What Flavors Different Spices Add to Food
Posted on October 15, 2011 by
Every meat, fish, poultry and vegetable has its own unique flavor. Some grab your taste buds right away, while others are bland. We should start by looking at each dish, starting with the salad. To start, add flavor with onions or chives. Chives have a mild onion flavor. Tomatoes add a tangy taste. Cucumbers are refreshing to the palate.Top it off with fresh peppercorn. Dressings vary so widely that they become a matter of individual choice.
For your soup dish, there are several choices. Bay leaf has a pungent woody taste and is excellent for bean or meat soups. For spicier tastes, add chili powder. Chili powder is a mixture of chili peppers, cumin and oregano. Curry is a favorite in India. It has cumin, pepper, chili peppers, ginger, onion, cinnamon, paprika, cilantro and turmeric.
Your entrée can be meat, fish poultry or a combination of these foods. If you are cooking French cuisine, try chervil. It has a licorice and lemon flavor and is excellent for shellfish. Another popular spice for French cooking is marjoram. It has a minty basil flavor.
For Italian dishes, garlic is the staple. For more zest add oregano. Cooking Italian needs some basil with its sweet, clove taste. Again here a bit of chives adds more flavor. The rest of the recipe is often a closely guarded secret.
Indian and southeastern Asians use ginger and curry in the same way garlic is used in Italian cooking. Ginger has a slightly sweet but citrus taste. Curry as mentioned is a combination of various spices. Tumeric, a warm Indian spice is very popular. Cumin is also warm and used widely.
Mexican dishes are famous for use of various peppers. Cilantro, with its citrusy smell is another favorite.
When it comes to your vegetables, there are a host of spices to choose from. Caraway seeds add a nutty, licorice flavor. Dill adds a tangy flavor to most vegetables. Carrots like cinnamon, cloves, ginger, marjoram, nutmeg, rosemary and sage. Try cumin, curry powder, onion, paprika and parsley on corn. For potatoes try garlic, onion, parsley or sage. Squash are keen on cloves, curry, marjoram, nutmeg and rosemary.
As a general rule, add your spices toward the end of your cooking cycle. This keeps the flavor longer. For salads, cut them finely to unlock more flavor.