Ancient Grains for Modern Meals - Maria Speck [24]
I will never forget the timid participant in one of the first cooking classes I taught. She asked whether to measure ¼ cup dill for tzatziki, the Greek yogurt appetizer, before or after chopping. Well, in my opinion, it simply doesn’t matter. It’s just a matter of personal taste. Furthermore, herbs such as rosemary, sage, and oregano can have varying potency—a dry summer, for example, will concentrate the oils in the leaves, resulting in a stronger aroma. There is no right or wrong here; you learn through experimentation and tasting what you like and enjoy.
Fresh herbs are also the culinary foundation of my mom’s cooking, and—no surprise there—the more I cook, the more I try to imitate her. My mom will dash into her garden, while a sauce bubbles away in a pot, and chop down a handful of this and a fistful of that to add to her pot. Somehow, it always turns out addictively good. I have since come up with a formula for this use of herbs: the more you use, the less can go wrong.
Herbs and spices can also enhance the flavor of whole grains. I learned this while traveling in Sri Lanka years ago. The intense spicing of the local cuisine had a profound impact on my own cooking. When I returned to Germany, I started adding whole cinnamon sticks, coriander, cloves, and whole peppercorns to my whole grains. Soon, I also started to drop herbs into the cooking water, such as a twig of rosemary or whole bay leaves. The latter are in a class of their own, worth seeking out and using often. Bay leaves impart a potent unique fragrance, floral yet a bit pungent, to simmering grains, but also enhance soups and stews. I was raised on Mediterranean bay leaf (often labeled as Turkish), so my choice is biased, and in the recipes in this book I always use Mediterranean bay leaf. California bay leaf has about double the strength. Quality and freshness really matter here, so you must try a few different brands or kinds until you find the one you like.
HONEY
In my native Germany and Greece, honey has been used for centuries as a traditional sweetener. Sugar was expensive and hard to come by until fairly recently in history. As a child in Greece, I poured delectable and highly aromatic thyme or pine honey over thick yogurt and freshly harvested walnuts, a classic combination and an addictive treat. In parts of Greece, we also savor fruity orange blossom honey. The French love their intoxicating lavender honey. And more recently, in Boston, I have been introduced to the delicate scent of local blueberry and cranberry honey.
Unfortunately, the quality of honey is hard to judge by the label. And regulations and controls are insufficient. Some say the most reliable source for good-quality honey is a beekeeper, if you know one. Hence, in my own baking, where the honey is heated and other ingredients may overpower the delicate scent, I typically buy a basic and affordable honey. Only when the honey is not heated, say, to sweeten a bowl of fruit or a cold dessert, do I choose one of the fine specialty honeys, or more precious and pricey raw honey—and hope for the best.
MEAT AND POULTRY
I was a vegetarian for many years because I was appalled by factory farming in Germany and in the United States. Much has changed in the past decade as some farmers are striving to raise animals more naturally and humanely. Many are producing healthier chickens, and older breeds of pigs and turkeys with tastier meat have become more readily available. This has made me downright ecstatic, as it has allowed me to enjoy meat again on occasion. I buy the best-quality meat I can afford. Organic is my first choice. Yes, good-quality meat is pricey. But in food, as in anything else, the simple truth holds: you get what you pay for. The simple answer to that dilemma is to eat less meat—which is my preference, anyway.
OLIVE OIL
Over the past decade or so, heart-healthy olive oil has become a household staple in the United States—that wasn’t the case when I arrived in 1993. Today there are hundreds of brands on the market, with wide-ranging aromas, textures,