proscriptive clausewitz: The World of Spices and Basic Recipes

Spices are dried aromatic parts of natural plants: the bark, berries, buds, pods, seeds, roots and fruit. Spices are more than just flavouring agents. Spices can sharpen the appetite, assist the ease of digestion and even help preserve food. Many spices have medicinal properties.

If you have the means, it is always better to buy whole spices and grind them when needed. This ensures the maximum fresh flavour. Using spices in your cooking enhances its flavour and benefits those who eat it.

Spices are aromatic, vegetable substances, used mainly for seasoning food and increasing its flavour. They represent the different portions of their respective plants for example, nutmeg is the seed, black pepper is the whole fruit, cloves are flower-buds, ginger is the root, and cinnamon is the inner bark and so on. The more unusual ones are available from Asian food stores or supermarkets.

Allspice: Also called Pimento, allspice is used whole in pickles, marinades and when making mulled wine. Ground allspice is used in cake making particularly rich fruit cakes and puddings. Allspice has a ?grateful aromatic taste? offering the combined flavours of clove, cinnamon and nutmeg. Its pods are similar to pepper in appearance. Not be confused with mixed spice, which is blend of sweet spices.

Amchur (Dried mango powder): Powdered seasoning made from dried green mangoes. It has a sharp, slightly tangy taste, and is used as a condiment on roasted foods and frequently in pickles.

Aniseed: Aniseed has a sweet liquorice flavour. The seeds are used to flavour cakes, curries and liqueurs. A hot tea of aniseed can help relieve a cough as well as being calming to the stomach.

Asafoetida: This strong spice is the resin of a plant. It is sold both in its root form and as a powder, the latter being more convenient form to use. Asafoetida has a distinctive, pungent flavour and aroma. Largely due to the presence of sulphur compounds and is, therefore, used in very small quantities. It has strong digestive properties and is used to counteract flatulence also stimulates the uterus and also provide relief from a toothache. It is a good appetiser.

Ajwain seeds: Similar in appearance to celery seeds, with a strong, spicy flavour.

Bay Leaf: Bay leaf is the leaf of the cassia tree; whole bark has the flavour of cinnamon (and is often sold as such). It is important to use only tender young leaves, which are full of flavour. Bay leaves are the Western equivalent of the Indian one.

Basil: Sweet, mildly sweet and pungent herb used in fresh for soups, sauces, stews and pasta dishes. It has carminative effect, and is very useful for malarial fevers, influenza, backaches, cough and colds. The seeds when blended with jaggery produces and aphrodisiac effect.

Candlenuts: White waxy nuts similar to macadamia nuts. Used to add body and flavour too many sauces.

Cardamom: The seeds are inside the paper like pod which is discarded. Cardamom is a curry powder ingredient and is used to flavour dhal dishes. Cardamom seeds can be eaten after a meal to help the digestion and sweeten the breath.

Cardamoms are generally divided into two type?s small and big. In home cooking the small cardamoms are the most commonly used? There are two varieties namely the stronger flavoured green cardamoms and the lesser-flavoured bleached white cardamoms. You can use which ever types of smaller cardamoms are available but will naturally have to consider the need to make marginal adjustments n quantities. The large cardamoms are coarser in texture, and although they have a stronger flavour, also have a slightly bitter taste. Being more economical in cost. The darker larger pods contain clusters of small black seeds, and are used as an important curry spice in the Indian garam masala as a fragrant spice in sweets. The smaller greenish pods have a mild lemony fragrance and are also used in sweet and savoury dishes. Cardamoms are sold whole or powdered.

Cassia: The bark or quills are used whole or ground. Cassia is similar to cinnamon but warmer and rounder in taste. The Americans tend to use cassia instead of cinnamon in their doughnuts and apple pies. Use whole pieces when making pickles. Add ground cassia to stewed apples, cakes, and Christmas puddings.

Cayenne: Cayenne pepper is made from ground pungent chilli peppers. Cayenne pepper is hot and stimulating. Restaurants add a little as a topping to seafood cocktails. Use it in soups, marinade and to ?devil? savouries and tomato juice cocktails.

