Spices I

Allspice; Anise; Aniseed; Basil; Bay leaf

Allspice: The not quite ripe Berry of the pimento tree; also known as Jamaican pepper.

This spice, when sun dried, resembles the peppercorn and the early Spanish thought that it was another source of pepper and gave the name of Jamaican pepper.
If processed when fully ripe they lose flavor and aroma.

The flavor of Allspice is what gives it it's name. At a quick thought you would think that due to the name it would be a combination  of spices. It is not. But the subtle flavor of Cinnamon, cloves and a hint of Nutmeg are present. Of course if you happen to be in the middle of preparing some food that calls for Allspice and you don't have any on hand, combine one part Cinnamon, one part Cloves and a bit of Nutmeg and though it won't be as flavorful the real thing, it will do.

An unique use of this spice in Jamaica, is that it is used for such ills as infant colic, diarrhea, bleeding from the lungs and in Women, PMS.

But it is truly an all around spice for foods and is used in Indian Chutney, vegetable dishes, Swedish meatballs, soups and desserts.

Anise/Aniseed: An herbaceous plant with leaves. The fruit of this plant is the Aniseed, this plant has a heavy licorice flavor.
                        Herbaceous: 1) Of a stem having little or no woody structure.
                                             2) Of or related to or having the characteristics of an herb.
                                             3) Having the texture, color, or appearance of a leaf
The fruit (seeds) of the plant when dried and ground or even used whole can be used to make tea--quite refreshing I'm told.

It is also used in  pastry and candy making and also the liquor Absinthe.

Basil:  Also called Sweet Basil, a Eurasian plant having small white flowers and aromatic leaves used as herbs for seasoning as in marinades and flavor in Soups and Stews and dressings.

The sweet basil is used in Italian dishes while lemon Basil is primarily used in Asian dishes...Thai cooking in particular.

Basil is best used fresh and if added to sauce being prepared or marinades.

Also except in the case of overnight marinating, when the cooking sauce, or soup, the leaves should be added at he nearly done part cooking cycle because heat quickly destroys the flavor.
Basil is high in Vitamins and Minerals; 13 vitamins and 8 minerals.

Bay Leaf: The dried leaf of the Laurel; The Laurel, also called Bay or Sweet Bay is a small European Evergreen tree of the Laurel Family which includes Cherry and Mountain Laurel. The leaves of these last two are poisonous. The Bay Laurel is not.

The Sweet Bay tree of Europe has small dark green and glossy leaves.

The Caribbean Bay is used to flavor some foods but it is also the main ingredient in the first known after shave lotion called Bay Rum.

The uses for the bay leaf are many; they flavor soups; stews; vegetables; meats, and Seafood and not forgetting marinades and other sauces. Always remembering to remove the leaves before eating any food in which they are used. The leaves even if cooked remain very stiff and sharp and if eaten will scratch the internal organs that it comes in contact with. in some cases surgery was needed.

More to come,
Dad



Spice

Definitions:
                  Spice: An aromatic or pungent vegetable substance used to flavor  or enhance the taste of foods.
                  Aromatic: 1) That which has a pleasing or 2) distinctive or pungent smell.
                  Distinctive: Characteristic of one person, place or thing that separates it out from other persons, places or things.
                  Pungent: A sharp or strong taste or smell.

An interesting subject, spice, but not at first glance.

In recent years the very word, spice/spicy has come to mean "Hot." Though it is my opinion that some foods should come with a warning label such as "this will burn a hole in your tongue".

All in all a very unfortunate use of the word spice. Especially when you consider that some spices, paprika for example, are barely noticeable to the taste buds.

And also consider that just about every meal we eat has at least one spice connected to it and gives the dish that distinctive flavor so that even blindfolded you know that you are eating something Italian or Indian (Chutney comes to mind) or whatever.

I decided on this Subject of Spices due to an experience I had a few years ago at a well known steak house that had on it's menu "Blackened Sirloin" and in parenthesis "Spicy". I thought that looked good and had in mind a steak that has been marinated, something like teriyaki or some other exotic flavoring. So I ordered that and when it came and I took that first bite I was nearly jolted out of my seat from the shock that was occurring in my mouth and getting worse by the minute.

It was soon obvious that the overwhelming heat had given me no chance to taste the beef flavor let alone try eating the damn thing. I set it aside and got started on the first of three glasses of ice water. That didn't help much as I found out later that water doesn't help. It didn't, much, but it was soothing to my psyche, and I was able to enjoy the company I was with. We had a good laugh over it and I chalked it up to experience.

There are some other oddities about spice, aside from the Spicy meaning hot; Salt for example is a mineral but "Seasoned Salt" is considered a spice--go figure.

Another interesting observation is the Spice Rack you see in some kitchens, your friends kitchens mostly, that most of the bottles are unused and a thin layer of dust on the lids is the hint. But then you look at the labels of these dust gatherers and some of the names are almost unpronounceable.

So, over the next few posts I will sort out these spices and hopefully, by the end we will all know what the H... to do with them.

Dad

Introduction

When I wrote the first Cookbook for Single Fathers it was an immediate success. So much so that long after I'd sold as many as I ever thought I would, I still received requests for copies.

The purpose of this blog is to show that anyone can become a good cook. The problem with cook books in general, is that they assume that you already know how to cook and therefore are just a list of one recipe after another. I wanted to teach something. I hope I succeed.

Black Gold

Black Pepper

When you hear the term black gold you immediately think of oil. The truth is that it goes much farther back in time than the oil seeps scattered around the world and for which there was no use for.

