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Cumin 101

Cumin has been around for a very long time in the culinary and medicinal worlds. The Bible cites cumin in both the New and Old Testaments. Aside from the culinary aspects, cumin was used for paying tithes to the priests and also as part of the recipe for embalming in Egypt. Now that is what I cal multi-tasking!

Cumin hails as a seed from a small umbelliferous (having flower heads shaped like an upturned umbrella!) plant. The seeds have a striped pattern of nine ridges and oil canals. If you look closely you will see tiny hairs on the seed pods. They resemble caraway seeds, but are lighter in color. They are available dried, or ground to a brownish-green powder. It is always best to buy whole seeds and grind them with a mortar and pestle, but if you must buy already ground, look for the bright fresh color, a tan/green, and look for a jar with an expiration date.

According to some sources, cumin is a healthy spice to add to your diet. High in both iron and manganese, this herb also aids in digestion and has been linked to cancer prevention as well. Let the goodness not stop there, though, because cumin also has a history for being an aphrodisiac when mixed with honey and pepper!

Cumin is most often called for in recipes from the Indian cuisine, as well as Middle Eastern and Arabic. Commonly paired with it's tasty cohort, corriander, the spice is piquant and zesty, with a low heat, and is most noted in curries and "chili" recipies.

Roasted Potatoes with Honey, Cumin and Pepper:

I roast potatoes every weekend. I generally cut them as you see above, with slices along the ridge, and they get mighty crunchy that way. For the blog today I prepared them with the following:

2 Tablespoons of honey
1 teaspoon of cumin
generous helping of cracked pepper

I drizzled this mixture over a batch of roasted taters comprised of about 4 large russets.

I am sitting here waiting for the "ahem" buzz...

Yo! Daddy!

If Salt is the mother of all spices, it is surely pepper that is the Mac Daddy. If you find yourself thinking that pepper is pretty mundane, thinketh again. Pepper has been around for thousands of years, and at one point was so valuable that it is said that if a peppercorn fell to the floor it would be hunted down as if it was a pearl. It has been used a currency, and was requested by
Attila the Hun as part of a ransom for Rome. According to some, the monopoly held by the pepperers of the overland trading routes was one of the reasons for searching for and eastern sea route. So, see? Not so bland after all.

Belonging to the botanical family Piperaceae, black, white and green peppercorns are the fruit of the vinous plant. Black peppercorns are the young fruit, the dried unripened berry. The white peppercorn is the same as the black, yet allowed to ripen fully. The green peppercorn is harvested before the fruit matures. Pink peppercorn is not the same as the others, coming from a French species, it has a papery pink skin and a hard inner seed.

All peppers taste better freshly ground or cracked. As with other spices and herbs, the fragrant and tasteful oils are released upon cracking and the flavor diminishes with time and light. Pepper is best added at the end of a cooking process for the most flavor, though you may add some at the beginning. A fresh grind before serving makes it more intense and piquant. (I love that word).

I could wax and wane on the flavor here, but the truth of the matter is that every provider offers different flavors. In general I can say that on the Hot Scale (with a one being neutral and a 10 be3ing volcanic) black pepper earns about a 7 for me, white pepper about a 6 and green about a 3. Your mileage may vary.

While most people assume that pepper has a role in the savory world only, I am a firm believer in it's use across the flavor spectrum, including sweets. I have made dark chocolate truffles with a faint hint of pepper. I have made cookies, with ginger and pepper. I have made biscotti with lemon and pepper. I also enjoy tea masala which has a rather strong pepper note.

Nirav-Tea-Masala

Here are some recipes I found online for pepper cookies:

Italian Chocolate Pepper Cookies
Norway's Best Pepper Cookies

Have a spice party. Invite a few friends over for cheese and crackers and wine, and go buy a few different kinds of pepper to try. Offer a small bowl with olive oil and garlic and several pepper mills, or small bowls for pinching. Pinching is always fun at parties. Have a movie night and try sprinkling pepper on your popcorn. Explore. Get Spicy!

Salt of the Earth

Image from Whole Foods

As I was considering this weeks P&S post I contemplated all sorts of starting points...and came up at the beginning. Salt. At first I thought that might seem too mundane, too simple, boring. Oh, how wrong I was. I decided that salt, being the Mother of Spices, the first pinch of the pot, usually, was worthy of a post first out of the starting blocks.

