Za’atar Palestinian thyme A traditional spice blend from Palestine including wild-harvested dried thyme (za’atar)...

Za’atar Palestinian thyme A traditional spice blend from Palestine including wild-harvested dried thyme (za’atar) from the hills of Jenin in the north of the West Bank mixed with toasted Sesame seeds and Sumac (a spice with a tangy, lemony flavour).
It’s an everyday staple in much of the Middle East, where it’s pasted onto bread dough and baked, drizzled over salads, sprinkled into hummus, rubbed into chicken or fish, eaten with yoghurt…and so on!
Perfect as a dip with Palestinian olive oil and freshly baked bread.
#Spice #Ingrediant

Saffron the process begins for the marinade.

Saffron the process begins for the marinade.
#Saffron #Spice #DinerParty

Chefs secrets Spice my go to knowledge base.

Chefs secrets Spice my go to knowledge base.
According the Austrian Food Law, the term spice refers to plants or parts of plants (possibly dried) that are used to enhance the flavour or taste of human food.

Spices must not be technically modified or mixed with any other components (the law applies special names to such mixtures).

It will be seen that this definition is rather narrow: Many ingredients serving exactly the same purpose as spices, like beef extract, dried fish, fish sauce, shrimp paste, soybean sauce or fermented wheat, are excluded. This is probably because, with the exception of beef extract,

Of course, also salt is not considered a spice.

It will also be noted that this definition does not make any distinction between herbs and spices, as seems to be common in English language.

Thence, the meaning of herb will refer to a subset of the meaning of spice in all documents on this site, or, put the other way, the meaning of spice will include tropic plants with aromatic fruits or barks (traditionally called spices) and plants of temperate climate featuring aromatic leaves (traditionally called herbs).

You might call that bad and idiomatically incorrect English, and you’ll be right with this critique; still, that’s the price native English speakers have to pay for the advantage of reading the Internet in their mother tongue (please let me make perfectly clear that this is no private war against English language, but simply a statement about the dynamics of living languages).

Although at most forty different spice plants are of global importance (economically and culinarily), many more are used as condiments locally, in the region of their natural occurrence.

Some of these are traded in small quantities and used in ethnic restaurants or by emigrants who do not forsake their cooking traditions, other have some use as medicine and are therefore available in western pharmacies.

Many spices that have been used extensively in past centuries in Europe have now become obsolete and are now not even known to the Western public – mostly because other spices with similar sensory quality became cheaper and were preferred.
It is my interest to gather information about well-known and well-researched spices as well as about those exotics. Gernot Katzer

#Spice  of life
http://gernot-katzers-spice-pages.com/engl/index.html#top

Coffee time with Kaak spice

Coffee time with Kaak spice
Kaak spice has it all,
Anise,
Cloves,
Nutmeg,
Cinnamon,
Mahlab, (See note 1)
Sesame seeds
and just a hint of black caraway seed.

Kaak cookies are also known as "Kaak El Eid" or "Kaak El Abass".
Its made with flour, sugar, yeast, sesame seeds, baking soda, butter, milk and kaak spice.
Nothing tastes better than a warm kaak cookie covered in labneh with olive oil drizzled on top and a steaming hot cup of coffee

Mahlab (note 1)  is an aromatic spice made from the seeds of a species of cherry, Prunus mahaleb (the Mahaleb cherry, aka the St Lucie cherry).

The cherry stones are cracked to extract the seed kernel, which is about 5 mm diameter, soft and chewy on extraction.
The seed kernel is ground to a powder before use.

Its flavour is similar to a combination of bitter almond and cherry.
It is used in small quantities to sharpen sweet foods.

It has been used for centuries in the Middle East and the surrounding areas as a flavouring for baked goods.
In recent decades it has been slowly entering mainstream cooking in English.
#Kaak   #Spice  in the #G+VermouthCafe 





 
http://arabic-food.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/eid-kaak-with-dates-recipe.html

Tamarind fruit (The search for a Ketchup recipe)

Tamarind tree fruit pods

Tamarind Fruit Tree   تمر هندي

I need help in search of a recipe for Tamarind Ketchup ?

