fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #5571 ]

[ SECRET POST #5571 ]

⌈ Secret Post #5571 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

01.

__________________________________________________

02.

__________________________________________________

03.

[Friends]

__________________________________________________

04.

__________________________________________________

05.

__________________________________________________

06.

__________________________________________________

07.

[In Plain Sight]

Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 06 secrets from Secret Submission Post #797.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Does anyone know any good books for learning how to cook effectively with spices. I'm from a region where spices started and ended with salt and pepper, and maybe a little garlic if you wanted to be "exotic", and I want to learn to cook better. Is there a spices for dummies book?

the thing about herbs and spices is that it's a matter of taste, so it's hard to give exact rules about it. But for a quick and simple rec, I like rosemary, celery salt, parsley, and a little cumin on my chicken, thyme for fish, and, because I am lazy, steak seasoning on beef

I highly recommend wandering through whatever local equivalent of a farmer's market you have available to you and buying any herbs that smell like you want to eat them. Then play the google game of "what dish do I put these in and how do I best cook it?"

I think there's not really a guide to spices one can get, but more so certain types of cuisines you can try that uses a variety of spices all together that might be a good starting point.

Maybe start with a cuisine that you're familiar with (maybe Italian/greek) and then try other types like Chinese/Japanese/Korean as a mid point towards spice heavy cuisines like arabic/Indian/Thai.

At the end of the day it's all subjective and you'll find dishes that have flavours you like that you'll prob end up incorporating into simpler dishes.

This is the way. Other cultures have amazing food so by simply experiencing a style of cusine you're not familiar with, you'll automatically get a leg up in how spices work in context. Chicken can be cooked a thousand ways but there's a marked difference between oregano/thyme/garlic, cumin/chilis, and curry. They're all delicious but the context of a mediterranean dish vs a tortilla loaded with slaw vs sauce over rice is only partly the use of the spices and/or herbs.

...though I do also support picking up an ingredient and then googling what to do with said ingredient, I've done that before. But I also have 30+ years of cooking experience on me, so that's more for fun experimentation, not true learning.

+2

Definitely recommend starting with different cuisines from other countries. Yummly is pretty good at that -- taste spotting used to allow you to navigate fish by region.

In addition to cuisines listed above (all highly recommended), I want to recommend Caribbean cuisine -- both from the Latin American Caribbean and non-Latin American Caribbean -- these cuisines tend to be very savory, depending where also HOT (if you like that). As someone from LatAm Caribbean, I was shocked(! Lol) and apprehensive when I found out some people just sprinkle salt and pepper on a steak. Like that was it. Granted, it depends on the cut, but I grew up seasoning and leaving meats in marinade overnight. Things like onion, garlic, a bit of vinegar, other seasonings, etc. Really add flavor. The world is vast an it tastes delicious! Good luck on your culinary adventures!

Also, maybe as a side project, you could maybe learn a dish or two from wherever your family is from (whether it's distant or not).

I know you said cookbooks but can I recommend something online? Tasty.co is amazing -- they do all sorts of recipes and show videos on the cooking process. You can search by dish, ingredient, meal type or even cooking method.

What's also nice is you can read the comments left by those who tried the recipe for further feedback on how the dish comes out as well as sometimes giving tips or flourishes they did.

Echoing other comments to pick a regional cuisine you like and learn how to make well-seasoned food you like.

My suggestion is to pick a basic dish you already know how to cook (so that figuring out a new cooking technique isn't necessary). Then google that dish and look through the variations until something looks good/spicy and make that. Then try another and see how the spices make it taste different and which one you like better.

Some basic dishes (I'm an American; adjust if you're from another country) are chicken soup (every country has chicken soup and they're all delicious), hamburgers/meatballs, different kinds of pasta sauces, etc. Don't forget to check out Youtube which has a million cooking videos, including intro to herbs and spices.

You can also look through this website. They want you to buy their spices so all their recipes should be easy and tasty.

https://www.mccormick.com/recipes#DishType

Cooking with spices can be intimidating because depending on what cuisine you're working with, a single recipe can use a LOT of spices. (For example, Indian curries.) If you're starting out with nothing, then spending a ton of money on half a dozen or more spices/herbs feels like a big investment for something that you don't know you'll like yet. That's why I'd recommend approaching this from a recipe standpoint and not a spices standpoint. Are there any particular regional cuisines that appeal to you? I'd start there.

If you're not sure, then I'd start with something simple, like roast chicken - olive oil (or butter), salt, pepper (fresh ground is better than pre-ground) and dried thyme is simple, but delicious.

I think I know what kind of book you mean, because I looked for one myself once. A book that tells you what flavors go together, when to add spices during the cooking process, that kind of thing? I never found one.

It's all very well saying just pick a cuisine and cook it, but when that goes badly and nobody can explain to you why then you have no way of learning.

I don't know of a book like that, but I really agree with the suggestion to start with a fairly simple dish that you're already familiar with and just experiment. Taste frequently while you're cooking.

Also experiment with eating a lot of different dishes from different cuisines, and whenever you find one that you really love, google recipes for it and see which spices and herbs come up the most often. You'll start to build up a mental library of thoughts like (example) "oh, this dish I love has a lot of cumin, I want to try to work with cumin."

This was pretty much my experience too. And honestly, most of the tips above would not be helpful for me. They are too complicated and assume a level of knowledge that I don't have. The level 0 tips, the "explain it me like you would to a 5-year old" tips are the ones that I would need.
I recently found this blog post series that looks promising:
https://www.cooksmarts.com/articles/ultimate-infographic-guide-spices/
I haven't had a time to try much of their tips yet though.

If you have been toying with the idea of adding spices to your food and are not sure where to start, then all I can suggest is get yourself 3 basic spices such as

1. cinnamon stick
2. coriander powder and
3. cumin powder
These three spices are very versatile and have a subtle flavour.

They can be easily added to many dishes and not just Indian meals.

Few tips on to begin adding these spices to your meals are:

- Throw in a cinnamon stick while you boil the soup broth.
- Add a tsp or two of cumin powder to your stews and soups
- Add coriander powder to dressings and rubs
- Marinade your meat with a mix of cumin and coriander powder.
- Add a stick of cinnamon when you cook rice
- Make a little blend of cinnamon powder, cumin powder and coriander powder and add a tsp to make a basic curry sauce with onion, ginger, garlic and tomatoes.

Following these tips will help you become comfortable with spices and slowly you can build your spice cabinet.

My suggestion is to start with the dishes you have already made before and alter the recipes by adding a tsp or two of your chosen spice and taste the difference.

https://spiceitupp.com/dummies-guide-to-cooking-with-spices/

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ SECRET POST #5571 ]

Spicy comment thread

Re: Spicy comment thread

Re: Spicy comment thread

Re: Spicy comment thread

Re: Spicy comment thread

Re: Spicy comment thread

Re: Spicy comment thread - Tasty.co

Re: Spicy comment thread

Re: Spicy comment thread

Re: Spicy comment thread

Re: Spicy comment thread

Re: Spicy comment thread

Re: Spicy comment thread

Re: Spicy comment thread