Now, if you consider salt to be that white stuff that comes out of a blue box with a girl depicted on the front with an umbrella, you are about to have your world expanded. When it comes to food, if you're gonna use that stuff you might as well be pouring on the salt for the sidewalks.
I bet you did not know that there are chemicals, preservatives, and anti-caking agents in your "table" salt. I bet you did not know that many salts, at one time, used aluminum based agents, and aluminum is a BAD THING, unless you are constructing a tin foil hat to keep away the aliens, in which case it is Supreme. In fact, I use a deodorant comprised of salt, not an anti-perspirant which contain aluminum chlorhydrates ( studies have shown some linkage to neurological disorders and aluminum).

Salt is your friend. You need salt, a crucial electrolyte, to keep you body in balance. Without adequate salt in your diet, many nasty things, like gout, can happen. Too much salt, though, is also a rather bleak trail down illness lane, one with sign posts that read "Hypertension".

And this is where it gets pretty interesting, actually. If you are on a diet that requires you to limit your salt intake, get thee to a store and buy some Sea Salt. Pinch for Pinch it has more "salty" flavor than "table" salt, AND it also supplies beneficial nutrients in the form of sea minerals.

Salt is historically noted way way way way back. In Rome, solders were paid some of their wages in salt. There are mentions of salt sprinkled all through the Bible. Salt was a crucial part of the Iron Age and notation regarding the harvesting and trade of salt is found in ancient Japanese texts. So, yeah, it was likely one of the very first Pinches for the Pot. It is also, and has been historically, a huge commodity in chemical industry, textiles and the making of soaps and detergents.

Salt is harvested in several ways. First, salt mines consist of layers of salt derived from ancient sea beds trapped in rock and earth. The salt is picked, or blasted out and mixed with water then pumped to the surface to collection pools where the water is evaporated. This type of salt generally results in a darker, or grey salt, due to the minerals, specifically iron, that are collected using this manner. Indian food, such as masalas, often call for grey or black salt, which, having a higher sulfuric content, has a characteristic aroma and flavor.

Image from Joe Pastry

Pink salt hails from the Himalyas, and gets it's characteristic color from the mineral content, including Calcium, Magnesium, Potassium, Copper and Iron. This salt is harvested from the mountains at over 10,000 feet above sea level and transported on the back of yaks down the mountainside. It is the principal income for the mountain peoples of this area.

Salt is also harvested from the sea or salt lakes, either by pooling the salt water into shallow puddles and allowing the sun to dry off the water, precipitating out the crystals, or, as in the case of flake salt, carefully scraping the dehydrated sea brine crystals from an evaporating pan.

So, much of the flavor comes from WHERE the salt originated, from the minerals and the environment. But, much of the perception of the taste of salt comes from the shape of the crystals. Flake salt tastes much different from rock salt, in part due to it's crystaline structure.

Another flavor enhancer for salt is smoking. There are several methods for doing this, but the most natural leads to the most natural taste. There are many fine smoked salts available, and at the end of this post I will give you some links for information and purchase.

My kitchen sports several small bowls of salts. I have one for French small rock salt, one for Kosher salt, one for Celtic Sea Salt and one for French sea salt. I also have a mortar and pestle for grinding up my grey salt with Herbs de Provence. Each one tastes remarkably different.


Tips!:

If you find that you have added too much salt to a recipe, add a cut potato to the pot and let it simmer for about half an hour. The salt will be notably reduced.

Food that is salted to taste at warm or room temperatures, will taste differently at colder temperatures and after storage. Always re-taste left-overs and adjust accordingly.

Salt and cool water are a great way to cope with food stains and blood stains. simply pour the salt (use the table salt for this one, eh?) and scrub gently.

Salt mixed with olive oil makes a fabulous hand scrub. I keep some near my sink at all times. I add a few drops of lavender oil and peppermint oil to make it smell yummy, and for the antibacterial properties. Simply scoop out a dollop and rub gently over your hands and between your fingers. Rinse with warm water and pat dry. Mmmmm! Soft!

Salt is great for brushing your teeth if you forgot your toothpaste.


