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Herbs and Spices

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




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