Ancient Grains for Modern Meals - Maria Speck [23]
ZESTER
If you like to cook and bake, you will inevitably need a good tool for zesting. Having tried a few, I now always recommend a handheld Microplane zester because nothing beats its ease of use and its speed: you just grate the orange or lemon across the long super-sharp blade and a little mound of zest accumulates on your work surface in an instant. Of course, you can also use the tiny holes of a box grater.
Ingredients
CITRUS AND DRIED FRUITS
Oranges and lemons are the backbone of many Mediterranean flavor compositions. Today’s supermarkets offer a wide selection of citrus to choose from, especially during the winter months, blood oranges, satsumas, kumquats, pomelos, and clementines. Use the recipes in this book as inspiration, and start experimenting with their various bright aromas. The flavorful oil in citrus zest will elevate many of your recipes, be it a simple rice pilaf or a breakfast cake. When I plan on using the zest of citrus, I choose organic fruit. To learn how to keep organic zest on hand for future use, see “Always Fresh Citrus Zest on Hand”.
Traditionally, fruits such as plums, apples, and figs were dried to preserve the bounty of summer for the lean winter months. I cherish these concentrated flavor packages because they can effortlessly spruce up a meal, from Chicken Stew with Artichokes and Dried Apricots over Brown Rice to Lemon-Scented Olive Oil Cake with Plumped Figs. In most of my cooking and baking, I look for dried figs from Greece and Turkey for their soft sweetness and alluring flavor. However, by all means use Calimyrna figs or dark Mission figs if this is all you can find. If possible, gently press on the fruit through the packaging to test for softness. Avoid buying figs that are dried-out and old. Soft dried Turkish apricots are sweeter than tangy Blenheim apricots. Both have a place in different recipes.
CREAM AND BUTTER
Yes, I love cream—heavy whipping cream, that is. And real butter, preferably the fattier kind from Europe on which I was raised. These ingredients transform the food we cook into the food we love. Hence, I will not ban them from my kitchen.
For heavy cream, I typically choose a pasteurized (organic) brand as it has a fuller taste and whips up so much better than ultrapasteurized cream. And while I use olive oil in much of my cooking, butter’s unsurpassed delicious richness still has a place in my kitchen. I continue to finish certain dishes with a dab of it. And sometimes I choose butter over oil in baking because it contributes deep flavor and a distinct crispness like no other ingredient. For more thoughts on all things fat, see also “Musings on Health, Dieting, and Good Eating”.
In the past few years, a number of rich European-style butters have appeared on store shelves, some imported, some by American producers. The USDA requires American butters to contain 80 percent butter-fat, European-style butters typically have a higher fat content, up to 86 percent—and while this might not sound like much, you can taste it, believe me. Some are sweet, others are cultured and have a distinct tang. Just as with any good food, I suggest you try different kinds of butter and pick your favorite. I often reach for Irish butter because its luscious creaminess and deep flavor remind me of the local butter I slathered on slices of whole grain bread as a kid in Bavaria. Plus, it has become more widely available, and I love convenience as much as anyone.
I always opt for unsalted butter. For one, I bake a lot and like to be able to determine the exact amount of salt I add to a recipe (different salted butters have different salt content). And I prefer to salt my Butterbrot myself, a hearty open-faced sandwich a German can eat any time of the day—because there is nothing like the distinct crunch of salt crystals fusing into golden butter.
HERBS AND SPICES
Fresh and dried herbs play a central role in many cuisines around the Mediterranean. From rosemary to sage, mint to oregano, a handful of herbs takes a simple meal from pedestrian to