At a spice market, numerous spices for seasoning are offered for sale in large trays.
Spices and spice blends provide a special flavour experience and enhance our dishes. For a long time, exotic spices were considered valuable luxury goods. Today, they are part of every good meal. There is no limit to the variety of their combinations. There is a suitable flavour for every cultural cuisine: from Mediterranean and Asian to Oriental or African.
Seasoning instead of salting
Salt is an important part of our diet and many consider it essential for good flavour. Due to a lack of seasoning alternatives, food is often over-salted, which has a negative long-term effect on our sense of flavour and our health. Why not try consciously limiting your salt consumption and seasoning more instead – in line with the motto “seasoning instead of salting”. This is not only healthier, but also not boring or tasteless.
What is seasoning?
Anything that gives a dish a special flavour and makes it tastier is considered a “spice”. Spices and herbs are parts of plants that add flavour to our food due to their ingredients and aromatic substances. These include flowers, buds, roots, seeds, fruits, barks and bulbs. They are often added to food in dried form. Herbs” include leaves, flowers or sprouts that can be used fresh or dried.
Cloves, pepper, nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon, cardamom and vanilla are the best-known exotic spices from tropical climates. Classic mono-spices are pepper, salt, chilli and paprika. For European cuisine, we can fall back on domestic herbs that can also be cultivated in northern latitudes. The most popular representatives in this country are thyme, rosemary, oregano and marjoram.
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Which spices do you need for seasoning in the kitchen?
Pepper and salt are among the classics that go with almost everything – that much is certain. Parsley, chives, basil, dill and cress are great for growing on the windowsill and using in salads and the like.
It’s also a good idea to use them according to your culinary preferences:
- Hearty stews benefit from dill, savoury, parsley or marjoram.
- Cinnamon and vanilla should not be missing for sweet desserts.
- If you like Mediterranean flavours, thyme, oregano, rosemary, basil or sage are a good choice.
- For spicy Indian cuisine, the most important ingredients are chilli, cumin, cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, turmeric, coriander and mustard seeds. Curry powder can also be found on many kitchen shelves. However, this is a spice mixture that is not used in India itself.
- If you want to cook Chinese or Thai dishes, you usually need Thai basil, coriander, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, galangal, ginger and chilli.
- In Arabic cuisine, parsley, peppermint, coriander, saffron, cumin and cinnamon are also used. Many dishes are seasoned with harissa, a hot chilli paste.
Seasoning correctly: basic rules for the art of seasoning
Seasoning is basically about trying out the variety of flavours. It’s about getting a feel for which spice combinations suit individual flavours or not. But which combinations harmonise particularly well? When is the right time to season and how do you season correctly?
Many different spices are displayed in bowls on a stand.
The colourful variety of spices can be a challenge when it comes to seasoning.
One main spice should take centre stage
Spices should not drown out the dish with their own flavour, but rather support it. Always concentrate on one main spice – all other spices only round off the flavour.
Seasoning with herbs: fresh and intense
Freshly harvested herbs have the most intense flavour, as the aromas and essential oils of fresh ingredients have not yet been released. Always add fresh herbs to the food as late as possible, otherwise they will cook and disintegrate. Avoid using several intense herbs at the same time, for example rosemary, thyme, savoury or tarragon.
Various fresh herbs are laid out on a wooden board with a knife next to them.
Fresh herbs from the garden or balcony can be added to the finished dish.
Chop promptly
Chop spices as close to the time of preparation as possible. This tip is particularly useful for herbs. You should also grind dried spices in a mortar and pestle. This way you always get the full flavour. Dried spices take longer to release their flavour than fresh ones. You can therefore leave them to cook for a while. Fresh herbs and spices, on the other hand, should only be added shortly before the end of the cooking time.
Seasoning correctly: patience is flavour
The full flavour of spices only develops after some time. So wait until the spices have developed their full flavour before seasoning. This also applies when seasoning salad. Do not eat the salad immediately, but leave it to stand for a while.
Less is more
Make sure that the spices you use do not drown out the flavour of the dish. This is an art, especially with vegetables, as some varieties have a subtle flavour of their own. In such cases, use a combination of salt and sugar. This brings out the flavour of the vegetables better.
Which spices should be roasted before use?
You should pay attention to when you add which spice to the dish so that it can develop its full flavour. Cinnamon, fennel seeds, cardamom or aniseed, for example, should be roasted in a pan before adding them to the food. Frying can be done with or without fat. Other seeds such as coriander or mustard also benefit from this procedure – as do cumin or cloves. Frying beforehand is very popular in India and Arab countries. However, you should not use this technique with ground spices, as they can burn quickly. In addition, many flavours are lost due to the increased surface area.
Which spices can be cooked?
With some spices, such as chilli flakes or cayenne pepper, the heat and flavour are not lost even during long cooking. On the contrary: the longer they cook, the stronger the flavour at the end. You can also add star anise, mustard powder, cloves or bay leaf as well as cinnamon, juniper and caraway earlier.
Spices such as cinnamon and star anise are placed in small jars on a tray.
Cinnamon sticks and star anise can also be cooked to release the strong flavours.
It’s better not to cook these spices for too long
Some spices are very sensitive to heat. Their flavours quickly evaporate during cooking. This applies to pink berries, salt, chilli threads, parsley, saffron and nutmeg, for example. Some spices also become bitter, such as pepper or paprika. You should therefore only add these spices shortly before the end of the cooking time.
Seasoning with native wild herbs
Time to brush up on almost forgotten knowledge and get some inspiration for cooking with wild herbs: many edible wild herbs can be used in the kitchen, for example in the preparation of leafy vegetables, wild vegetables or green smoothies. After washing, wild herbs can be dried to preserve them for use in the winter months. They can be used as ingredients for salads, quark dressings, leaf teas or in the preparation of all kinds of dishes. Fresh wild herbs have the advantage that they contain more flavour, fibre, bitter substances, minerals, secondary plant substances and vitamins than cultivated herbs.
Dandelion, for example, is a real all-rounder. It contains a wide range of valuable ingredients that are in no way inferior to today’s “superfoods”, in fact they are superior to them. Dandelion contains a lot of potassium and bitter substances that stimulate digestion. In the past, it was even used as a cure. Alternatives to pepper include pepper herb, better known as savoury. Or try mugwort. It is usually used in greasy dishes in winter, but is equally suitable for vegetable stir-fries, cereal patties, sauces, rice or potatoes. The local Maggi herb or lovage can be used wherever you would otherwise use the ready-made seasoning of the same name. This includes soups, fish dishes and meat.