Celery Seed: Use the whole seeds in pickles, soups, stews, meat and vegetable dishes to give a celery flavour. Grind the seeds and mix with salt to make your own celery salt. Celery is tonic, stimulant and a diuretic.

Chillies Red: May be used whole or ground. The heat of curry powder is directly related to the percentage of chilli powder in the mixture. Chilli powder including the seeds inside the pods will be hotter still! Dried red chillies are either sold whole or in ground form as chilli powder. When chillies are ripe they are usually red Kashmiri red chillies are darker in colour and not as hot as the other whole red chillies. They are mainly used for making the dish more colourful and if not available ordinary whole red chillies can be substituted. Use chillies to flavour meat dishes, curries, pickles, sauces and?ketchup?s.

Chillies, Green: The fiery taste of green chillies is derived mainly from the tiny white seeds inside them and to a much lesser extent, from the skin. Infact in most cases the skin itself has a very pleasant flavour. One way to reduce the heat and pungency of green chillies is to remove the seeds after slitting them and to rub the inside with a little salt and then wash thoroughly. Salted green chillies are therefore generally much easier on the tongue. Many times chillies are eaten raw with curries but such a practice is not recommended. Fresh green chillies are firm and shiny and they should be stored in plastic bags in the refrigerator. Remember to wash your hands and not to touch your eyes after handling chillies.

Chinese Rice Wine: The pale clear Shaoshing is most suitable for cooking. Rose wine spirits if available, can be substituted, but use no more than half the quantity recommended for rice wine. Pale dry sherry is good substitute.

Chinese Brown Vinegar: Fermented rice vinegar, mild but pungent. Use white vinegar or malt vinegar as a substitute.

Cinnamon: Cinnamon bark is used whole or powdered in both sweet and savoury dishes. Add whole pieces to milk puddings, pears in wine and apple pies. Delicious when making hot mulled wine. Cinnamon is used to make pilau rice. Ground it, it is an ingredient in curry powder. Cinnamon toast (hot buttered toast sprinkled with raw brown sugar and ground cinnamon) is great during the cold weather. It removes anorexia, and is useful in mucus formation, chronic sinusitis, colds and bronchitis. Distilled water of cinnamon relieves abdominal colic distension (stomach upsets), nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea.

Cloves: Cloves are the dried unripe fruit buds of an aromatic tropical tree. Cloves contain eugenol, an antiseptic, hence the historical use of cloves in pomanders, the latter being used as a protection against pestilence and fevers. Cloves are pressed into ham and bacon joints before cooking. Large onions can be baked in the same way. Cloves are a mixed spice ingredient and essential in cake making. They have strong aromatic flavour and are invariably used in garam masalas. Good cloves should only be well formed but also be plump and oily. Clove oil has analgesic qualities and is a well known remedy for toothaches.

Coriander (dhania): Coriander seeds are used in pickles and chutneys. Ground coriander is a major ingredient of nearly every curry powder blend. Coriander is good with lamb and in stuffing?s and sausages. Coriander helps the digestion and strengthens the stomach. Its decoction, when used as an eyewash cures conjunctives, stops burning, pain and swelling in the eyes.

Cumin: The seeds are used as an ingredient of curry powders and to flavour soft cheeses, biscuits, pickles and soups. Cumin was regarded as one of the ?foure great Carminative-seeds? capable of dissolving ?Wind in any part of the body. It acts as a digestive, appetiser and is beneficial to the heart, and in women, strengthens the uterus.

Curry Leaves: A fragrant dried leaf indispensable to a good curry. Bay leaves can occasionally be suggested as a substitute, but the flavour is quite different. Usually bought fresh in vegetable markets.

Curry Paste: Commercially prepared curry paste containing a mixture of spices in an oil or coconut milk base. Sold in supermarkets in glass jars.