If you can ! leave a comment please

Prophet Enoch said

About the tree of knowledge

"It was like a species of the Tamarind tree, bearing fruit which resembled grapes extremely fine; and its fragrance extended to a considerable distance.I exclaimed, How beautiful is this tree, and how delightful is its appearance !
One of my favorite flavors to cook with in dishes but would like to bottle and preserve in a sauce."

The fruit pulp is edible. Pulp of young fruits is sour and acidic, but ripe fruits are sweeter. Some varieties are sweet, while others have always a sour taste. Young leaves can be used in salads.

Did you know that

Legend says that those who sleep under the Tamarind while it flowers will experience strange hallucinogenic dreams !

Special thanks and credit to res-ponders below

Rough measurements but here's what I use for tamarind ketchup: 1 shallot, a clove garlic, 1 cup tamarind paste, half cup passata (or chopped tomatoes with their juice),1 tbsp palm sugar, pinch of salt.Blitz everything, bring to boil & simmer for about 10 -20 minutes, to your taste. At this point, taste and adjust seasoning.Of course, you probably know that tamarind paste/juice will sit quite happily in the fridge for about a month, so I always get a huge amount done, so that I don't have to soften & squeeze the pulp everytime. x+Azlin Bloor 

1,Take the tamarind fruit pulp (without seed), make sure its clean

2,dissolve in water then filter it 

3,Heat it in a pan , with very few spoons of red chilly powder 

4, crush some jaggery and add it into the sauce

5, the jaggery will thicken and the sauce , and release sweet flavour

Measurements can be adjusted depends on your taste

its takes hardly 5-10 minutes for the procedure ..

Most or all tamil nadu's Tamarind are sour by nature . we don't use sweet tamarind in our cuisine .

Enjoy the sauce :-)

ps. don't forget to tell me how it came :-P  +Pradeep Jayabal 

Beautiful tree; tamarind ketchup is a great idea.

In Mexico we used to drink agua de tamarindo, which is basically fresh tamarind blended with cold water, and some sugar.

A tequila, a sombrero, and a siesta under the tamarind tree - a promise of colorful dreams... +Anne Ricci 

Original Jazz Song written by +Alfred Hole ( My nephew :) ) 

Alfie Hole - Piano. 

Spencer Ritchie - Drums. 
Will Lyle - Bass.

Recorded, engineered, mixed, and mastered by Will Lyle

The Way of Spices in Food Recipes

Spice

There are three ways to use Indian spices:

By a very insightful comment by

+Rajini Rao  Reproduced here

"Tempering: fry in a small amount of hot oil. Cumin seeds sizzle, mustard seeds turn grey and pop, fenugreek and urad dal brown, curry leaves and bay leaves darken. This is done to flavor the oil before cooking, or sometimes the flavored oil is used to dress the finished dish. The whole spices also add texture to the dish (especially the crunchy dal and mustard seeds).

Flavouring: Dry, ground spices are added during the cooking process. Some are added early, so that their color or flavor permeates the dish. This includes turmeric, chilli, coriander and cumin powders. Some are added late, just before the finish, so that their aroma stays fresh. This includes garam masala which is a mixture of several warm ("garam") spices including clove, cinnamon and pepper corns.

Toasting: dry roast on high heat, taking care not to burn spices. Whole red chillies and fenugreek seeds darken, grated coconut turns a bit golden, and whole spices like cumin and coriander lose their "raw" smell. Typically, spices are toasted prior to grinding them into a dry or wet spice mix.

It is not unusual to use all three forms of spice in one dish! The result is layers of delicious complexity and flavoring" 

Spicy Original music fresh from Galina

Global food:Aberdeen Angus Fillet Steak Delphi

Pan Fried Aberdeen Angus Fillet Steak Delphi

~~~~

Plain boiled Maris Piper potatoes

