This is a very exciting post for me. BFF above refers to
Best Friend Forever and yes!, ingredients in .
your kitchen are meant to be with
the other ingredients to make a better cooking. Have u had one of those days
when your meal is seasoned well but not good enough to kick off your taste bud?
Basically, there are certain ways u can do to pair
ingredients and flavours such as:
- Scientists way
Food science discovered that different
ingredients would be good to be combined together if they share same
components. Chefs, bartenders and food companies have been using this theory to
create new innovative dishes and cocktails. Here is some of the example:
-
Blue cheese goes well with pineapple
-
Cauliflower goes well with cocoa
-
Strawberry goes well with coriander
-
Many more
They may sound strange in cooking but
worked really well. I would love to try some of these and post the result, so
stay tuned
- Historic way
Before food science was invented, people
learned to pair flavours from great-grandmother. Famous chef Heston Blumenthal
used history as inspiration in his shows. He has done an incredible dishes inspired by Alice in
wonderland, British history, etc.
There are five basic tastes that tongue can
taste: salty, sweet, bitter, sour and umami. Umami can be described as savoury
as well. It has a pleasant kind of taste that you can find when you eat meats
or cheeses. Anyway, this last method is my favourite in cooking. It’s very
playful in your mouth and easy to practice. Here is the list of what you can
mix:
-
Sweet + sour
Everyone commonly uses this one. It is a common sense when you put too
much vinegar, you will add some more sugar to make it balance. Sometimes I use
this technique when making salad dressing, dealing with berries and yogurt. You
can also find this kind of taste in tomato sauce, bbq sauce,
-
Spicy + Sweet
This combination could easily be found in Asian dishes such as Korean,
Chinese and Thai
-
Salty + Sweet
This
combination is one of my favourites. Salted caramels, sweet potato chips with
sprinkle of salts, mashed sweet potato with crushed bacon, cinnamon doughnuts, churos
with chocolate dipping, dessert wines with cheeses, apple and peanut butter,
French fries and ice cream oohhh I cant stop.
Finally, here are the sums of the Best Friend Forever in
cooking that I specially collected for you by watching many Jamie Oliver
cooking DVDs and some research:
Meat:
Steak: oregano, rosemary, thyme, peach
Chicken: rosemary, nutmeg, bay leaves, thyme,
mustard, chives, coriander, cumin, ginger, saffron, star anise, turmeric,
garlic, cajun
Lamb: Rosemary, thyme, anchovies, parsley, mint
Beef: Tarragon, sage, rosemary, thyme, bay
leaves
Poultry: Thyme, sage, tarragon, marjoram
Pork: Thyme, tarragon, parsley, sage, marjoram,
Apple, Chinese five spice
Bacon: anything
Seafood:
Seafood: lemon, lime, chilies, basil, asparagus,
garlic, wines, salsa verde, oregano, parsley, chives, dill, tarragon, dill,
fennel, bacon with shellfish
Shrimp: pineapple, plum
Vegetables:
Mushrooms: garlic, thyme, rosemary, parsley,
apricot
Cucumber – mints, coriander
Spinach – mints
Carrots – thyme
Asparagus – anchovies and thyme
Spinach and cream – nutmeg
Fennel seeds – lemon zest
Beetroot – feta cheese
Others:
Sweet potato: lime, coriander
Apple: blue cheese, celery, cinnamon, ginger,
maple, rosemary
Apricot: basil
Peach: grilled chicken
Risotto: celery, onion, wine, parmesan, lemon
Coffee: chilies, avocado
Olive oil: cooking, stir frying
Extra virgin olive oil: salad dressing
Salad boosters: sun dried tomatoes, lemon,
anchovies
Bouquet garni: parsley, thyme, bay leaves,
rosemary
I hope you find this post helpful. cheers! :)
