Spice up your Life
Using spices in preparing foods has not only been for nutritional value but for flavor enhancing. My daughter has just recently found out that she has an allergy to gluten and so there have been a lot of changes in the Reardon household with the food that we are buying. We are now on the hunt for anything and everything gluten-free. Here at CTTC, we have noticed that all of the spices we sell are labeled “gluten-free”! Since my daughter has started cooking different types of meals for the family, she has begun using all different types of spices when she cooks in order to give the food a little more flavor. She has found that adding a little bit of spice to something bland like tofu can make it more enticing.
Two of the most used spices in the world are Salt and Pepper. Salt is considered the “King of Spices”. It is a natural mineral (sodium chloride) as it is mined from underground. Pepper is the second most used spice. Black pepper is the fruit of the pepper plant harvested unripe but not far from ripening--called the peppercorn. The fruit around the seed shrinks and darkens as it's dried, forming black pepper. A form of black pepper is produced in all countries that grow it. Fully ripened pepper fruits are used to make white pepper (it is the seed with the fruit removed). White pepper is more expensive than black due to the cost of processing. Green pepper is harvested pepper that is not ripened yet. It is processed to avoid fermentation of any kind. It has a fresh herbal flavor. Green pepper is used in Western cooking. It is mixed in mustard, pepper steak and sauces. White pepper is often used in cream-based sauces.
An excellent combination of spices, as recommended by Simon and Garfunkel in their song “Scarborough Fair”, is parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme. You can always find these four spices lined up in this exact order here at CTTC!
My daughter’s favorite combination of spices to use for spicing up tofu are a little bit of salt, pepper, rosemary leaves, ground sage, and Italian seasoning. Mix this up with some olive oil and cook the tofu in a frying pan until golden brown. To add a little extra flavor, sauté the tofu with some chopped up green pepper. Serve the tofu with any kind of rice and enjoy! Eating healthy can be very hard and at times very bland. Utilizing different types of spices can add some much needed flavor to your food while still following healthy guidelines.
We carry a host of spices here at Compliments to the Chef at 46 Marion Avenue Saratoga Springs, NY to help “spice up” your life.
Remember “Life Happens in the Kitchen”
Take care,
John, Paula and Aubrey.