Black Gold was used to describe Pepper and given the moniker due to the amount of money that peppercorn delivered to the London docks, from the far off spice islands of Indonesia, could be sold for.

Dad

AROMA



Definitions:

Aroma: Anything giving off a sweet smelling fragrance.
Fragrant: Pleasant smell.

If you have a cold and can't smell, it is also true that you can't taste either.
Occasionally when reading a book describing food or watching the food channel or perhaps a TV movie about the holidays and it's attending dinner, you find your mouth watering and especially the scene where someone takes a bite and says something like Wow! or Oh my God! or I can't believe this; all wonderful to hear or read about but I've yet to hear anyone mention the smells.

Here are a couple of examples:
Imagine again, the trail drive: It's the end of the days drive, the cattle are watering and beginning to graze, some already bedding down in the gathering dusk. A cowboy, the first to finish turning his horse out to the Remuda walks into the Chuck Wagon area and not looking at anything, immune to the strong smell of cattle and dust still hanging in the air, gets an image of the cooking fire now reduced to a long bed of glowing coals, he knows from the smell of coffee that there would be two large coffee pots beginning to boil, stomach growls; along with that the tang of fresh sourdough biscuits but not noticing "cookie" removing them from the still hot dutch oven he gets another slight odor of Beef and Beans and his stomach gives another flip and still he hasn't laid eyes on any of the food. Just those wonderful aromas.

Another:
Thanksgiving day, anywhere USA.
Something waking you up in the morning; Coffee aroma-strong; later in the day, something baking; Bread or rolls maybe and still later, the unmistakable smell of Roasting Turkey.
By this time it would be halftime at the game you are watching on TV...probably the Detroit Lions and whomever they playing this year.
But the overriding problem you are having is the accumulation of smells of the day about to drive you nutty.
And speaking of nuts; you eye the now empty nut bowl full of broken shells. and you take a last sip of slightly warm beer and realize that nothing else will do than to sit down to the magnificent feast called Thanksgiving Dinner.
The first, but not the only, thing I'm thankful for is that I don't have a cold.

Happy Thanksgiving day to all.
Dad.

Things We drink

In the earlier posts I mentioned several liquids that we regularly consume; Coffee, water, tea and beer. Except for Coffee I didn't get into much detail on the others.

My last post was 'more on soup' and of course water is the key to that. Water was also gotten into in earlier posts as well.
I mentioned beer in one also. I'd like to expand on that a little:

Definitions:
Beer          :  An alcoholic drink made from malt, grains, and flavored with hops
                  : A non-alcoholic drink made from plants or roots of plants.
                    and example would be "root beer".

Malt         : Grains, such as barley soaked in water and used in the making of alcoholic
                   beverages.
 
Sarsaparilla: (commonly pronounced "Sasparilla").
                   : The leaves and flowers of this vine plant are used in giving bitter flavor
                     to malted liquors.
                     The roots of this plant used in making non-alcoholic root beer.

The origin of Beer is old...old and foggy. Researchers have pinned the origin to ancient Mesopotamia (a part of the middle east between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers extending from the mountains of SE Asia to the Persian Gulf.), in 6 BC. That plus a Sumerian Tablet depicting people sitting around a large bowl apparently sipping from the bowl through straws. But how they came to the conclusion that they were sipping beer is beyond me. Consider that in 6 BC There was no written language, and even if there was, most of the people were illiterate. Even into the middle ages the written word and writing was the domain of monks and friars. But that is just my opinion and has nothing to do with beer except that there is also no evidence of a  recipe for making beer. The Hymn of Ninkasi notwithstanding (in spite of). That hymn supposedly had in its wording the method for making beer. And in this way had a recipe that could be passed on easily.
Therefore lets just skip all that and concentrate on times and places that are verifiable.

According to Statistics, beer is in 3rd place as the most consumed beverage world wide, behind water and tea.
However, That conclusion may or may not be true. in London during the middle ages Water was not a big favorite as a drink, due to pollution. Most of the rivers and streams of England and most of Europe too, were also used as sewers. So Beer, being plentiful and Cheap, and could be made easily by most anyone, was uniformly drank by nearly every citizen. Tea at that time was very expensive. and had to be imported by ship from the far east.
It has been said that the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock instead of further south was because they ran out of beer. I can go with that because of how much water would be needed by passengers and crew and the live animals that were also on those first ships, that beer would have been the primary source of beverage for the people.

So, In the US the most popular and most consumed beverage is Water; followed by Soda (all soft drinks); then Coffee, then Beer. and lastly, Milk.

More on Soup

Definition:

Soup; from Sop...Bread used to soak up the drippings of meats and/or liquid still left in the bowl or on the plate/platter.

When you hear the word soup, what  immediately comes to mind depends largely on, here in the US, what your roots are; Examples: Campbell's soup. European roots: meat and or Vegetables boiled in water, sometimes thickened with flour.
Asian: Especially Chinese since they are so much a part of the history of America. It could be won-ton or egg drop that comes to mind. The various Ramen dried mix with water added also fastley becoming generally popular.
Mexican: It could be tripe, gazpacho served cold and if your roots are Italian it could be just minestrone.

I've even heard that soup was served up on Trail Drives but unless it had thick hunks of meat and plenty of potatoes and other Vegetables found along the creek beds and made into a thick stew, I don't believe that the trail drives had anything to do with soup.
Imagine if you will, a Cowboy who has just come to supper after 12 hours eating dust and literally punching cows, being handed a bowl of vegetable soup or thickened Consommé (thickened broth), he'd probably shoot the cook.

But in the society we now live in there are many choices and some fantastic soups to be had.
Is there anything more welcome on a cold winter day or cold and blustery spring or fall day?