Cooking with spice mixes, pastes and sauces

Alex Cramer, 2018

This cookbook is about the art of mixing herbs and spices.– You will get acquainted with the main theory of mixing the spices and herbs.– You will discover the 35 most popular spices and herbs.– You will find out a description of the 35 most popular varieties of chili peppers.– You will learn many more useful information.And finally you will plunge into the world of spicy combinations and get acquainted with the recipes of more than 300 dry spice mixes, pastes and sauces, as well as their variations.Step by step you will learn the art of fragrant spice balance and the taste's magic of spicy combinations!

CARAWAY

Caraway is one of the oldest spices in the world and it plays a significant part in many mixes. It is the caraway that easily binds all the other spices to each other. It has a bitter but warm spicy taste that combines the aromas of dill and anise with piquant nutty note.

There is a common confusion between caraway and cumin, and therefore in many foreign culinary books caraway is often called cumin. That’s it, both of the spices are called cumin. You can avoid this misunderstanding by comparing the taste of both spices. You need to buy caraway seeds and cumin seeds and scrunch first the caraway seed, and then cumin seed. You will then realize that caraway seeds are spicier than cumin seeds. Cumin, on the other hand, is more delicate with much brighter aroma.

Caraway helps to ease an immoderate intension of particular spice. Caraway is one of the main components in such mixtures as ras-el-hanout and harissa. This spice is usually added in the later stages of cooking process.

Caraway pairing:

Fruits and vegetables: cabbage (including sauerkraut), potatoes, carrots, cucumbers, tomato, turnips, beets, apple.

Protein product: beef, legumes (wheat, rice), yoghurt, kefir, sausages, seafood, poultry (chicken, duck), fish, pork (including bacon), sour cream, cheeses, cottage cheese, eggs.

Other foods: mushrooms, desserts, lemon juice, pasta (including spaghetti and noodles), honey, beverages, biscuits, various kinds of marinades, vegetable oil (olive), butter, soups and stews, dough, vinegar, bread.

Seasonings and spices: cloves, mustard, cumin, cardamom, coriander, cinnamon, turmeric, onion, nutmeg, oregano, paprika, black pepper, chili, parsley, celery, thyme, dill, fennel, garlic, juniper berries.

Cuisines and dishes: Austrian cuisine, British cuisine, Hungarian cuisine, Eastern European cuisine, goulash, Moroccan cuisine, German cuisine, cabbage salads.

CARDAMOM

Cardamom has a strong, but soft warm and sweet flavor and aroma with delicate citrus and floral notes complementing the refreshing hint of eucalyptus. Being one of the most popular spices in Indian cuisine, and in other world cuisines, cardamom provides aromatization of many dishes. And of course, it is widely used in various mixtures of spices. Cardamom is an important element in curry, garam masala, berbere, ras-el-hanout, baharat and many others. Cardamom is added in the early stages of cooking process. One pod of cardamom contains an average of 15-20 seeds. On the top photo there are pods with green cardamom, on the bottom photo there are cardamom seeds.

Cardamom pairing:

Fruits and vegetables: apricot, pineapple, banana, grapes/raisins, cherry, pear, zucchini, potatoes and other root vegetables, bell pepper, peach, tomato, radish, plum, currant, pumpkin, date, citrus, apple.

Protein product: all types of meat (beef, lamb, pork, chicken stew, roast duck), legumes (wheat, rice, peas, beans, lentils, chickpeas), yoghurt, milk, nuts (pistachios, walnuts), fish (especially grilled), cream, cheese, cottage cheese, eggs.

Other foods: custard, gingerbread, sweets, honey, ice cream, drinks (especially coffee, tea, wine), biscuits, cakes, sugar, juice and zest (lemon, lime, orange), dough, bread and pastries, chocolate.

Seasonings and spices: anise, star anise, vanilla, cloves, cumin, ginger, coriander, cinnamon, turmeric, bay leaf, nutmeg, mint, paprika, allspice, black pepper, chili, caraway, fennel, saffron.

Cuisines and dishes: Asian cuisine (Indian, Indonesian), North African cuisine (including Moroccan), Scandinavian cuisine.