Spice (2 page)
Authors: Ana Sortun
Spices
THE THREE C
S
C
UMİN
, C
ORİANDER, AND
C
ARDAMOM
Cumin, coriander, and cardamom are wonderfully fragrant and warm spices that complement one another: cumin is earthy, coriander is citrusy, and cardamom is sweet. They cannot be used interchangeably, but they balance one another when blended to add depth to a dish.
These spices work well with rich proteins like beef, braised pork, lamb, or salmon. They also bring fragrance to simple legumes like chickpeas or lentils, and they brighten up sweet carrots, silky avocados, or dishes with dried fruits. Sweet cardamom is particularly good when added to the chocolatey, bitter flavor of coffee.
C
UMİN
The pungent aroma of cumin lingers and is warm and slightly sweet. Combined with chickpeas and tahini, cumin is the spice that makes hummus taste like hummus. Cumin is wonderful on lamb and beef; with chickpeas, lentils, cabbage, savory apple preparations, eggplant, and cooked tomato; or combined with spices like dried mint, paprika, coriander, and saffron. It’s also perfect with garlic or fennel.
It’s best to buy cumin whole and grind it fresh every time you use it. I like to grind my own spices and use a coffee grinder or an Arabic coffee hand grinder designated for just one spice that I use often, like cumin. Arabic coffee grinders grind spices very finely, even more finely than a pepper mill. You can purchase them at www.arabiannights.ca.
C
ORİANDER
Dried coriander seed is bright and citrusy and has a slight sage or herbaceous note. It’s acidic and perfumey. Combined with oranges, orange zest, rosé wine, sugar, and eau de vie, coriander makes a delicious aperitif. Coriander grew in the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, and Charlemagne ordered it to be grown on the imperial farms in central Europe. In the Middle Ages, love potions were crafted from the seeds.
On one of my trips to Turkey, I returned with a box full of candied, coated coriander seeds. Turks use them at the end of meals to clean the breath like Indians use fennel seeds. I made my staff crazy at a special dinner at the James Beard House in New York City when I asked them to stuff the little candied seeds into raspberries to accompany a rich chocolate tart.
Coriander is the seed of the cilantro plant. When cilantro bolts at the end of its growing season, the plant produces little green berries which are wonderful to eat fresh. One little seed cleans your breath in a second. I also sprinkle fresh, green coriander seeds on fish and in fish broths.
Dried, ground coriander seed is good over grilled mushrooms, in chicken stews, and with apples in either sweet or savory preparations, and it’s even better combined with nuts and cumin, as in the Egyptian spice mix called
dukkah
(page 6). It is also delicious mixed with fennel seed or saffron or cinnamon.
C
ARDAMOM
Cardamom has a refreshing eucalyptus scent as well as an herbaceous tea quality. Buy the dried cardamom whole, in the green pod, and open the pod and remove the black seeds as necessary. The pod will keep them fresh. The pod is fibrous, so don’t grind the whole cardamom—just the black seeds. Like cloves, this is a spice that should be used with a careful hand: too much can overperfume a dish. A little goes a long way.
Cardamom is delicious with coffee, and in fact, it is the spice that gives Arabic coffee its unique flavor. The little black cardamom seeds are oily, like freshly roasted coffee beans. Try crushing some green pods by smashing them with the back of a knife or crushing them with a rolling pin and adding them to your French-pressed coffee.
Enjoy cardamom in cakes, mulled wine, gingerbread, dates, squash, and on grapefruit with sugar for breakfast.
T
RİCK FOR
R
EVİVİNG
S
PİCES
If you come across a jar of cumin, coriander, or fennel seeds in your cupboard and you aren’t sure how long it’s been kicking around, here’s a good trick to revive your spice. Put the seeds in a small skillet. Swirl the skillet around and around over a low flame for 3 to 4 minutes until you see a little steam come off the spices and the seed oil starts to release. At this point, you should begin to smell the spice. It’s not necessary to toast the spice or change its color, because doing so could alter its flavor completely. Cool the seeds and grind them, and you should have a more lively tasting spice on your hands.
Oleana 3C A
LE
As we started building Oleana, I decided that we should offer our own style of beer—one that would pair well with our food and get us involved in the beer-making process. I called many local brewers and found Randy Hudson, who owns Cisco Brewers on Nantucket. Randy was willing to work with us on a signature beer, for sale only through the restaurant. I took a ferry over to Nantucket to learn how Randy makes beer and to discuss some recipe possibilities. I learned a great deal from Randy and his team and was very impressed with the quality of Cisco Brewers’ product. I had originally envisioned
flowering
the beer—that is, adding an infusion of fresh roses into the beer while it was fermenting. We tried to do it, but the flowers ruined the fermentation. I was discouraged but still determined to create a beer that matched Oleana’s cuisine.
We began to brainstorm, and decided to try adding spices to the beer. I was nervous that the additions would make our brew taste overly spiced, like bad Christmas beer, but I had complete confidence in Randy’s skill.
Oleana was still under construction, and I was overwhelmed with pre-opening details, so I asked my sous-chef Nookie to take a trip out to Nantucket and pick up with Randy where I left off. He learned a lot about beer making, made some friends, and developed a delicious signature beer for our restaurant. Nookie and the Cisco team used cumin, coriander, and cardamom to add a subtle fragrance to the Belgian-style brew. We named it “Oleana 3C Ale,” and we sell loads of it at the restaurant. We’ve even paired the beer with some desserts. Our customers frequently comment on the refreshing and delicate spice tones.
Nookie is very proud of his beer and all that he learned from Randy on Nantucket. His story is on the label.
RECIPES WITH CUMIN, CORIANDER, AND CARDAMOM
C
ARROT
P
URÉE AND
E
GYPTİAN
S
PİCE
M
İX WİTH
N
UTS AND
O
LİVE
O
İL
F
RİED
H
ALOUMİ
C
HEESE WİTH
P
EAR AND
S
PİCED
D
ATES
R
ED
L
ENTİL
K
ÖFTE WİTH
T
OMATO
, C
UCUMBER, AND
P
OMEGRANATE
S
EARED
S
ALMON WİTH
E
GYPTİAN
G
ARLİC AND
C
ORİANDER
S
AUCE
G
ALETTE OF
T
ENDER
P
ORK WİTH
C
UMİN AND
C
İDER
G
RİLLED
S
KİRT
S
TEAK WİTH
T
OMATO
, C
ARAMELİZED
B
UTTER, AND
C
UMİN
K
ÜNEFE WİTH
C
HAMPAGNE
-C
ARDAMOM
S
YRUP
C-L
İCİOUS:
O
RANGE
-C
ORİANDER
S
ANGRİA
Carrot Purée and Egyptian Spice Mix with Nuts and Olive Oil
I discovered this Egyptian spice mix called
dukkah
when I had the pleasure of working with Claudia Roden during a lecture she delivered on Middle Eastern food at Boston University in November 2000. Together, we gave culinary students and friends of the university a sense of the flavors and history of Arabic cooking. With the addition of coconut to the spice and nut mixture, we offered a twist on the more traditional dukkah.