Some parts of cooking are largely chemistry: baking for instance, is helped by quite precise quantities of ingredients which cause vital reactions to occur: browning/caremelization, rising, are all wonderful pieces of precise microbiology.
Spices... are not really like that at all. Their character varies wildly based on how they grown, what variety they are, how finely they are ground, how fresh they are, not to mention what they are mixed with! Brown mustard seeds, toasted whole, are pleasantly nutty and mild and are often used in curries. Lightly crushed they impart a similar but more robust flavor to whole grain mustard, perfect for vinaigrettes. Finely grind those suckers, and add just the smallest bit of water to make a paste, and you've got seriously delicious fire at your fingertips!
For this reason, you should only ever take the spices given in recipes as a rough guide. Instead, smell your spices and know their flavor, taste them, and taste your dishes. This is not just chemistry, this is art. I divide spices (and herbs) roughly into two categories: those that easily blend with other flavors, and the misfits, that are delicious, but can fight for dominance with some other flavors, and must be used more carefully. Here are a few of my favorites (a limited list for now).
Friendly spices
- Coriander: My absolute favorite, this has a delicate, lemony floral aroma, a bit of nuttiness but none of the bitterness of its frequent partner in crime: cumin. It is delicious in EVERYTHING. I'm serious. A bit of oregano, coriander and chili pepper, are great for a tomato sauce. Creamed soups: coriander. Savory baked goods? Coriander. Really. Everything.
- Black Pepper: Fresh ground pepper has a lovely flavor of pine and earth (grind some into olive oil to taste its flavor at its most vivid).
- Sweet Pepprika: Doesn't go in everything, but has a nice sweetness that goes with tomato sauces well.
- Chili Peppers: Not true for all chilis (particularly not smoked ones), but used with a light touch, a bit of spice can lift a dish without being obtrusive to the other flavors.
- Others: parsley, dill, celery seed
Assertive Spices
- Cumin: With peppers or onions, this gives a rich bitter sweet flavor that is one of my favorates, but is not subtile.
- Sage: Delicious and dangerous, very good with winter squash, but too much can easily ruin a dish, and it clashes with other strong flavors (like cumin or chipotle, for example)
- Others: Cardomom, mint, actually most spices are in this category. I'd recommend focusing on one at a time when playing around.
Middling: Mustard, cinnamon, nutmeg, thyme. These spices have a lot of friends that they work well with, but fight with some others.
By the way, I have been cooking, but I thought it would be more fun to just think about spices tonight. So I indulged myself. I had fun, I hope you did too. Let me know if you liked it, and how you think about food! Goodnight.
Oooh, I'm with you on the coriander! Too bad my wife doesn't like the flavor, or I'd put it in more than I already do. I also like to throw a dash of nutmeg or cloves into various dishes to give it that spiced flavor, but you definitely have to be careful with those puppies. Cumin is also a favorite weapon, along with black pepper (freshly ground), and I'm just starting to explore all the possibilities cardamom has in store.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure I'd buy that dill can go in everything, unless you are restricting yourself to dried dillweed. The seeds and the fresh herbs are quite pungent and can easily overpower other flavors.