Herbal Learning Program What Goes With…? A Foodies Guide to Seasoning with Herbs and Spices by Di-Di Hoffman. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/. First Edition: January 2007 Second Edition: January 2011 Third Edition: December 2012 Copyright ©. All rights reserved. The primary aim of Bouquet Garni’s Herbal Learning Program is to help you discover and develop your own savoir faire (your own personal touch) for using herbs in the kitchen, for growing herbs indoors and outdoors, and for making your own herbal remedies. To get your FREE membership visit www.herb.co.za/registration.html Bouquet Garni Cuisine Organique incorporating the SA Herb Academy PO Box 15873 Lynn East Pretoria South Africa www.herb.co.za www.herbclass.com Contents Benefits of Seasoning with Herbs and Spices 1 Herbs and Spices Defined 2 Classifying Herbs and Spices 3 Basic Flavour Groups 3 Basic Strength Groups 4 Preparing Herbs for Maximum Flavour 5 Preparing Spices for Maximum Flavour 7 Table 1: Matches Made in Heaven 9 Table 2: Fresh Flavour Pals 12 Action Steps 14 More Open Sessions You Can Download Right Now Grow Your Own: The Ultimate Herb Supply Visit www.herb.co.za/blog/grow-your-own/ A Crash Course on starting your own herb garden. The 5-Day Healthy Eating Plan Visit www.herb.co.za/blog/5-day-diet/ Discover how to trigger a major turnaround in how you look and feel. More Exclusive Members Only Culinary Learning Sessions Get FREE membership at www.herb.co.za/registration.html Session1: Seven Disasters Waiting to Happen When Cooking with Herbs and Spices Session 4: Setting Up Your Herb and Spice Pantry Session 7: Four Ingredient Recipes – The Perfect Teachers Session 10: Cooking with Parsley. It’s Much More Than Just a Garnish Plus: 4 Herbal Medicine Learning Sessions Plus: 4 Herb and Vegetable Growing Learning Sessions What Goes With…? What Goes With…? A Foodies Guide to Seasoning with Herbs and Spices If you’ve ever wondered what goes with what this guide is especially for you. Words of caution though, view it only as a guide. One of the things that make seasoning with herbs and spices so dynamic is the constant evolution of our palates. What do you prefer? Familiar, friendly flavours or bold, unexpected flavours? It doesn’t really matter; you’ll have a feast with the two tables at the end of this guide. And yes, it’s perfectly fine to jump ahead to the tables. But be sure to come back and read through the remainder of the guide. Benefits of Seasoning with Herbs and Spices The most obvious reason for cooking with herbs and spices is that they can transform your ordinary recipes into exciting culinary experiences. But there are even more good reasons to master the magic of cooking with herbs and spices: They will stretch your budget. By using herbs and spices in your everyday cooking, you can turn cheap staple ingredients into tasty dishes. They offer you variety and gastronomic delight for every individual in the family. You can easily make your own connoisseur pantry products like herb oils, vinegars, and mustards, which make great gifts. You can even turn this hobby into a part-time or full-time business venture. It is always a pleasure to receive compliments for our culinary creations. Herbs and spices will certainly earn you compliments when entertaining friends and family. Used skilfully they really are the ‘cherry on the cake’ for all your dishes. Then for the more health conscious amongst us, there are many more advantages: Fresh herbs especially are wonderful sources of concentrated micro-nutrients, like antioxidants, vitamins and minerals. All of these are in an unadulterated natural form. In these times of ‘instant’ vegetables – in tins and frozen packs – it is clear that herbs and spices can do much to improve the taste and nutritional value of our veggies. Certain herbs and spices will stimulate your appetite and improve your digestion and general health and well-being. They are vital in low salt and low fat diets. P a g e | 1 What Goes With…? One can truly say that herbs and spices give your cooking that ‘something special’! Read through the above section again and circle the advantages that you can see for your own cooking style. Are there any others that you want to add? Herbs and Spices Defined “Spices and herbs for the culinary world are harvested from the entire spectrum of plant species. Most commonly the seeds and leaves of these botanical treasures are used to impart flavour, but bark, roots, nuts, flowers and berries also have much to offer, depending on which plant you have before you. What just about all these species, in their many forms, have in common is