A Few of my Favourite Things...

When cooking becomes one of the great loves of your life, you embrace it with all the enthusiasm and greed you can muster: you want to know everything about it, explore every ingredient available and taste every morsel you can get your sticky little fingers on.  I once read that you cannot call yourself a real cook until you can make your own bread.  I think there is probably some truth in this; even if it takes you years of practice – and an array of collapsed or brick like bakes  - there is nothing so satisfying as a toasty, steaming loaf of baked bread, fresh from the oven and torn in to woodsman sized portions.  I would argue though, that baking skills aside, you can be certain that cooking is an integral part of you when a list of your ultimate store cupboard ingredients is indelibly imprinted on your mind and you find that, wherever you go in the world, you are naturally, magnetically drawn to the sights, smells and tastes of all things food related: whether that be bags of whole spices, stacked in rainbow array in a market place, or the scent of an infusion temptingly wafting through an open doorway, or even the sight of a yet unexplored cook book, lying invitingly in a friends kitchen.  When food matters to you, you see and are inspired by it everywhere and inevitably, you come to love some ingredients more than others. 

For me, there are some food stuffs that I just cannot bear to be without and so I thought I would introduce you to a few of my favourite things, and give you a little bit of information about each one - like a very polite introduction at a dinner party: ‘reader, this is agave syrup, agave syrup comes from Mexico and is a complete sweetheart; agave,... and so on’.

I imagine most on my list are completely familiar to you, and although in no way definitive – I could make easily have a top 30 – it is at least a snapshot of what I consider to be of culinary importance (this month!)  What I didn’t foresee, was that when I wrote down my current five favourite ingredients I would end up with the perfect starting point to make a very nice tagine!  Such is the way our taste buds work. 

I also thought that this would be a good way of introducing you to the new section of my blog inventively entitled: Products.  Here, I will aim to give you a review of (what I consider to be) the best allergy and intolerance friendly cooking products around.  I hope to give you the lowdown on their ingredients, source, function, availability and any other relevant bits of information.   I think it will act as a proactive source of information, especially when you are new to the world of allergy friendly cooking, and help guide you in the direction of delicious intolerance friendly food.  In the meantime, here, in no particular order, is my current list of favourite things...

Quinoa

Now easier to source than it is to pronounce (keen – wah), quinoa is one of those super foods that deserves every bit of good press that it has received in recent years.  Although treated as a grain, quinoa is actually the seed of the plant and was originally cultivated by the South American Incas.  Quinoa is a staple food in South America, including Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, it is little wonder why when you consider its nutritional properties: it contains enormous amounts of protein and, unlike other grains, contains the amino acid lysine which makes it an almost complete protein and therefore wonderfully good for you.  It also contains high levels of iron, riboflavin, potassium and all those helpful B vitamins.

I find cooking with quinoa a breeze and treat it very much as I would rice: that is to say that I use two parts liquid to one part quinoa, the liquid usually being stock rather than just plain water. Combine the liquid and quinoa in a medium saucepan, bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook until the grains are fluffed up, translucent and have absorbed all their water - about 15 minutes. The grains can vary in colour from pale gold, to red, right through to black.  The darker the colour of the quinoa the nuttier the texture and taste will be, although that being said, quinoa has a very unobtrusive flavour which means that it really lends itself to being served with spiced dishes or being cooked with intense flavours; that is a polite way of saying that quinoa needs other flavours to bring out its natural sweet and nutty taste, I would recommend that at the very least you cook it in good quality stock.  The grains are about the same size as millet but are slightly flattened with a pointed, oval shape and when cooked, puff up and double in size, making them light and fluffy with a slight crunch when eaten.  This provides a unique texture that I find perfect for using in salads, as an accompaniment to tagines, curries, grilled meats or roasted vegetables. 

Quinoa is my go to grain; it is wonderfully comforting to eat but doesn’t have any of the heaviness that you can find in rice or millet.  Quick to cook and a delight to flavour - as it absorbs everything you give to it - I recommend always having a box of quinoa in your kitchen cupboard.

Cinnamon

 

Cinnamon is a beautiful and wonderful thing.  Firstly, it tastes heavenly; with a mellow, warming intensity it lends an exoticism to both sweet and savoury dishes.  Secondly, it has, for centuries, been lauded for its healing properties as much as for its scent and flavour.  Thirdly, it is one of the oldest spices, mentioned in Sanskrit texts as well as the bible and was used by the ancients to flavour wine, and so for me, it rates pretty highly on my wonder scale.

Cinnamon is the dried inner bark from a tropical evergreen tree, of which there are about 100 different varieties, the most popular being from Sri Lanka and China.  Sold in two forms: a ground up powder and sticks (which are essentially scrolled portions of the bark) cinnamon is used in kitchens around the world and is one of the few spices that finds itself as an integral part of both Eastern and Western cuisine and one that manages to leap effortlessly between sweet and savoury dishes.  Its medicinal values are many and it has been associated with the ability to prevent ulcers, destroy fungal infections, soothe indigestion, ward off urinary tract infections, fight tooth decay and balance blood sugar levels.  It seems there is nothing that this sweet, fragrant, nutty spice cannot do both in and out of the kitchen and I always have both a jar of the ground variety for sprinkling over stewed fruit, biscuits or my morning porridge, and a roll of sticks, ready to put in to a tagine, curry or spiced rice dish, to hand.  I keep my cinnamon stored in a sealed container in a cool, dry and dark place.  Cinnamon should always smell of sweet spice so if yours has no scent then, chances are, it has gone stale and should be discarded and replaced with the fresh stuff.