Here are some links for you to follow to get more from your Salt Experience:

Salt Traders
Saltworks
The Salt Institute
Whole Foods:Salt

Herb Wrangling 101

One can see a fairly good selection of fresh herbs in the produce section these days. At one of my local stores there are both fresh and fresh ORGANIC available. I choose the organic for the obvious reason. We are what we eat. Same goes for plants and other living things. Pesticides can be quite concentrated in plants, and washing it isn't going to help. So, if you can find organic, go that route. I also choose the organic brand because it comes in a paper bag, not a plastic box.

fresh basil

Always choose herbs that look fresh and vibrant. If you see brown spots (such as on basil) look to find some that hasn't any. On thyme, there can often be a very tiny fuzzy mold about the stems. Look carefully. Herbs do better with wiping than washing. As with mushrooms, any dirt can be easily removed with a damp towel. Never store herbs damp or wet, though. You won't like what you see when you go for them the next time.

Fresh herbs are zesty and flavorful due to the volatile oils involved. No, the oils won't explode. No, the oils don't have a temper. It means that the oils in the plant are sensitive to heat and light, and the flavor and nutrients will dissipate with exposure. For that reason, cut or chop the herbs just prior to use. I generally have more than I can use in one dish. That leads me to storage.

French tarragon

Storing the leftover herbs is really simple. If you plan on using them again within a few days, wrap the herbs in paper towel and place them in a bag in the fridge in the crisper section. Most herbs do better with freezing than drying for the long term. Simply remove the flavorful leaves from any woody stems and place the herb in a plastic bag flat in the freezer. Remember that the flavors have been all volatile-like in the freezer, yelling at the peas, so they will be a bit less zippy on use. Generally double the amount of fresh herbs you would have used.

For basil, I tend to roll the leaves into a sort of cigar shape and wrap the whole thing in plastic wrap. To use for future dishes I unwrap the frozen log and chiffonade the herb. This means I cut very thin slices off the end. Basil turns a bit mushy and takes on darker color after freezing, but the flavor is really quite good. You can make basil pesto year round!

fresh chives

You may also dry your herbs. In general spreading them out on some parchment or paper towel and leaving them to dry is fine, though if possible hang them upside down. They like that. It makes them dizzy and they forget to lose their oils. Again, the oil composition in dried herbs is significantly lower in some cases. You should add the herbs earlier, to re-hydrate them in the sauce, or toast them in oil to release the remaining flavors.

So there is a beginners class in herb wrangling. Next weekend I will head into specific herbs and how to combine them with foods! In the meantime, GET ZESTY!

Welcome!

Welcome to the first issue of Pinch and Sprig (not to be confused with Cinch and Prigg)! My hope is to give you a better understanding of herbs and spices, and to supply some easy ways to incorporate more zip into your food experience. I know you have jars of powders and potions in the back of your cabinet that have been there since before Great Aunt Lizzie passed away five years ago.

First thing? Throw the contents OUT. Herbs and spices are sensitive to time and light (just like we humans) and lose much of their flavor (by way of losing chemical compounds and oils over time). Save the bottles. You can fill them with new herbs from bulk bins, or use them to store beads, or bath salts, anything. Use them again. Please. If you must be rid of them, please recycle.

Second thing? Don't skimp on prices. I know herbs seem like a tiny portion of any recipe. But, the truth is that although small they are one of the powerhouses of any dish, and if you spend more for quality ingredients in smaller sizes, you will have much, much better results. Your tongue can tell the difference. Really. It can.

Third thing? Don't be intimidated. Try new things. Add more of something, or less, at a different time in the cooking process. Experiment. Go ahead...PLAY WITH YOUR FOOD!

Herbs 101:
Here is a little movie to watch!



Herb Knowledge Resources:

CNN Health Indepth:Food
Culinary Cafe
Wikipedia List of Herbs and Spices
Low Fat Lifestyle


Come and Get it!
A small list of herb and spice purveyors I recommend...

San Francisco Herb Co.
Mountain Rose Herbs
Watkins Online
Penzeys
Spice Hunter
Nirmala's Kitchen
Botanical.com

Our next installment will dive right into specifics. If you have any requests or questions, please comment and I will get right back to you. Thanks for stopping by for our maiden voyage!!