Do not store spices near stove or under direct sunlight. Seasonings and spices should be stored a cool, dry and dark place. Keep that in mind. Keep all your spices at a temperature not exceeding 68 F (20 °С).
By no means pour the spices into a frying pan or cooking pot from the container in which spices are stored. Steam from the pan will penetrate into the container and worsen the spices quality. Use a dry spoon to scoop up the desired amount of spices.
Make a habit of adding individual spices or their blends several times during the cooking process. Depending on the dish, you need to add the mixture at the very beginning of cooking so that the spices are mixed with oil and with enrich the main components of the future dish. Then add the mixture in the middle of the cooking process. And then you should raise the dish to taste on the last stage of cooking. Accustom yourself to tasting your future fine cuisine over and over. This habit will help you check and evaluate the taste balance of your dish.
BRIEF OVERVIEW OF SPICES AND HERBS
Spices can be added as a separate part to the dish as well as an ingredient to the whole mixture, which will play fragrant and flavor compositions along with other ingredients.
Each individual spice modifies the mixture and adds new hints of flavors and aromas. Just one spice can alter the whole mix beyond recognition adding a new color to it and thus diversify your favorite dish.
Hereafter I will briefly describe the 35 most popular herbs and species that are commonly used in blends. You surely are familiar with each of them but you also might find out completely new ones. Having learned different kinds of spices you can buy it and easily prepare favourite mixture from this book or create your own unique combination for your favorite dish.
In addition to a brief overview, you will find out which spice goes together with other and which products it is blended with.
After reading chapter,
Anise seeds give the dish warm sweet and fruity accents. To open up its aroma, it is recommended to warm up seeds in a dry frying pan and crush it into powder after that. Anise is perfect for fish, seafood and poultry when paired with dill, fennel and coriander. It brightens flavor of stew, especially beef stew. Anise is the spice that balances sour sumac in syrian za'atar and makes up unsweetened taste in ras-el-hanout. Anise in some rare cases is able to replace fennel. It is added in the early stages of cooking process.
Anise pairing:
Fruits and vegetables: apricot, pineapple, watermelon, pomegranate, pear, melon, cabbage (including cauliflower and sauerkraut), potatoes, strawberries, cranberries, root vegetables, carrots, parsnips, peaches, rhubarb, turnips, beets, plums, pumpkin, citrus, apple.
Protein product: beef, wild game, legumes (especially beans, lentils, rice), seafood (especially crabs, mussels), nuts (almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts), poultry (especially chicken, duck), fish, pork, cheeses (especially goat cheese, ricotta), eggs.
Other foods: baked food and pastry, raisins, vegetable oil (olive oil), butter, honey, beverages (tea), sugar, lemon juice, pickles and marinades, soups and stews (especially fish), dough, dates, bread.
Seasonings and spices: star anise, basil, vanilla, cloves, cumin, ginger, cardamom, cilantro, coriander, cinnamon, sesame, turmeric, nutmeg, mint, fenugreek, allspice, black pepper, chili, celery, caraway, dill, fennel, garlic.
Cuisines and dishes: Middle Eastern cuisine, German cuisine, Greece cuisine, South American cuisine, Vietnamese cuisine, Indian cuisine, Chinese cuisine, Moroccan cuisine, Portuguese cuisine, Egypt cuisine, Scandinavian cuisine, sauce mole, Mediterranean cuisine, French cuisine.
BASIL
Basil is one of the most commonly used herbs in the culinary world. Its flavour can be described as a mixture of peppery anise with a peculiar astringency of mint, slightly bitter with a sweetish hint, and its aroma is spicy-sweet, with notes of anise and cloves. In most western cuisines basil is an integrated part of many sauces, especially of tomato sauces. Using it as a single spice you should add it in very end of cooking, as the flavour of basil fades away quickly during long heat treatment.
Basil pairings:
Fruits and vegetables: apricot, pineapple, watermelon, eggplant, broccoli, blueberries, green onions, zucchini, potatoes, corn, leafy vegetables, raspberries, carrots, cucumbers, olives, bell pepper, peach, tomato, beetroot, pumpkin, citrus, chives, spinach.
Protein product: lamb, beef and veal, wild game (especially rabbit), legumes (especially beans, rice, peas, wheat), coconut milk, seafood (especially crabs, mussels, scallops, shrimps), nuts (especially pine nut), poultry (especially chicken, duck), fish (especially salmon, sea bass, tuna), pork, by-products (especially liver), cheeses (especially goa cheese, ricotta, mozzarella, feta, parmesan, pecorino), eggs.
Other foods: mushrooms, vegetable oil (including olive oil), butter, honey, ice cream, drinks, soy sauce, juice (lemon, lime), tomato sauces, vinegar, bread, chocolate (including white chocolate).