Agave Syrup

This is a relatively new addition to my list of store cupboard staples (the last two years or so) but I would no more be without it than I would a jar of basmati rice or a box of earl grey tea.  Agave syrup is produced in Mexico from several species of agave plant (the same plant that produces tequila – what a wonder those agave are) where the juice is tapped from the plant, filtered, then heated and finally, concentrated to form the syrup that we can find in shops today.

The syrup is a little thinner than honey but is also much sweeter, I find the most comparable flavour is that of golden syrup.  It ranges in colour from light to dark, depending on the degree of processing - the darker the syrup, the more intense caramel flavour you will get.  A lot of people like to use the darker syrups to pour over pancakes or on to porridge, acting as a direct substitute to maple or golden syrup.  I like to use the lighter syrup in my baking, as it imparts a wonderfully sweet flavour while helping the mixture bind together – always a boon in allergy friendly cooking.  It is also helpful to have on hand for drinks (it dissolves very quickly) and for using as a glaze for cakes and bakes.

Agave syrup is known for having a lower glycemic index than sugar and therefore provides sweetness but without any intense sugar rush to the system, it also contains iron, calcium, potassium and magnesium and most importantly, tastes rather delicious. 

Garlic

 

Beloved garlic: fragrant, powerful, complex and friend to nearly all other spices, garlic is a wonder item to have in the kitchen.  Although not technically a store cupboard ingredient – I have to admit to keeping mine in the fridge – it is easily one of the most necessary ingredients in my savoury cooking.  My mum used to say that if you start the base of any dish with an onion and some garlic then you can’t go too wrong, it certainly works for her cooking since she is one of the best cooks I have ever known and so I stand by it as a golden rule.  The most potent– and, in terms of health, the most powerful – member of the onion family (that’s the allium family to those in the know), garlic’s pungent, heady flavour is produced by high levels of sulphur compounds it contains.

Some of its many health benefits include: the protection against colon and stomach cancer, good for the arteries, prevention of the formation of blood clots, lowers blood pressure and reduces the chances of infection with its antibacterial and antifungal qualities.  Phew, quite a list there.  There is one other thing that this overachieving food stuff can do and that is add a perfect husky, fragrant and sometimes smoky quality to a dish.  Whether in soups, stocks, roasted dishes, dressings, curries, tagines, pasta, or risotto, garlic always brings something worthwhile to the meal and its flexibility (in terms of flavour combinations) is one of the reasons I love it so.

When buying garlic always choose a heavy, firm bulb as it shows that the garlic is fresh and of good quality, try to avoid anything dry and light, or damp with soft spots.  Cloves that have sprouted can be used if necessary but they will not contain anywhere near the flavour of a fresh bulb and so you may need to double up on quantities.  Garlic lends itself to being sautéed, roasted, fried, simmered and eaten raw.  Much my favourite way of cooking it is to trim the top off a whole bulb (about ½ cm down) pour over some olive oil, wrap in foil and roast in a medium oven for under an hour.  The result is a thick, golden goo with an intense sweet and nutty flavour that can be squeezed out of its clove casings and spread on to bread, whisked in to a sauce or added to pretty much anything you like!

Chickpeas

Last, but not least is the humble chickpea.  Small in stature these delicately flavoured, marble sized legumes lies a whole host nutrients just waiting to pack a punch.  With hefty amounts of protein, very little fat,  slow burning carbohydrates, fibre, B vitamins, minerals and folic acid, the chickpea’s appearance belies its abilities, both in terms of health and culinary possibilities.  There are so many ways you can cook with a chickpea: they are perfect for adding to soups, tagines or stews, pureed with garlic and onion and served alongside roasted lamb, or coated in spices and olive oil and roasted in the oven until crisp.  I love to add them to a brown rice or quinoa salad, alongside some roasted peppers, toasted seeds and an abundance of fresh herbs.  They are the staple for two of my favourite dishes: hoummous and falafel, and their flour (known as gram flour) is a boon to allergy cooking as it is naturally gluten free (and a staple of Indian cookery) and perfect for using as a coating for meats, fish or potato cakes or as part of more complex dishes – think onion bhajis.

You can buy the chickpea in either dried or cooked and tinned forms.  Some people swear that you should never use anything but the dried; I for one use either depending on my mood or how much time I have to cook.  I see nothing wrong with using the tinned chickpeas and certainly, they are the handier option of the two.  Either way, you will always be certain to have a great base for a meal when you have chickpeas in your store cupboard.

All recipes and images © 2010 Pippa Kendrick, The Intolerant Gourmet

Comments

[Julia]

and you combine them all so well, i am going a bit crazy with mint at the moment, delicious

[Rev Stan]

I love chickpeas too and use gram flour a lot and then I found a recipe for a chocolate cake that used tinned chickpeas instead of flour. I was sceptical but tried it out and it works really well. It makes a lovely dense cake that you can have with some cream (dairy or soya) for dessert or with a cuppa.

[The Intolerant Gourmet]

Hi Julia, thanks for the comment, I also adore mint but my heart really lies with coriander!

[The Intolerant Gourmet]

Rev Stan, that cake sounds amazing! I have never thought of using chickpeas for a cake but why not, we use beetroot and sweet potato after all. I would Love to have a look at that recipe if you get the chance to forward it. Thanks for commenting.