I don’t find myself a difficult eater, but a picky one. If I don’t like smelling or tasting something, I don’t eat it. In addition, just like any other cook, I want to eat that I have prepared with pleasure. I do tasteful cooking by seasoning my food with spices. But spices are not herbs.
The difference? Herbs are the green parts of a plant. The leaves, stems and sometimes the flowers. For example dill, parsley, mint, thyme, tarragon, lavender or bay leaf. Herbs can be used both fresh and dried. Such as mint and dill, herbs that also taste very tasty dried. Other herbs, such as parsley or chives, are dried not really worth it: they taste verse a thousand times better.
Then the spices. These are the seeds, bark, roots or fruits of plants. They are dried, and therefore get a super -concentrated and intense scent and taste. Cooking with spices is about daring to play and try. A bit of this, more of that; A different combination every time. Just like music, it is not about one sound or tone, but about a combination with the other ingredients in the dish.
To be able to play that game, it is useful to have a basis so that you can cleverly combine spices – and above all dose well (not too little!).
Spices are not bound by certain kitchens or cultures. They move smoothly between age -old traditions and contemporary cooking trends. And Foelie is a shining example of that. Indispensable in the Dutch chicken soup, but also the Moroccan kiptajine is also possible. In both classics, the mace provides coherence and depth.
Foelie is the sperm of the nutmeg, the web of orange strings around the nutmeg. Although they come from the same fruit, they still have a different taste: where nutmeg is powerful and almost sharp, Foelie is soft and floral.
Tip from girlfriend José: use mace in your puree or with cooked vegetables instead of nutmeg, for a slightly more subtle taste. You can also combine the two. Do you want to pimp your vegetable recipes? Pea soup is tastier with cumin and coriander seeds, stewed endive with fenugreek, pumpkin soup with cinnamon, and with some sumak through your kale you can omit the dash of vinegar in your stamp.