Individual Seasonings
Individual seasonings appear in this chapter in alphabetical order. Alternate names are listed in the Index. Seasonings and blends appearing in bold type have their own entries in the book. See the following chapter for flavor combinations of all kinds.
A Aajowan/ajwain/bishopâs weed/omam/canom seed/netch azmud (Trachyspermum ammi): The ribbed, dry fruits (generally called seeds) of this herb are less than one-eighth of an inch long, but if you look closely you can see their longitudinal stripes of red-brown and tan. Although small, these fruits are definitely assertive. They have a pungent, somewhat rough aroma, and when chewed raw they sting the top of the tongue; however, their taste and smell mellow delightfully in cooking.
Ajowan is an important seasoning in both Indian and Ethiopian cuisines, and its unique flavor makes it worth looking for when you are cooking dishes from these countries. It is relatively easy to find in Indian shops.
Ajowan has an affinity for beans of all kinds, and is believed to help with their digestion. It also marries well with seafood, and many Indian cooks consider it absolutely essential for fish curries. Try a little in a spicy marinade for fish. Ajowan is a flavoring for nan and other Indian breads. It is also used in Indian pickles, in a vegetable filling for pakoras, and as an ingredient of chaat masala.
Ethiopian cooks put ajowan into many of their meat stews, and use it in making a wheat bread. It is also included in the hot Ethiopian berbere seasoning, which is a basic ingredient for many other dishes in that cuisine, such as the famous chicken dish doro wot.
Ajowan should be toasted lightly (see Toasting Spices in the âCulinary Practiceâ chapter) and ground before use, unless your recipe has you sizzle the spice in hot fat for a few seconds.
Ajowan seeds and the herb thyme both contain a great deal of the essential oil known as oil of thyme, so you can substitute equal amounts of dried thyme for ajowan if necessary. (Of course the thyme leaves should not be toasted or fried.) However, a better approximation of the penetrating, lingering flavor of ajowan is achieved by a mixture of thyme, cumin seed, and celery seed; in place of one teaspoon ajowan, mix one-half teaspoon dried thyme with one-fourth teaspoon toasted whole cumin and one-fourth teaspoon lightly toasted celery seed.
allspice/pimento (Pimenta dioica): Allspice, despite its name, is a single spice from a single source. The allspice berry fruits on a tall evergreen tree that seldom grows well outside the Caribbean and Central America. Jamaican allspice is by far the finest grade, and Jamaica has long dominated the world market in this spice. For these reasons, allspice is sometimes called Jamaica pepper. On that island, and in the spice trade, the spice is known as pimento, a name derived from the Spanish word pimienta, meaning pepper. Our name âallspiceâ refers to the fact that the flavor resembles a combination of cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
The whole dried allspice berry looks like a smooth, plump, reddish-brown peppercorn. If you are uncertain whether you have a large peppercorn or an allspice berry, your nose will tell you which you are dealing with; if it does not, do you have a cold, or is your spice too old? If you cut an allspice berry in half and look inside, you find two small seeds. (A peppercorn, in contrast, contains one large central seed.) When you shake a good-quality, properly dried allspice berry near your ear, you can hear those two seeds rattling inside.
Allspice is most often used in sweets, such as pumpkin pies and spice cakes, but it is also an excellent spice for meats of all kinds. It is much used by the American food industry in producing sausages, cured meats, and cold cuts. Ground allspice is wonderful in Swedish meatballs, and the whole berries are attractive and flavorful when floated in a cream sauce for this dish. Allspice is an essential ingredient in the popular Caribbean jerk seasonings for pork, beef, or chicken.
Whole allspice berries are standard ingredients in pickling spice, and they are especially important in cured fish such as rollmops and gravlax. Drop in two or three whole berries per cup of liquid when poaching seafood of any kind.
Allspice is frequently an ingredient in the spice mixture used to make spiced teas and mulled wine or cider (see mulling spices in the âFlavor Combinationsâ chapter). It is frequently used in Indian curries, and it is the most important spice for seasoning rice dishes in Turkey. Allspice is one of the reasons why we love ketchup, and should be considered as a seasoning whenever you are making a tomato-based sauce.