a unique pungency compared with other crops. A spice or herb destined for the kitchen is likely to have a strong signature not duplicated elsewhere.” - Tony Hill, author of The Spice Lovers Guide to Herbs and Spices (2004) There are many interpretations of the difference between herbs, spices and flavourings. From a culinary viewpoint they can be described as follows: Herbs Herbs constitute the aromatic leaves and flowers that are used, either fresh or dried, to liven up culinary dishes. Some good examples are sweet basil, thyme and rosemary. The shelf life of most dried herbs is much shorter than that of spices. With a few exceptions, herbs should be used fresh for the best effect. Spices Spices are the seeds, bark and roots of plants that are used, mainly in a dried form. For this reason, spices have a longer shelf life than most herbs. Examples of spices are pepper (seeds), ginger (root) and cinnamon (bark) Flavourings Flavourings are products that are often used just like herbs, but are also seen as food sources in their own right, for example fennel bulbs, honey, nuts, citrus and onions. A Stew of Words! Sometimes the ability to distinguish between herbs, spices and flavourings becomes quite confusing. Take horseradish for example. Some might say it is a spice, while others believe it can also be a food source. The same can be said of garlic and onions. There are also a number of plants that confusingly fall into the category of both a herb and a spice because we use their leaves fresh or dried and also their seeds. Just think about fennel, dill and coriander. Or is the latter cilantro? My advice to you... P a g e | 2 What Goes With…? Make the distinction between herbs and spices if you must. But don’t let that limit your possibilities. When you cook, it doesn’t really matter whether fennel is a herb or a spice. That is really just semantics, and after all, if you know how to get the best out of fennel, the effect and taste stays the same. Classifying Herbs and Spices When trying out new flavour combinations it is useful to classify herbs and spices according to their flavour profile and according to their strength. Basic Flavour Groups What follows is a broad brush grouping of herbs and spices into 12 basic flavour groups. Remember that most herbs and spices do not like to be categorized into rigid boxes. Some will fit into more than one box. And then there will be those that don’t seem to fit in anywhere. Use this only as a guide. Your own basic profiles will depend on your own palate. If for example you can’t distinguish between spicy and pungent, group them together. Fresh Borage, parsley, salad burnet. Sweet Bay leaves, cassia, cinnamon, coriander, juniper, paprika, pineapple sage, rose geranium, stevia, sweet basil. Spicy cilantro, curry bush, marjoram, oregano, rosemary, sage, savory, thyme. Minty Apple mint, chocolate mint, eau de cologne mint, ginger mint, mint, pineapple ,mint, peppermint, spearmint. Aniseed or Liquorice anise, chervil, dill, fennel, liquorice, star anise, tarragon. Citrus Citrus, lemon balm, lemon grass, lemon thyme, lemon verbena. Onion-flavoured Welsh Onion (spring onion), shallot, chives, garlic, garlic chives. Pungent Allspice, chilli, cloves, ginger, horseradish, mustard, nasturtium, pepper, rocket, watercress. Bitter Capers, celery, fenugreek, hyssop, lovage. P a g e | 3 What Goes With…? Nutty Sesame, poppy. Warm and Earthy Caraway, cardamom, cumin, curry leaves, mace, nutmeg, saffron, turmeric. Sour or Tangy Lemon, lime, sorrel. Basic Strength Groups You can also group your herbs according to how they impart their flavour and aromas. This gives an indication of: How much of a herb/spice you can use. When you can add it to a dish. Herbs which can be combined with each other. Which herbs can stand up to cooking and which can’t. This classification is especially handy if you would like to play around with new flavour combinations. There are two main groupings, namely ‘mild’ and ‘robust/strong’ and a subgroup of the mild herbs which refered to as ‘fusion herbs’. These two groups broadly group the annuals in one group and the perennial herbs in another group. The mild herbs have the following characteristics: Mostly annual plants. Combine well with most other herbs and spices. Combine well with stronger flavours; and most can be used in one combination with a strong herb, if the two complement each other. Their flavours become more moderate when used in cooked dishes. They are mostly used in larger quantities and with greater variation, than their robust cousins. Work very well in raw dishes or recipes that have very short cooking periods.