Flavoring Agents: Herbs

Flavoring Agents

• Flavoring agents add seasoning and interest to dishes
• Flavoring agents can be categorised as herbs, spices, oils, vinegars, prepared sauces, and sweet flavorings

Herbs

• Herbs are fresh or dried leaves

Examples of Herbs

• Parsley is mild, bitter, and available in flat and curly-leaf forms; it enhances flavors, balances savory dishes, and serves as a garnish
• Basil features broad, round, light green leaves, and both the leaves and fresh seedpods are used for flavoring; best paired with tomato, or used in pesto sauce
• Tarragon offers a slightly bittersweet flavor with an aroma similar to anise, has long thin leaves, and it complements fish, meat, soups, and stews
• Thyme has a subtle, dry aroma with a slightly minty flavor, tiny leaves, often found in seasoning blends for poultry and stuffing, as well as in fish sauces, soups, and chowders
• Marjoram is similar to oregano in taste and use; used in fresh salads and added to stews and sauces early, especially when dried
• Mint is a soft herb used mainly for sweet and savory dishes; as a digestive to cut rich food items like lamb or mutton; added to desserts, fruit salads, and jellies for mutton
• Rosemary is a woody herb with narrow leaves and small lavender flowers, used with lamb, mutton, and roasted veggies; turns into aromatic kebab sticks
• Sage has long greyish-green leaves with a velvety texture, well suits pork, beef, duck, and chicken recipes
• Dill is an annual herb in the celery family, where dill seeds are used as a spice, and fresh dill is added to seafood, yoghurt sauces, vinegars, potato salads, fresh baked breads and soups
• Fennel is a highly aromatic and flavorful herb used culinarily and medicinally, where the feathery leaves are used in many ways, and the bulbs are used as a vegetable; goes well with fish and fish sauces, including mayonnaise and potato salad
• Bay leaf is derived from bay trees and are pungent and have sharp and bitter taste; bay leaves are available in dry form; add when braising cabbage or poaching fish
• Oregano has purple flowers and spade-shaped olive green leaves, used a lot in Italian cookery and pizzas
• Coriander (cilantro) has a distinctive flavor used in Asian and Indian cookery, similar leaf to parsley, and the seeds are used as a spice

Spices

• Spices are fresh or dried seeds, roots, or barks
• Spices are dried seeds, fruits, roots, bark, or vegetable substances used in nutritionally insignificant quantities as food additives for flavor, color, or preservatives killing harmful bacteria

Uses of Spices

• Spices have uses as medicine, incense, cosmetics, and even vegetables
• Turmeric is used as a preservative.
• Liquorice is used as medicine
• Garlic is used as a vegetable

Examples of Spices

• Caraway are small, hard, sharp seeds that taste of aniseed or liquorice, used in German and Austrian dishes, like bread and cakes, as well as meat and vegetable dishes
• Cumin is smoky and earthy, used whole or ground, used as a key ingredient in many curries, Indian, and spicy dishes
• Nutmeg & Mace are sweet and pungent, often used in baked goods
• Cinnamon comes from the inner bark of the cinnamon tree, used in both sweet and savory dishes
• Turmeric is often chosen for its color rather than flavor
• Cardamom is a warm spice used for Indian cuisine, when mixed with clove and cinnamon, it's good in baked items, breads and curry blends
• Cloves are sweet and warming, going well with braised meat and stewed fruits
• Chilli is a hot pepper, grounded to make chilli powder, used for stews, beans, grilled meat, and tacos
• Cayenne is made from ground red chilli peppers, adding sweet heat, complementing beef, chicken, and fish
• Ginger has a spicy zesty bite, found in baking & in Asian dishes
• Paprika is part of the chilli family, adds sweet note/red colour to dishes.
• Pepper can be black, white, pink & green, pungent, and used as a seasoning, except sweet foods
• Mustard seeds vary in color and are used in whole grain mustard, and are a key ingredient in Indian cooking
• Coriander are seeds of the coriander herb, which are used whole or ground and in Indian dishes, and as pickling spice

