[Three Magic Ingredients] [The Garlic Theory]
Herbs, Spices & Seasonings
More often than not you'll have to buy most of your seasonings. While this costs money, you'll have control over what you get, whereas the food you season is determined by the luck of the donation. Thus we list spice combinations to add to various produce combinations rather than whole recipes.
Herbs are green leaves; Spices are ground roots, bark, and berries; Seasonings are other things added for flavor. (See Kitchen Supplies for lists of such things) The best way to figure out spices and herbs is to taste them, then taste the dish or foods you're about to flavor. The stronger the taste, the less you should use. Throwing in everything will achieve a "canceling out" effect and therefore is a waste of resources. Let the whole group use its collective judgment for the best results.
Listed here are some tried and tested combinations of spices and herbs. The amounts listed are for one five-gallon bucket of food. This is a starting point; if you want more, add more! Add salt and pepper as well as herbs during the last 1520 minutes of cooking. If you are frying onions and garlic separately, you can saut‚ the spices as well to bring out the flavor more. In general, spices need to be cooked and herbs do not and both get stronger with time.
Don't worry if everything listed isn't available; it will probably be ok with what you have. We improvise with what we have, but we might as well be gourmet!
General:
All measures are approximate. Add and then taste. If you use sage, you
don't need to use basil. If you use rosemary, you don't need to use thyme.
* Dill (1/3 to 1/2 cup) is great with potatoes, carrots,
and
cabbage. Use it with marjoram or by itself.
* Caraway (1/4 cup) is also good with potatoes, carrots, and cabbage.
Chop it up a little first (seeds easily get caught in teeth). Caraway
can flavor a dish all by itself.
Northern European Style:
This combination is good for several bean, vegetable and/or grain items...
Marjoram - 1/3 to 1/2 cup
Basil - 1/3 to 1/2 cup
Thyme - 1/4 cup
Rosemary or Sage - 1 tablespoon
Caraway Seeds - 1/4 cup, chopped
Salt and Pepper - to taste
Southern European Style:
use this combination with tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, onions, peppers
and such.
Basil - 1/2 cup
Bay Leaves - 3 to 4 leaves
Oregano - 1/4 to 1/3 cup
Thyme or Rosemary - 2 to 3 Tablespoons
Garlic, Salt, and Pepper- to taste
* a little cinnamon can be added to take the edge off of tomato dishes.
Mexican Style:
use this for beans (especially pinto or black) and rice with tomatoes,
onions, and peppers
Chili Powder - 1/3 to 1/2 cup
Cumin - 1/4 to 1 1/2 cup
Oregano - 2 to 3 Tablespoons
Hot Chilies - 2 or more, finely chopped
-or-
Cayenne Pepper - 2 teaspoons
Salt and Pepper - to taste
* Add salt to beans after cooking, as adding it too early toughens the
beans.
* If hot chili juice reaches eyes, blisters, cuts, etc., either directly
or via hands, you will SUFFER: rinse with cold water from a container
or someone else's hands (not your hands you goof, or it will get worse)
for five minutes.
* Chilies can be added to guacamole in place of cayenne pepper.
Remember: cayenne and fresh chilies "develop" (increase in flavor) over time and what you think isn't that hot now may take revenge on you later.
Chinese:
for stir-fry, rice, etc.
Garlic - 6 to 8 cloves, minced
Gingerroot - 2 to 3 inches, minced
Soy Sauce - about a cup
Sesame Oil - a few tablespoons
Vinegar- a few tablespoons. Use rice vinegar, if possible, or apple cider
vinegar.
* Whole seeds and nuts are good in these dishes, and minced chilies can be added as well.
Indian:
Especially good for stew of lentils, peas or garbanzos, and veggies
ONE:
Curry or Garam Masala - 1/3 to 1/2 cup
Turmeric - 2 Tablespoons
Garlic - 6 to 8 cloves, minced
Gingerroot - 4 inches, minced
Cayenne Pepper - 1 teaspoon
* Saut‚ the spices with the garlic and the ginger.
* Turmeric can taste bitter and medicinal if you add too much.
* Adding a few teaspoons of turmeric to rice water will color it golden.
TWO:
Cumin - 1/3 to 1/2 cup
Coriander - 1/4 to 1/3 cup
Cilantro - 1 to 2 bunches, chopped
Garlic, Ginger and Cayenne - to taste
* Add the cilantro after cooking, and only if Jason isn't eating J
* Raisins cooked with rice, or nuts and seeds added later are nice.
* In Indian dishes, as well as North African and Middle Eastern dishes,
a great variety of spices and herbs are used. Don't throw in everything
or they will cancel each other out.
Middle-Eastern:
Good with veggie/lentil/garbanzo-type stews; or with (the dreaded) eggplant,
tomato, onion type-stuff; or even winter squash or pumpkin. This is excellent
in tabouli or other bulghar dishes. There are three combinations listed
here:
ONE
Cumin - 1/4 to 1/3 cup
Coriander - 1/4 to 1/3 cup
Chili - 1/4 to 1/3 cup
TWO
Cumin - 1/4 to 1/3 cup
Coriander - 1/4 to 1/3 cup
Ginger - d 1/8 to 1/4 cup
THREE
Cinnamon - 1/8 to 1/4 cup
Coriander - 1/4 to 1/3 cup
Ginger - 1/8 to 1/4 cup
Applesauce:
Cinnamon - 1/4 to 1/3 cup
Cloves or Allspice - 1 tablespoon
Nutmeg - 1 to 2 teaspoons
Lemon Juice - 1/2 cup
Salt - 1 to 2 teaspoons
Sugar, Honey or vegan Sweetener - to taste
Basic Vinaigrette Dressing:
* two parts oil to one part vinegar
* a little lemon juice
* some salt and pepper
* a gentle herb such as tarragon.
If you have a lot of lemon juice you can skip the vinegar. There are no exact amounts as everyone likes varying degrees of the flavors involved. You can take a couple of tomatoes, cut off the bad spots and then liquefy them in a blender with the vinaigrette to add some zest. Try using a bunch of avocados for a really tasty salad dressing. With avocado dressing: ditch the tarragon; try to use rice wine vinegar or lemon/limejuice, and add cumin, cayenne, and cilantro when available.
What? Your food needs help? Try these:
1) Lemon Juice can give a lot of foods the boost they
need. Asparagus tips love it when you pour olive oil, lemon juice and
tarragon on them.
2) Vinegar isn't as scary as it seems, as long as you don't overuse it.
Rice wine vinegar is the best but any vinegar will do. Start with a little
and stir. Add more to suit your taste.
3) Miso makes boring soup a virtual party. Add after cooking, as cooked
miso isn't as good for you or the food. What you do is this: scoop out
a little liquid from the soup and mix the miso with it so it breaks up
and forms a smooth, pasty texture. Then slowly mix this back in the soup.
The local East Bay FNB manual said: "And remember folks, there is no such thing as too much garlic!"
Though garlic is the proverbial "bomb," there is such a thing as too much garlic. It can overpower the other herbs and spices used in a dish. The main idea to bear in mind when seasoning is that you want to achieve a balance of flavors.
But then again, if you love garlic, you love garlic.hmmm, an endless cycle of buts.