Curry Powder: In most countries where curry is a main part of the diet, cooks prepare fresh spices daily and rarely use commercially prepared spice mixtures. The exceptions are special mixtures for specific dishes. Curry powder is a blend of powdered spices which usually are sold in shops or supermarkets.

Dill Seed: Dill seeds are used whole and ground. Dill is very aromatic and gives a smooth warm roundness to pickles, vinegars and fish dishes. Gherkins are pickled with dill since the dill helps combat the indigestibility of the gherkin. A tea of bruised dill seed will correct both wind in the infant and flatulence in the older gourmet. Dill comes also in form leaves which are available in supermarkets, vegetable shops and markets.

Fennel Seed: Fennel seed can be used whole in pickles, soups, sauces especially for fish and stews to which it adds a pleasant aniseed flavour. A tea of crushed fennel seed is good for flatulent colic. Fennel stimulates the appetite and is used by herbalists to treat anorexia. Fennel is also a diuretic and helps cleanse the body. A tea of fennel seed has been used to stimulate lactation in nursing mothers.

Fenugreek: Dried fenugreek seeds smell of burnt sugar and have a bitter taste. They are used in curry powders and pastes, especially pickles. The fresh leaves are also used in Indian cooking as a vegetable, being interchangeable with spinach though slightly bitter. Fenugreek is mucilaginous, laxative and soothing to the stomach. Fenugreek encourages appetite and is used by herbalists to treat anorexia.

Five Spice Powder: A blend of star anise, fennel, aniseed, cloves and cassia (similar to cinnamon stick). The spices are roasted before grinding.

Garlic: because of its extremely pungent flavour, garlic is used in small quantities as a flavouring agent. Garlic is available fresh or on powder form.

Ghee (clarified butter): Clarified butter used as the main cooking medium in the Indian kitchen, giving richness to sweet and savoury dishes. It is high in cholesterol and vegetable can be substituted. Ghee usually comes in sealed tins of different weight.

Ginger: Ginger is a wonderfully versatile spice. The rhizome is used fresh, as dried pieces and ground. Fresh ginger is essential in Oriental cooking. Dried ginger is used in pickles. To add warmth to mulled wines, to make home made ginger beer. Crystallised ginger can be used as an ingredient of cakes and biscuits. Ginger is an excellent digestive and helps to reduce cholesterol. Recent American military research has shown that ginger is helpful in travel sickness.

Garam Masala: A blend of spices prepared as a curry powder or condiment for Indian cooking. Unlike commercial curry powder, the mixture contains neither powdered turmeric, nor chilli powder. Store in an airtight container for up to a month.

Horseradish: May be seen growing wildly at the roadside. The grated root was eaten traditionally ?to correct the richness of roast beef. It is excellent with oily fish, particularly smoked trout. Horseradish is hot and helps to stimulate the digestion. Fresh horseradish is rich in Vitamin c and is though to be helpful in cleansing the body.

Jaggery: InIndiaa good proportion of sugar can crop is used for making jaggery instead of white sugar. Basically it is a solid lump of unrefined sugar with a unique flavour. There is really no equivalent for jaggery.

Lemon Grass: A grass native toAsiabut also found in different parts of the world and sometimes known as citronella grass. The leaves grow in clumps of which white bulbous part is used for its lemony fragrance. It is sold dried in strip form, chopped or powdered form. More dried lemongrass is needed than fresh to produce the same flavour. Substitute with lemon peel.

Mace: Mace can be used in sweet and savoury dishes. Mace gives doughnuts their special flavour. Add to thick soups, casseroles and stuffing?s. Use when making pickles and chutneys. Mace and nutmeg grow on the same tree. The blades of mace cling to the outer shell containing the nutmeg. Scarlet when fresh, mace dries to a golden brown.

Mint: Mint can be used in chutneys, marinades, vegetables and pastas. This green leaf is usually sold fresh in supermarkets. Mint is for relieving dyspepsia, indigestion, nausea and gastric upsets.

