Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Cook With Your Nose


a strange title, but it caught your attention, is not it? Perhaps you are expecting suggestions for cooking with recipes, hands, brain, your kitchen appliances, but your nose? Here's a quick explanation.

Do you remember the "trick" you used to do in school? Give a friend to smell onions and apples to eat and they swear apple tastes like onions.

Imagine walking into a house where someone is preparing a special dinner or holiday meal. What is walking by a coffee shop, or driving in a bakery? Our nose, although not our strongest sense, is often overlooked. Most of us have to eat meals that look fabulous when presented to us, but it really does not taste that great. Compare that to how many times have you had a meal that smelled great, but it did not taste wonderful. For me, I tend to trust my sense of smell when it comes to cooking a lot more than my sense of sight.

Try this - open your spice cabinet or go to the spice rack and the smell of this one: garlic powder, oregano, basil in. What do you think? Spaghetti sauce! How about cinnamon, cloves, and allspice? Pumpkin or apple pie, anyone? Cook with your nose - if you're not sure what your dish should start sniffing

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We often refer spices and herbs on certain types of food, and this is true, various kitchen use different herbs and spices (usually according to what is available in their region). As mentioned above garlic, oregano and basil are thought of as Italian seasoning. Cumin and chilis are used in Mexican dishes. Germans tend to use parsley, chives, pepper, and thyme, while Greek foods often contain a variety, including basil, bay leaves, oregano, parsley, thyme, tarragon, and mint (among others ).

In the end, it all boils down to taste and what you like in particular. Find out what you like spices by smell and taste. The next time you find yourself standing over a pot of Facilities with bland meal, you can hop over to your spice rack and start sniffing, providing a delicious outcome.