Spice: A Cook's Companion

Product Information

The reader will become familiar with the differences in flavour intensity and provenance and discover how, through the use of spice, we can applaud and appreciate cuisines from around the globe.

The Cooks Companion | Harvey Jones The Cooks Companion | Harvey Jones

I love Mark’s note in his Introduction that “ the brilliance of spices [is that] they are – like music, painting and poetry – almost entirely unnecessary and yet utterly essential.These are covered alongside familiar spices that I know and use regularly but still appreciate learning more about. The caraway was such a revelation in Basan’s dish that we were immediately drawn to Mark’s Bacon and Caraway Tart as the first recipe to make from Spice. Mark Diacono… has such a friendly, self-deprecating and comfortable voice you want to follow him into the kitchen. Known for growing everything from Szechuan pepper to pecans to Asian pears, Mark's refreshing approach to growing and eating has done much to inspire a new generation to grow some of what they eat. For us, the mashed potatoes (also flavoured with paprika) didn’t work well with the chicken, and we felt that a contrasting flavour, or plain mash with plenty of butter, would work better.

Goodreads Loading interface - Goodreads

These include Spiced apples and pears, MiMi Aye’s Burmese rainbow pickle, Pickled blackberries, Tomato and vanilla compote, Sambal oelek, Sriracha, Muhumarra, Kecap manis, Brown sauce, Southern states barbecue sauce, Saffron aioli, Olio santo, Caraway yoghurt dressing, Mostarda di frutta, Sour chilli melon, Nigella and ajowan parathas, Himbasha (an Eritrean flatbread), Panisse with lemon thyme and berbere, Baharat blackcurrant Eccles cakes, Potted crab, Ajowan samosas, Advieh stuffed aubergines, Star anise pak choi, Spiced sweetcorn, Seedy sprout slaw, Tempero baiano cabbage, Chimichurri new potatoes, Chaat sweet potatoes, Soused mackerel, Manchamanteles (a Mexican sauce for meat, fish or vegetables), Guajillo grilled courgettes,and Panch phoran roasted carrots. Under spice blends (of which there are thirty-nine), there are several I’ve never made before: advieh, Cape Malay spice blend, sweet dukkah, gunpowder mix, hawaij, khmeli-suneli, niter kibbeh, qualat daqqa, svanuri marili, timur ko chop, and tempero baiano. In Spice: A Cook’s Companion he provides advice on how to source and blend spices well, and how to make the best of them in your kitchen. Beginning with a guide to 50 of Mark's much-loved spices and blends, including their legacy and main culinary affinities, the book then offers over 100 innovative recipes that make the most of your new spice knowledge.

Caraway seeds are used in both the pastry and the tart filling, alongside mustard and fresh parsley, but it’s in the pastry that the spice really shines. As with herbs, spices transform the life-giving act of feeding into the life-enhancing pleasure of eating. The reader will become familiar with the differences in flavor intensity, provenance, nutritional benefits and more.

Spice: Recipes and Techniques to Transform Your Mastering Spice: Recipes and Techniques to Transform Your

Caraway is an ingredient we’d hardly used until we first made Middle Eastern Courgettes Baked in a Cheese Sauce from Ghillie Başan’s The Lebanese Cookbook.I agree with the pleasure he finds in using a suribachi and surikogi (Japanese grinding bowl and pestle). The recipes build on bringing your spices alive – whether that's creating blends to easily enhance your food when short of time on a weekday evening, or in infusing and blooming spices to bring out the very best of these treasured ingredients. To that end he notes that whilst many of the ingredients showcased in the book are seeds and dried fruits, there are roots such as ginger and turmeric that he includes in their ground form but not in their fresh, and even some berries, such as juniper, make it in when many do not.

Spice: A Cook’s Companion by Mark Diacono Kavey Eats » Spice: A Cook’s Companion by Mark Diacono

Under Small Things you’ll find a wide range of treats that include condiments, small snacks and sides. The recipes build on bringing your spices alive – whether that’s creating blends to easily enhance your food when short of time on a weekday evening, or in infusing and blooming spices to bring out the very best of these treasured ingredients. I’ve come across references and recipes featuring achiote (aka annato), anise seeds (not the same thing as star anise), cinnamon berries, grains of paradise, kokum, tonka beans, and wattleseed before but never cooked with them. It’s easy to forget how versatile spices are in sweet dishes, not just savoury, and to this end Mark provides many tempting recipes in the Sweet Things chapter. It has survived not only five centuries, but also the leap into electronic typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged.Last comes the Drinks chapter with recipes such as Melon and pineapple tepache (a Mexican fermented drink), Loomi tea (made with dried limes(, Ginger, mace and verbenna berry switchel (a sweet sour drink from the USA), Nutmeg syrup, Sol khadi (a spicy and sour Indian drink), Ginger beer, Spiced rum, Krupnik (a Polish spiced-honey vodka), White dalmation (a pepper-spiced cocktail), Ponche crema (a Venezuelan eggnog), Mulled cider, and Tascalate (a Mexican cold chocolate drink). Lebkuchen (German spiced honey biscuits) are a seasonal favourite for us in the weeks leading up to Christmas, and these homemade ones didn’t disappoint.