~~~~

Fried Parsnips

~~~~

Steamed Spring Greens

Delphic spice a mix of Allspice, chili pepper, cloves, cinnamon, onion, nutmeg, thyme, garlic black pepper and salt.         

Spice mix rubbed into steak. Pan-fried nice and rare for me Remove steak keep warm and rest

Delphi sauce made from chopped onion browned with a sprinkle more of spices splash of white wine or beer.Table spoon of brown sauce and tomato ketchup.Reduce, season to taste and serve.

+Hernâni Magalhães Thank you for recommending

 My suggestion would be a elegant red wine, a little spicy and fruity on the aroma, maybe a Real Fado (from the Lisboa wine region), made with native Portuguese grape varieties.

Or, if you want to be more high-spirited, try a rose, like Summer Lovers Rosé, made from Syrah and Aragonez, it's a little "petillant", full of aroma of red berries, acidity balanced by the roundness and elegant mouth feel. 

I'm hungry for some food, now!!!

Delphi  oracle

Notes    

 Brown sauce:A flavor/sauce introduced to uk

by the Romans

 "Is a traditional condiment served with food in the United Kingdom and Ireland, normally brown or dark orange in colour, and made from a varying combination of tomatoes, molasses, dates, tamarind, spices, vinegar, and sometimes raisins or anchovies. The taste is either tart or sweet with a peppery taste similar to Worcestershire sauce. It is similar but not identical to steak sauce in the United States, which historically derives from it, barbecue sauce in Australia, and tonkatsu sauce in Japan."   From Wikipedia

Ketchup

"In the 1690s the Chinese mixed a concoction of pickled fish and spices and called it (in the Amoy dialect) kôe-chiap or kê-chiap (鮭汁, Mandarin guī zhī) meaning the brine of pickled fish (鮭, carp; 汁, juice) or shellfish

By the early 18th century, the table sauce had made it to the Malay states (present day Malaysia and Singapore), where it was discovered by British explorers. The Indonesian-Malay word for the sauce was kĕchap. That word evolved into the English word "ketchup".

Many variations of ketchup were created, but the tomato-based version did not appear until about a century after other types." From Wikipedia

Original Delphic music by Galina          

By Jon Chef

Aromatics for Food and Music Spice,: Saffron

Saffron flower

"As the saffron tints and crimson flushes of morn herald the coming day,

so the social and political advancement which women has already gained

bears the promise of the rising of the full-orbed sun of emancipation.

The result will be not to make home less happy but society more holy"

                 Frances Ellen Watkins Harper,U.S rights advocate 1893

Saffron flower pickers Kashmir

What is Spice:

The name spice is derived from the word species. which was applied to groups of exotic foodstuffs in the Middle Ages.The need to supply European markets spurred explorations, culminating in the extraordinary voyages that resulted in the discovery of the New World and demonstrated that the globe could be circumnavigated by sea. The fabled Spice Islands of Indonesia became the site of horrendous colonial practices by competing European powers. The desire to control spice sources took the British to India, the Portuguese to Brazil, the Spanish to Central and South America and to the Philippines, the French to Africa, and the Dutch to Indonesia. However, each country feuded with others to establish a monopolistic control over the spice-growing regions and the major trade routes.

 Indeed, the term spice could include chocolate, coffee, kola nuts, tea, wine and olive oil, since these mouthwatering delicacies are generally imported from tropical or sunny countries into the more temperate countries of northern Europe and North America to give a zestful taste to food products and beverages.

Interestingly Iran grows 97.3% global mass of Saffron.How do the USA have much Saffron to cook with due too import/export ban with Iran ????? 

Saffron, Zaafaran,Azafrán, केसर, ज़ाफ़रान.

Saffron crocus

I love too cook the classic  bouillabaisse (Fish soup/stew)

essential ingredient being saffron.After picking fresh Chanterells which are a saffron color i made the other day

Chicken,chanterell and Saffron Galina which can be found 

here

Scallops with Saffron Puff Pastry 

Iranian Pure Saffron

Saffron is rather unique among spices in that its main aroma and colour components are water-soluble; therefore, the stigmata may be soaked overnight in water, filtered and the water then added,. Another method is preferred in Persia and India: The spice is powdered and then extracted with a little milk; after half an hour, the milk has the deep colour of egg yolk and is added to biriyanis or sweets. Using the dry spice  directly for cooking is not favourable, as it releases its fragrance too slowly, and prolonged cooking should be avoided for loss of aroma. Thus, it is best to prepare an extract with cold liquid and add that extract to the hot foods.

                

                     To finish a Saffron sunset,  

By Jon Chef