Oils

• Oils are extracted from nuts and seeds, that give a particular flavour
• Most vegetable oils are used as cooking mediums for frying, though some oils, like sesame, are used for flavoring
• Sunflower oil is pressed from sunflower seeds and has a light clear yellow color
• Peanut oil is great for frying, deep frying and high heat cooking with a neutral taste, making it not used as a flavoring agent
• Canola oil is a neutral flavor option used for baking, oven cooking, and stir frying giving a small amount of nuttiness and a hint of butter
• Olive oil is produced when pressing whole olives, gives a lighter color and more neutral flavor, a fruity, pungent and bitter taste.
• Sesame oil is derived from sesame seeds; it has a much darker colour; either toasted or untoasted

Vinegars

• Vinegar is a sour liquid that ranges from 2-3.5pH, fermented from ethanol (alcohol)
• Vinegar is often flavored with herbs or other aromatics

Types of Vinegar

• Apple Cider Vinegar is made from cider or apple must; has a pale to medium amber color, gives a subtle tartness, excellent choice for marinating poultry or fish
• Balsamic Vinegar is only vinegar not made from alcohol, but pressed grapes, matured in oak barrels and has a sweet and syrupy taste
• White wine vinegar is derived from white wine, used to prepare various salad dressings, but is harsher with less flavours than red wine vinegar
• Red Wine vinegar is derived from fermented red wine, and is used with beef, pork, and vegetables

Prepared Sauces

• Soya Sauce is salty with a chocolate brown color and used in Asian dishes
• Teriyaki is a mix of soy sauce, sake, ginger, and other flavorings that is a sweet and sour sauce
• Worcestershire is a fermented condiment made from malt vinegar and flavored with anchovies, molasses, tamarind, onion, garlic, and other seasonings for flavoring dishes including the cocktail “Bloody Mary"
• Mustard is a smooth or whole grain paste with flavors that range from sweet to spicy, found as whole, ground, cracked or bruised mustard seeds mixed with liquids/ salt

Sweet Flavorings

• Sugar is a sweet crystalline substance obtained from plants used in baking and confectionery
• Honey is a sweet, thick food substance produced by bees made from nectar, resulting in floral, fruity, smoky, woody, spicy, nutty or earthy results
• Vanilla plant comes from a tropical climbing orchid used to flavor food, or add fragrant scent to cosmetic products
• Syrup includes Maple and Golden syrup made from sugar or cane, and tree sap

Cutting Methods

• Julienne is where food is cut into long thin-matchstick strips, for use when garnishing and vegetable stir fry.
• Brunoise (Fine dice) is where a fruit or vegetable is cut into a fine dice
• Macedoine (Large dice) is where fruit or vegetables are cut into cubes for use in soup
• Slicing is cutting food into thin broad slices
• Chiffonade (Shredding) is where herbs or leafy vegetables are stacked, rolled and cut into thin ribbons
• Parallel cutting is cutting thin slices of meat and vegetables, by angling knife so it is parellel to the board and slanted downwards
• Crushing is laying foods, like ginger and garlic, underneath a flat blade edge
• Mincing is cutting ingredient into thin strips by using the tip/edge of the blade
• Roll-cutting is when long vegetables, like carrots, are cut so they have more surface area, by cutting straight down the diagonal, followed by rotating ingredients

Cooking Methods

• Cooking can be defined as the transfer of energy from a heat source to food, that changes texture, flavor, aroma and appearance
• Food must be cooked to taste better and to eliminate undesirable microbes

Types of Heat Transfer

• Conduction is where heat is moved from one item to another through direct contact
• Convection is the transfer of heat through a liquid or gas
• Radiation is heat energy transferred by waves of heat or light

The effect of heat on food nutrients

• Foods have protein, carbohydrates (starches & sugars), water, fats, minerals and vitamins
• When heat is applied to these nutrients, it can change shape, color, texture and flavor

Effects on Specific Food Nutrients

• Proteins coagulate, losing moisture, shrinking and becoming firm.
• Starches gelatinize, absorbing water
• Sugars caramelize, turn brown and change flavor
• Fats melt, they dissolve in water when heated
• Water evaporates, which is responsible for foods drying out