The whole berries can be freshly ground in an ordinary household pepper grinder, provided there is enough room for the whole berries to fall into the grinding mechanism. âPepperâ mixtures, intended for meaty dishes, of whole black and white peppercorns, allspice berries, and sometimes green and pink peppercorns as well, can be set on the table in a transparent plastic pepper mill. The colorful mixture looks attractive, and when ground it releases a heady aroma of warm spices.
The volatile oils in allspice are especially flighty, so you need to take extra care to store this spice properly (see Storage in the âCulinary Practiceâ chapter). Buy it in small amounts, and replenish your supply often.
Substitute for ground allspice a combination of ground cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg, in equal quantities. Conversely, allspice can be used in place of any one of those three spices, measure for measure.
almond (Prunus dulcis): Almonds serve many important culinary functions. Whole roasted almonds, salted or spiced, are popular snacks; they may be chopped, sliced, or slivered for use as toppings and garnishes; the ground nuts are excellent thickeners and serve as the basic stuff of almond paste and marzipan; almond oil is used in fine baking for greasing cake pans and molds. But it is almondsâ role as a sophisticated flavoring that is of primary interest here.
There are two basic varieties of almond: sweet (var. dulcis) and bitter (var. amara). The bitter almonds contain amygdalin which, when unheated and mixed with water, can yield poisonous prussic (hydrocyanic) acid, so they should not be eaten raw in any significant amount. This substance is not present in the sweet almond variety. However, the taste of sweet almonds tends to be rather bland, and cooks used to include just a few bitter almonds with the sweet ones to make a more interesting flavor. This culinary technique is not feasible in the United States today, however, as raw bitter almonds are not available on the market. Fortunately, almond extract provides the intense flavor of the bitter type without the toxicity, and a small amount of extract should always be added to the sweet almonds in a recipe.
Almond flavor marries well with fruits; try adding a teaspoonful of almond extract to peach and cherry pies and cobblers. The other way around, an apricot glaze is commonly applied to almond tarts. Just a hint of almond flavor will liven up whipped cream; use one-fourth teaspoon extract per cup of unwhipped cream, adding it midway through the beating.
Ground almonds lend an important flavor to macaroons, and they are often incorporated into pastry dough, especially when the pastry is to have a fruit filling. They may be ground with or without their brown skins, depending on how you want your dish to look.
Removing the brown skins from the nuts is time-consuming but easy. Begin by pouring an ample amount of boiling water over the nuts in a bowl and letting them sit for a minute or two. Then drain them in a colander, rinsing briefly with cold water. The skins will then slip off the nuts with a gentle pinch. (If not, repeat the blanching and soaking.) Dry the peeled nuts on a dishtowel, or toast them lightly in the oven.
Toasting almonds, whether blanched or unblanched, brings out their flavor dramatically. Spread whole nuts in a single layer on a cookie sheet and set them in a 350 °F oven for no more than eight minutes; if you are starting with sliced or slivered almonds, limit the time to five minutes. Stir them frequently, and do not let them brown. If you intend to grind the nuts, cool them thoroughly first.
Both the food processor and the blender work well enough for grinding almonds, but donât overdo the grinding or the ground nuts will clump up. If this happens, add about a tablespoon of flour or sugar, depending on which suits your recipe; this will soak up some of the oil and keep the ground nuts from forming into lumps. A meat grinder will express the oil from the nuts and should be used only if you want to make almond butter.
In the Middle Ages, European cooks used vast quantities of almonds, and âalmond milkâ was a kitchen staple. This delicious liquid is made by simmering blanched, chopped or coarsely ground almonds in water. Naturally, the quality of this milk varies according to the proportion of nuts to water, but you can get excellent results by simmering about half a pound of almonds, blanched and finely chopped, in two cups of water for ten minutes; the resulting liquid will have the consistency, but not the flavor, of milk. Strain out the nuts and save them for another use. Try this time-honored ingredient in place of milk or cream the next time you make a delicate almond cream or custard, or an almond-flavored crĂšme brĂ»lĂ©e; this âmilkâ will really give your dish almond flavor! Donât forget to add a teaspoon or so of almond extract to supply the intense bitter almond taste: start with one teaspoon of extract per cup of almond milk, then add a few drops more according to your taste. Almond milk needs to be refrigerated, just like cowâs milk.
