeyour eyes and think about it.bought variety are fine,providing you
You will find, after a while, that youdon't keep them hanging around in a
will instinctively knowwhich flavoringcupboard for toolong. They will lose
to use, when to use it and how much oftheir flavor.
it youneed.As with herbs, it's very important that
Do this with both fresh and dried herbs.you learn the taste andsmell of each
Crush a little betweenfinger and thumbindividual spice and, uniquely, its
and smell it. This is much morepungency. Thislast item is one that is
important thanyour sense of taste.frequently overlooked, even
Something magical will happen. You willbyexperienced cooks.
come to realize thatfresh herbs are notJust about everybody is aware that chili
better than dried ones, they simplyneeds to be usedcarefully for obvious
impart adifferent flavor. There are tworeasons. But for some reason they do
major exceptions to this.not paythe same attention to turmeric -
One is mint, which has a strange mustywhich is quite delicate - and,say, star
flavor when dried, andthe other isanise which can strangle an incautious
chives, which are so delicate that thepalate at ahundred paces.
flavor rarelysurvives cooking. UsingBoth give themselves away, however, if
dried chives is thereforeyou simply take the lidoff the jar and
prettypointless.sniff them.
One other point to watch out for is thatMixing spice
some dried herbs canremained inedibleGenerally speaking, it is a rare thing
even after thorough cooking. Rosemaryto add more than a coupleof spices to
is a verygood example of this and needsthe same dish. The obvious exceptions
to be filtered out of any liquidsinto this are
which it has been used as a flavoring.Asian and Indian dishes, where the
In any case, fresh or dried, it iscarefully blended mix offlavors will be
better to chop up herbs suchas thisboth traditional and subtle.
before using them.You have a choice with these. You
Using herbs in cookingeither follow a recipe, oryou use one of
Many herbs, such as basil and corianderthe many excellent pre-prepared pastes
(sometimes calledthat are nowavailable. I tend towards
Chinese parsley and cilantro in the USA)the latter choice, although I dostill
are terrific simply torn upin salads.mix my own spices from time to time.
Note that I said torn up and not cut;You should do the same. It's fun and
only cut herbsif you intend to cookyou learn a great dealabout which spices
them.mix well and which are best kept as
It's important to recognize that someanindividual flavoring.
herbs lose flavor withextended cooking,However you choose to cook with spice,
even in their dried state. Fortunatelytreat it with respect andalways add it a
it'sfairly easy to spot which those are.little at a time, tasting as you go.
Tough leaved herbs such as bay can beRemember also, that the flavor will
safely added at the startof cooking timechange with the length ofcooking time.
and will maintain their flavor. InIt may deepen, or it may lessen in its
fact, theymay need to be in the food foreffect.
as long as possible in order fortheirOnly experience will teach you what each
flavor to fully develop.individual spice does andhow quickly it
Herbs with light and delicate leaves,does it.
however, will lose theirflavor veryOne excellent way to test the effect of
quickly once in contact with heat. Toadding spice, is to cookyour rice with
use basil in asoup, for example, yousomething like cardamom seeds. These
needed to add it, not to the hotcome inlittle pods that needed to be
liquidas you might expect, but rather tocracked open and the seeds extracted.
the warm plate you intend toserve theDo this by placing them on a stable
soup in. Then pour the soup on top ofsurface, place the flat of acleaver
it.blade over them and apply a bit of
Alternatively, simply sprinkle it on toppressure. They willopen easily. Use
of the soup and leaveit there. It willabout two pods for one dish of rice.
make an attractive decoration and impartYou could also add some turmeric to the
awonderful aroma as you take the soup tosame rice dish. Thiswill turn it yellow
the table.and also add a subtle flavor which
What's that? You want to use a tureencomplementsthe pungency of the cardamom.
and server the soup atthe table? NoCall it saffron rice if you like,very
problem. Sprinkle the herb in its rawfew people will be able to tell the
state on topof the soup anyway. Thedifference.
effect, when you remove the lid, willbeRice is a good way to test any number of
the same. Just stir it in as you serve.flavorings. Personally
The spices of lifeI find it a bit boring on its own, and I
Most people, including most professionalfrequently addsomething to it to jazz it
chefs, use spices thathave already beenup a little. Experiment. You will
prepared.bepleasantly surprised at what a
That is to say they have been ground up,difference a new flavor can make.
ready to use. The mainexception to thisYou will also be pleasantly surprised at
is probably black pepper, which youyour growingreputation.
shouldalways grind yourself. Not



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