I'm Just Here for the Food_ Version 2.0 - Alton Brown [88]
HERBS AND SPICES
When the leaf of a plant is used as a flavoring agent, we call it an herb. Most herbs can be used in either their fresh or dry state. I’m not a huge fan of dry herbs unless they’re headed for a soup or pot of spaghetti sauce. That’s because I can add them near the beginning of the cooking process. Try that with fresh herbs and you’ll find that whatever good they have to offer will disappear. By the same token, adding dry herbs at the end of cooking doesn’t work because the pieces have to rehydrate before they can contribute anything in the way of flavor.
When the dried seed, pod, root, or bark of a plant is used as a flavoring agent, it’s a spice. Some plants render both. Cilantro, for instance, is a green herb most often found in Mexican dishes. The seed of the plant (technically fruit) is called coriander and most often finds itself in Asian fare…go figure.
ANOTE ON SALT
Don’t be scared by the amounts of salt in these recipes. Although salt will season the meat, its main purpose is to enhance the texture of the meat and make it more receptive to smoke; a key point in the barbecue world.
Although I’ll keep whole spices like coriander around for up to a year and star anise and nutmeg even longer, ground spices and dry have a six-month life span at best. Buy some little circular labels at your local office Maxi-mart (usually located right next to the Mega-mart), stick one on the bottom of each container with an expiration date that’s six months from the day you filled it. If the container’s still full when that day comes, you might reconsider that spice’s place in your kitchen.
And speaking of that place in your kitchen, proper storage of spices is key. That groovy spice rack with the retro glass vials may look spiffy but it’s lousy food science. Spices hate light almost as much as they dislike air—so keep them tightly sealed and keep them out of sight. You also should fight the temptation to store spices in a drawer or cabinet near a heat source like an oven or dishwasher. Volatile acids vanish quickly in hot environments.
The Rub
Marinades can be wonderful, but when it comes to getting a lot of flavor onto meat quickly, spice rubs are the way to go. This is especially true if the meat in question possesses a relatively high surface-to-mass ratio (flank steak, skirt steak, chicken breasts, and tuna steaks are all good examples). And unlike marinades, rubs don’t add to the preparation time of the meal.
Every single commercially available spice mix I’ve been able to get my hands on has listed salt as either the first or second ingredient. Salt content is a huge demon in the world of spice rubs and seasonings. Suppose you like the profile of a rub—say, its heat. You might think “I’ll add more rub to make my food spicier.” That seems logical, but it’s also going to make it saltier.
That’s why there is no salt in the ingredient lists of the recipes that follow. Add salt to the rub as needed—better yet, salt the food before you add the rub. Isn’t it great to be in control of what you eat?
ESSENTIAL OILS
Herbs and spices can bring flavor and aroma to foods because they contain powerful compounds referred to as essential oils, “essential” because they were once thought to hold the essence of the plant. These oils can be manufactured in just about any part of a plant: flowers smell pretty because of glands that produce oils in the base of the bloom; poison ivy makes you itch because of oils that spread out across the surface of its leaves. The flavor and aroma of spices are made possible by oil deposits in seeds (cumin), pods or fruits (nutmeg), bark (cinnamon), and even stems (sassafras).
In addition to flavorings, essential oils are used to odorize everything from perfume to paint. Essential oils