If you want bits of almond for a crunchy topping, chop them with a knife rather than using a machine. And be sure to toast them first. A good substitute for almonds, when used as a topping, is toasted sesame seed.
amchur/amchoor/mango powder (Mangifera indica): Made from sun-dried unripe mango, this powder is popular in Indian cuisine as a flavor-brightener for vegetable dishes that otherwise tend to be a little bland. Since the fruit is still unripe, the flesh has not attained its full fragrance nor its intense golden-orange hue. Thus, amchur is a pale beige color and not very aromatic, but it adds a wonderful sour flavor with a tropical-fruit tang. It is used with potato pakoras, or added to vegetable side dishes such as spiced cauliflower, eggplant, or okra, and vegetarian curries. It also flavors chaat, the popular Indian snack foods often sold on the street (see chaat masala, under Herb and Spice Blends in the âFlavor Combinationsâ chapter).
The East Indians who settled in the West Indies brought with them a fondness for amchur, and among their contributions to Ca ribbean cuisine are a number of spicy chutney-like condiments made from green mangoes.
Amchur powder is quite delicate and should be added at the endâor as close as possible to the endâof the cooking time. Sprinkle a little extra over the dish just before serving. Amchur should be stored in the refrigerator in a tightly sealed container.
Although this seasoning is usually sold in powdered form (in fact, the name in Hindi means âmango powderâ), you sometimes find dried green mango in slices. The slices should be cooked with the other ingredients of a dish to release their flavor, but are best removed before the dish is served.
You can substitute lemon juice for amchur; use twice as much lemon juice as you would mango powder.
angelica/garden angelica (Angelica archangelica): Angelica is rare among herbs in that its native habitat lies far north of the sunny temperate zones preferred by most other herbs. This tall plant, long known and honored in Iceland, Scotland, Lapland, Finland, Siberia, and Alaska, is not grown commercially in America. You can raise your own angelica if you have a garden in the cooler part of the continent, but the plant does not grow well in the South. There is an American species, Angelica atropurpĂșrea, sometimes called masterwort, which can be used in the same ways as A. archangelica.
Angelica is best-known as a decorative element in cakes and other confections. When its thick, hollow stems are candied (see instructions below), they turn an attractive vivid green, useful for creating colorful patterns or for making the âleavesâ in flower designs made of glacĂ© fruits. A certain amount of candied angelica is imported from France for professional confectioners, especially around Christmastime. Ideally, the green bits in candied fruit mixtures intended for holiday fruitcakes are angelica, but candied angelica is so expensive and rare these days that this niche is usually filled by candied green-dyed cherries or, in some inexpensive mixtures, inferior fruits or even insipid vegetables, dyed green and candied; their contribution to the flavor of the cake is nil. This is an unfortunate loss, for angelica has a unique fresh flavor: somewhat sweet, somewhat bitter, a little musky, and a little resinous.
All parts of the angelica plant are strongly aromatic and edible. The seeds, and the oil from seeds and roots, contribute to the complex tastes of various cordials and digestive liqueurs. The dried roots can be used as a substitute for juniper berries in making gin. The leaves and stalks can be used to give zest and interest to custards and ice cream: steep angelica leaves or stalks in the milk or cream called for in the recipe until the liquid has absorbed their flavor, then discard the angelica, and use the cream to make the custard as usual. Whole angelica leaves also impart a refreshing flavor when added to the poaching liquid for fish or seafood.
Tender young angelica stalks are excellent stewed up with rhubarb and other tart fruits such as plums; their angelic sweetness mellows the combination, and you will want to add less sugar than you usually do when stewing these fruits. Use about three times as much rhubarb as angelica stalks, cutting both into pieces of approximately equal size. Add water and a little sugar, and cook over ...