Cooking Types

• Dry Heat method uses air or fat to broil, grill, roast, bake, sauté, pan-fry, and deep fry
• Moist heat method is with water or steam, for steaming, poaching, and boiling
• Combination method are wet and dry cooking, for stewing and braising

Dry heat methods

• Broiling occurs when food is cooked under a grilling element by radiant heat
• Grilling happens when food is cooked directly through heat, is a fast method and flavor is often developed through browning.
• Roasting & baking usually occur when dishes are cooked inside a close environment
• Sautéing happens when evenly cut small pieces of food are cooked in a small amount of fat.
• Pan-frying happens when foods are fried more than sautéing, but less than deep frying.
• Deep-frying occurs when foods are submerged in hot fat
• Shallow frying is cooking food in a small amount of pre heated fats

Moist heat methods

• Poaching occurs when convection transfers heat from liquid to food (71-82 degrees)
• Simmering is similar to poaching, but the water is hotter as 85-96 degrees
• Boiling occurs when water or stock are heated at 100 degrees celcius
• Steaming happens to foods laced in a basket that transfer heat via convection from steam to food being cooked

Combination methods

• Braising cooks the dish in liquid in a covered pan or casserole in an oven
• Stewing means cooking food in smaller pieces with a minimum amount of liquid added

Stocks, Soups and Sauces

• Stock is the product made from water, bones, flavorings, vegetables, and seasonings have been slowly simmered.
• Stocks are a key foundation for soups, stews, and sauces.
• In French, the word fond means foundation.
• A stock is essentially no more than water flavored by bones, trimmings, vegetables and aromatics

Types of Stocks

• White stock is produced when simmering chicken, veal or beef in water with vegetables and seasoning, remaining relatively colour-less
• Brown Stock is when all the items are caramelised before being simmered in water with seasonings, made with well browned bones, chicken, veal, beef, game, trimmings, and vegetables giving the stock has a dark rich color
• Court Bouillon/Vegetable Stock comes from simmering vegetables and seasonings in water or liquid, done by simmering acidic liquid or water with vegetables

Fish Stock

• Fish stock consists of slowly cooking fish bones or crustacean shells, with added vegetables, without colouring them.
• Fumet can be created by adding wine and lemon juice, is a strongly flavoured relatively colourless liquid.

Stock Making guidelines

• Try not stir your stock while cooking to prevent cloudiness
• Simmer, don't boil
• It is better to add salt at the end
• Do not over season
• Strain solids from stock slowly without pushing
• Store by keeping in a refrigerator, strain, reboil and cool first.

Soups

• Soup is a starter to stimulate the appetite
• Soup can be served as a main dish accompanied with bread

Charateristics

• Well served
• Tasty
• Correct colour
• Correct garnish
• Hot or chilled

Types

• Soup has two main types, Clear and Thick

Types of Thick soup

• Cream soup is added with cream to give it a thick texture, and low fat yoghurt is sometimes added
• Puree soup is blended with vegetables/pulses
• Thickened soups use thickened stock

Clear Soups

• Consommé has stock and egg white
• Broth is served with barley, rice, pulses, and vegetables.

Other Classifications

• Cold soups are broths, purees, or cream soups which are served cold, like the famous Vichyssoise
• Seafood soup is Bisque and Chowder.
• Bisque is thickened with stock.
• Chowder has fish and potatoes

Sauces

• Sauces bring variety as well as texture, flavour, and colour to a dish
• Good for adding appetize and intrest
• Good sauces do not overpower dishes

Types of Sauces

• Béchamel (basic white sauce) uses roux and milk
• Velouté uses roux and stock
• Espagnole (Brown sauce) uses roux and brown stock
• Tomato sauce uses roux and / or tomato
• Hollandaise sauce uses egg yolks and butter
• Mayonnaise uses egg yolks and vinegar & oil
• Vinaigrette uses as just vinegar & oil
• Custard sauces uses egg yolks and milk
• Sugar based sauces uses no thickness and is water based