Mustard: The dried seeds can be brown, black or white/yellow. Black and brown mustard seeds are used for aroma, white/yellow mustard seed for flavour. Mustard only comes to life when water is added to the crushed seed or mustard flour. White or yellow mustard is a natural food preservative being an antioxidant. Mustard seeds are used in relishes, pickles and in Indian cooking but they have to be fried quickly in very hot oil to obtain their full flavour. Mustard flour is used as a natural emulsifier in sauces and mayonnaises. Mustard stimulates the digestion.

Nutmeg: Freshly ground nutmeg is delicious on toasted cheese, cauliflower, custards, milk puddings and sauces. Add to mulled wine and punches. When nutmegs are shelled, they are thrown into water. The sound nutmeg sinks with worm holes float on top. Those ?floaters eventually go for grinding. Much better to grind your own fresh whole nutmeg.

Paprika: Paprika is a ground powder from varieties of sweet pepper. The taste is mild and sweet. The best qualities come fromHungaryandSpain. Use paprika in goulash, paprika?s to season soups and meat dishes.

Pepper: Pepper is the most widely used spice in the Western world. Black, white and green pepper all comes from the same plant. All can be used ground or whole. Black peppercorns are dried unripe berries and have the strongest flavour. White peppercorns have had the skin removed before drying. Green peppercorns are milder than black or white peppercorns. Freshly ground pepper is preferable to ground pepper.

Pomegranate Seeds: Small shiny dark red seeds of the pomegranate fruit used to give a tangy flavour to Indian dishes. Lemon juice can be substituted.

Poppy (khus khus): Poppy seeds add a nutty crunchy flavour sprinkled on bread and biscuits before baking. Lightly roasted the seed brings out the flavour. The seeds are from Opium Poppy but are not at all narcotic.

Rose Water: Fragrant, delicate essence of roses as flavouring for sweets, desserts and occasionally in rich savoury dishes and biryani.

Saffron: The most expensive spice in the world. It takes over 200,000 dried stigmas from 70,000 flowers to make one pound of real saffron. Fortunately, you do not need very much. The taste is pungent and warmly aromatic. Just few strands soaked in warm milk or boiling water will flavour and colour rice dishes such as biryani, pilau, fish soups and sauces. Keep in an airtight container away from light.

Sesame: The seeds have a nutty aromatic taste which develops when the seed is gently roasted. Sprinkle on baked goods. Tahini is a nutritious paste made from sesame. It can be mixed lemon juice and garlic and eaten with toast or small pitta breads.

Turmeric: Called saffron in the West Indies and haldi inIndia, and used to add colour to curries and rice dishes. Turmeric is a dried rhizome used as whole pieces or ground. Powdered turmeric is stronger than fresh turmeric.

Vanilla: Vanilla pods are the cued seed pod of the Vanilla vine, a member of the Orchid family. Vanilla originated inMexicoand is grown in Tahiti, Java and the Bourbon islands ofMadagascar. Vanilla pods last almost indefinitely if kept in sugar. The flavour of natural vanilla enhances home made ice cream, milk puddings, custards, creams, stewed fruits and home made sweets. Avoid ?Vanillin?. This synthetic vanilla flavour is made from sulphite waste pulp, a by-product of the paper industry. There is nothing better than the real thing!

All the above spices are usually pre-packed and available at all leading supermarkets. All dry spices should be stored in a cool dry place (not the refrigerator) or a storing cupboard, unless otherwise stated. Majority of the spices stay fresh for years if properly taken care of. ?All spices should be stored in an airtight container.

Most of the spices sold on shelves at supermarkets are pre-packed in plastic containers. Sometimes they loose their freshness, so it is advisable to transfer spices into airtight glass jars, by doing this-the freshness of spices can remain for years.

When buying a spice always make sure to buy one from a reputable manufacturer. If you now your spices well, you will be able to tell which spice is which just from the smell.

It is always recommended to use spices according to the recipe. Never over use spices unless otherwise stated. Excessive use of spices is never recommended, this intends to small the taste of dishes.

If you think there is moist in your spices than you can always lay them out under the sun for a couple of days. This will enhance the flavour more also it will dry up all the moisture.

Basic Recipes